The History Of The Spanish Government

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The Madrid Times is the official newspress of The Spanish Empire and was founded by our very own past King himself, Phillipe V Clemente on March 20th, 1746. The Madrid Times updated you on both domestic and international news. To view current or archived news events, please visit The Madrid Times homepage here.

## **The History of Spain - (1623 - 1746)**

The Spanish Empire was the first RP nation to ever be created on POTCO and has managed to survive the ages, whilst still remaining POTCO's ultimate superpower. The periods of Spanish History below are based off of POTCO, and not factual history. Note: (The History of Spain is not yet completed. We are in the process of editing information regarding The Paradoxian War.

*(NOTE: INFORMATION IS SOMEWHAT PRO SPANISH! CERTAIN EVENTS MAY DIFFER FROM OTHER SOURCES!)*

The First Reconquista - (1623 - 1658)  The Spanish Empire - (On POTCO) was founded in 1623 by Alfonso Clement Petalbee. At the time, large masses of marauding Muslim invaders had taken control of Southern Spain and after heavy pressure from The Holy Roman Catholic Church, Alfonso finally decided to reclaim the lands stolen from him by The Moors in a period known as The Reconquista. This period of time lasted roughly 12 years, and shortly after Spain had been re-united, Alfonso died of an unknown illness in 1658.  The throne was then passed on to his son, Spartan Petalbee who would later marry Pearl Petalbee. The two had many children, including Johnny Goldtimbers, Samuel Cresteel, John Fatbeard, and Phillipe V Clemente or better known as, Pearson Wright.

## Petalbee's Dynasty - (1658 - 1697)

Though Petalbee wasn't the founder of Spain, he was considered to be The Father of The Spanish Empire as he transformed Spain from a nation of divided barbarian states into an organized Monarchy. Spartan Petalbee would rule Spain for the next 43 years. During his reign he annexed several new territories, including: Sicily, Naples, Sardina, Southern Switzerland, and The Spanish Netherlands. He also formed a much-needed alliance with Queen Marie Antoinette of France in 1684. Petalbee established the first official Spanish guild on POTCO, Spartans Savvy, which was among one of the first major RP guilds and would go down in history as one of the most fearsome.

Unfortunately, by 1690, The Spanish economy hit a wall, and rapidy spiralled downward. Inflation forced Petalbee to tax the peasant class heavier, and eventually conditions grew so bad, that nearly a quarter of the country was living in poverty. In 1695, several Spanish citizens were rallied under Nate Raidhawk and began boycotting the heavy taxes and demanded that Petalbee renounce the throne and give all social classes equal representation in an "Assembly of Social Classes". Convinced that the problem would simply "go away", Petalbee paid no mind to this. This would be the most disastrous mistake he would make as King.

## The Spanish Revolution - (1697 - 1701)

In 1697, rumors of revolutions swept the streets of Madrid as the economic crisis in Spain began to worsen. Political and Military leaders such as Nate Raidhawk, Simon Treasurehawk, Dog O'Hawk, and even Petalbee's own son, Phillipe V Clemente began to urge citizens to take up arms against Spartan Petalbee in the name of freedom and justice. In 1699, fearing the further escalation of the plot to overthrow him, Petalbee sent armed infantry regiments into the streets of Madrid, Valencia, and Cordoba and gave the order to execute any Spaniard who was suspected of being a revolutionary regardless of gender, creed, religion, or social status. Within only a month, thousands had been executed, and after Phillipe V Clemente had witnessed it first hand, he was infuriated by the atrocities that his father had committed and after careful persuasion, agreed to join Nate Raidhawk and Dog O'Hawk in their revolution against Spartan.

In 1700, people began to see that Petalbee's regime was beginning to collapse and yearning to expand France's borders, Marie Atoinette ordered Dog O'Hawk to have both Nate Raidhawk and Phillipe V Clemente murdered, and their armies disbanded. Unfortunately, the plot was quickly discovered and Nate Raidhawk and Clemente both quickly realized that Dog O'Hawk was behind it all along. Fearing future mutinies, Nate Raidhawk and Clemente fought O'Hawk at the in October, 1700, and obliterated his entire army. O'Hawk however, escaped back into France, where he would face the wrath of Marie Atoinette.

Shortly after O'Hawk was defeated, Clemente began to realize that when Petalbee was overthrown, sooner or later he'd have to face Nate Raidhawk to decide who would succeed him. Clemente knew that Raidhawk had been weakened because of the heavy losses inflicted unto him by O'Hawk and jumped at this opportunity by ambushing his army's camp during the cold December Winter of 1700. Raidhawk was easily defeated and immediately exiled to Tunisia where his military career would meet its permanent end. In 1701, Spartan Petalbee was finally brought down at the in Northern Spain. He was also exiled to Tunisia along with his wife, Pearl Petalbee, and his star general, Samuel Ironshot. Unmatched, Phillipe V Clemente assumed total control of The Spanish Empire in July of 1701 and became Overlord of the newly organized and reformed Spanish Aristocracy under the control of The Ranger Lord's Council with Clemente as its head.

## The Spanish Oligarchy - (1701 - 1703)

Though Clemente had liberated Spain from a fanatical executioner, he had not brought it democracy. After Petalbee was overthrown, fearing the threat of revolution, Queen Marie Atoinette of France and King Jeffrey Blasthawk of Portugal both threatened to declare war if The Spanish Monarchy was not immediately restored. Even more, The Pope threatened to excommunicate the entirety of Spain's people should Clemente choose to abolish its royal bloodline. Clemente wanted to give his people the rights and liberties that he had promised them, but he knew that if he didn't restore Spain's Monarchy he'd be facing an even greater threat, and would probably doom his people to a life of French military occupation. Unable to take so many risks, Clemente gave into pressure from Spain's neighboring monarchies and in 1703, took on the role of King of The Spanish Empire. Only days after Clemente's coronation, riots began erupting throughout Madrid. The people, who had put so much at stake in joining Clemente in his revolution against tyranny, felt completely betrayed.

In 1704, one of Clemente's former subordinate officers, Commander Eric Gunrage, led a Mob of 4,000 Spanish citizens into the heart of Madrid and set fire to several government buildings. Clemente called this, "A revolution against the revolution." He knew that the greatest mistake he could make at this point would be to let his subordinates walk all over him, and so he met fire with fire and personally led a company of 300 of his renound "Ranger Knights" into battle against Gunrage. Within only an hour, all 4,000 resisters, including Gunrage, had been slaughtered. Only 12 rangers perished.

This symbolic battle became the turning point in history in which Clemente would later publicly address the entire nation from a high balcony in his palace at Madrid. He used his slaughter of the angry mob as a prime example of the belief that his army was superior not in numbers, but in strength and morale, and that that was all that was necessary for him to win the day and quell the resistance. Though his military actions were a direct attack on The Spanish people, it seemed as though everyone began to realize Clemente's struggle in the grand scheme of things, and realized that his struggle, was also the struggle of the entire nation. News of Clemente's intolerance for civil disobedience and his slaughter of 4,000 Spanish citizens spread through Europe like wildfire. In addition to ending the riots in Madrid, France and Portugal began to respect Clemente's audacity and began to consider offering Spain rights of passages, trade agreements, and even alliances.

## Wright's Dynasty - The Rise to Power 1703 - 1718)

The Rise to Power 1703 - 1718)== In 1707, Marie Antoinette passed the throne on to her first born daughter, Grace Goldtimbers, better known as, The Duchess of Anemois. Curious about the new young French Queen, Clemente travelled to Versaille where he met with The Duchess, as well as many other British and French noblemen. Coincidentally, Goldtimbers and Clemente both began to fancy each other, and with the consent of The Pope, and her mother, Goldtimbers married Clemente in 1709. This marriage forged a critical alliance between The Spanish and French Empires. Though the two wanted to live together in Versaille, Clemente knew that his place was back in Spain with his people. However, now being both the King of Spain and France, he realized that he could come and go as he pleased and held absolute authority in both nations.

In 1710, Clemente returned to Spain glorified as the savior of The Spanish Empire. Crowds of thousands shouted and cheered as he made his way through the city. Shortly after his return home, a Danish merchant by the name of Francis Chiphawk was granted an audience with Clemente. He spoke of a great mass of untouched land to the East of Poland, and suggested that Clemente claim it before someone else did. Fascinated by the tales of opportunity and fortune, Clemente led an army of 30,000 through Europe and into The Eastern wilderness. He then marched north until he reached The Baltic Sea, and from there he traveled East until finally, his men began to grow weary, and so Clemente made a foot hold along the North Eastern Baltic Coast and founded the city of St. Petersburg in March of 1711. Clemente sent several expiditions east and claimed this land in The name of God but wanted it to be an independent nation, free of Spanish policies and with The Pope's approval, Clemente declared himself the first Czar of Russia. However, soon after the construction of St. Petersburg, rumors of civil war in France began to reach Clemente, and fearing for his wife's safety, he took 5,000 of the original 30,000 men he'd led into Russia, and marched for Paris.

When he arrived, several months later, the situation had only worsened. Two French generals, Francis Bluehawk, and Clemente's past rival, Dog O'Hawk, were battling for control over Paris. Powerless, Goldtimbers was forced to side with Bluehawk as she knew O'Hawk had a hatred for Clemente, and would never accept him as her husband. Together, Bluehawk and Clemente finally brought down O'Hawk in December of 1711 and had him, and all of his subordinate generals executed by firing line. Impressed by Bluehawk's strategies and leadership abilities, Clemente promoted Bluehawk all the way up to the head of The French Army and even allowed him to rule a protectorate state in Germany; Prussia. In 1712, Clemente and Grace Goldtimbers gave birth to their first born son Ferdinand Clemente, better known as, "Cadet". The couple also adopted the Austrian princess, Hannah Bluefeather and the German lieutenant, John Macbatten as well as many others.

## The First Spanish Civil War - (1718 - 1720)

In 1718, Goldtimber's ambicious younger brother, Leon Goldtimbers of England, invaded France with an army of 150,000 well equipped British brigaders. His motives weren't known, but having previously brought down Lord Benjamin Macmorgan of The EITC after he attempted to enslave Portuguese and Spanish colonists in Florida, Clemente knew the weaknesses of The British, and did not hesitate to defend France from Leon. Less than a week after hearing the news of Leon's invasion, Clemente led a combined force of 80,000 French and Spanish troops to meet Leon's rapidly advancing army at Caen. On the 21st of April at roughly 3:00pm, the two armies exchanged fire. The battle carried on for 2 days until finally Clemente's heavily outnumbered army was overwhelmed and he called for a retreat back to Paris. Leon had lost over half of his army, but Clemente was left with only 20,000 men. Though in terms of losses, Clemente had won, he had failed to stop Leon's advance and was now outnumbered nearly four to one.

On the way back to Paris, Clemente burned down every village and farmland he passed through. This "scorched Earth" policy starved Leon's army of food, supplies, rest, and morale but left the French countryside in ruins. However, Clemente's theory would later prove successful. Queen Grace Goldtimbers sent Francis Bluehawk to outflank Leon's army from the rear and cut off his supplies from England. Meanwhile, Clemente's army of 20,000 waited patiently behind the walls of Paris. Finally, several weeks later, Leon's exhausted and starving force, now reduced to 30,000, rolled into Paris, and within a matter of hours was completely obliterated. Shortly after Leon was defeated, Francis Bluehawk's army of 10,000 triumphantly marched in through the city gates where they were met by King Phillipe V Clemente, Cardinal Hector Wildhayes, and Queen Grace Goldtimbers. After a short victory celebration, the four, as well as many other noblemen of Spain and France gathered to discuss what should become of the war mongering, "Captain Leon". After a week of negotiating, an agreement was finally reached. Leon was sent to a maximum security prison for War criminals in the French controlled, Swiss Alps.

After Leon had been jailed, and his army destroyed, Clemente assumed that the worst had come and gone, but unfortunately... he was wrong. Back in Spain, his own son, Ferdinand Clemente had staged a coupe to overthrow Clemente's government, and transform Spain into a Democracy. Clemente knew that doing this would ruin Spain's alliance with The Church and Portugal, and at this point, he could not afford to get into *another* war, so once again, he set off from Paris leaving his wife behind. Clemente brought with him a small, but highly elite army of the remnants of his Ranger Core, which consisted of 3,000 well trained, well equipped, and highly loyal Templars.

When Grace Goldtimbers received word that her son was attempting to overthrow Clemente, she was iffy on who to support. She knew that if Spain became a democracy, France would face the threat of revolution, and she'd be at risk of losing her crown. On the contrary, Ferdinand Clemente had allied himself with Lord Samuel Redbeard, who was believed to be Leon's successor. Redbeard controlled an army even larger than Leon's, and she could not risk another invasion of her homeland. Despite her immense love for her husband, Goldtimbers was cornered, and was forced to join Ferdinand and Redbeard against Clemente.

Goldtimbers didn't want to kill her own husband, but knew that if she didn't send a force worthy of recognition, Redbeard would see France as weak, and be even more inclined to try and invade. Therefore, she sent her best general, Francis Bluehawk, and with him went his army of 10,000 Prussian brigadiers of the elite Francis Brigade.

Clemente was now facing an offensive on all sides. To the South, he faced his son, who was now in control of Barcelona, and had an army of 7,000 there waiting for him. To the West, Redbeard had invaded Andorra with an army of 20,000, and to the North, Bluehawk was trailing Clemente with 10,000 of the best soldiers in Europe. Clemente was outnumered nearly thirteen to one, but for some reason, believed that there was still a chance he could overcome his enemies. By now, it was October of 1719. Clemente knew he'd have an advantage in the cold winter mountains bordering Spain and France and therefore ordered the entirety of his army into the mountains. He then erected a stone fortress and mounted five cannons on each of the four sides of the fortress. Clemente decided to name his fortress, "Muerte De Clemente", meaning, "Clemente's demise". He knew it was likely that this may be his last stand, but was determined, that if it were to be his end, he would have his enemies be given such an end, as to be worthy of remembrance.

As Clemente and his army waited hesitantly behind their Fortress walls, to their surprise, on the 24th of October, at Midnight, flags bearing The Holy Cross were spotted from the East. As they drew closer, Clemente estimated that it had to be at least 5,000 men. At the front of their columns was Cardinal Hector Wildhayes, The Keeper of the Code for The Ranger Lord's Council. Clemente's Rangers cheered and yelled as the gates to the fortress opened to The Templar army. Clemente's forces now totalled 8,000 men, and though he was still heavily outnumbered, his men felt rallied, and he grew very confident that he could pull of a victory and restore stability to Spain and France as a united Monarchy.

Only a few hours after Cardinal Wildhayes arrived with reinforcements, Redbeard's army was spotted slowly marching up the mountains. Clemente immediately gave the order to fire his 12 pounders, and within half an hour, a quarter of Redbeard's army had perished. As Redbeard came closer, a company of 300 rangers arose from within trenches on the sides of Redbeard's army each armed with two, six round pistols, and two curved cutlasses. With the element of surprise on their side, they ambushed Redbeard's disorganized forces without hesitation. While Redbeard's panic stricken army haulted to protect their flank, a group of 500 Ranger Knights charged down from the side of a mountain top to the left of the fortress and crushed Redbeard's army from behind. As the calvary pushed Redbeard's forces closer in towards the fortress, Clemente ordered his 8 pounders fired and all Hell came down on Redbeard's front flank. Within 2 hours, Redbeard's entire force had been destroyed, but Redbeard, and his second in command, Billy Hullbatten, had escaped.

Ferdinand Clemente arrived months later, with even less forces than Clemente and was easily defeated, and later exiled to the island of Grenada off the coast of Valencia, Espana. However, Clemente still had one more foe to defeat; the military genius, Francis Bluehawk. Clemente had seen Bluehawk fight before, and considered him an equal in the art of war. However, Cardinal Wildhayes advised Clemente that, "Even if Bluehawk defeats us, he won't know how to use the battle to his advantage. Bluehawk can win battles, but he's completely incapable of using them to win his wars." Clemente's force had been reduced to around 5,000 men, half that of Bluehawk's force. Not only that, but Bluehawk's army, The Legendary Francis Brigade, was rumored to be even more well trained than Clemente's rangers. Clemente also knew that he could not risk Cardinal Wildhayes being captured, and so he ordered him and his army to return to Rome, leaving Clemente with only 2,000 men. Many saw this as a foolish blunder, but nobody knew what wild thoughts were running through Clemente's mind as he waited calmly at his fortress, outnumbered five to one.

On the eve of the third of January, 1720, Clemente stood atop the fortress wall looking down on his men, and spoke to them in a long, rallying and motivating speech. He stated that, "The future of Spain, of your families, and future generations to come depends on us! If we throw down our arms to these foreign bastards, our families will be tortured, beaten, raped, and enslaved! We will show these traitors who rules Europe! You are soldiers of The Spanish Empire! Our fathers conquered the new world, and today, we will conquer the greatest threat to ever face our nation! Draw your swords, and fight with me! For Honor, for glory, and for the our most righteous God!"

 As Francis Bluehawk's army marched up the same mountain that Redbeard had fallen upon the previous year, they began to notice a dark liquid scattered on the earth beneath them. As Bluehawk's army looked around in confusion, a loud yell was heard from behind the mountain, "FUEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!", and then immediately the entire ground beneath Bluehawk's army was engulfed in flames. Clemente ordered both his twelve and eight pounders fired, and then charged down on Bluehawk's army from both sides of the mountain.

Unfortunately, Clemente had made one grave mistake. He assumed that Bluehawk's army would break apart and flee for their lives as Redbeard's and Ferdinand's did, but to his surprise, The Grenadiers formed a massive square formation and Clemente soon realized that he'd led his men right into disaster. As his calvary smashed into The Prussian forces, they were surrounded, dismounted, and slaughtered. The tar and initial impact of the calvary charged had taken the lives of nearly a third of Bluehawk's force, but Clemente had lost over half of his. Now outnumbered seven to one, it was obvious that Clemente would not be able to win the day, and so he sounded the retreat to Valencia where he hoped he would be able to rally more forces to his cause to prevent Bluehawk's further advance. Clemente's defeat at Muerte De Clemente was among one of the first in his entire military career. Though he personally felt as though he'd failed his people, many Spaniards began to view Clemente as an even greater inspiration because of his courage and ability to hault Redbeard's invasion, end Ferdinand's revolution, and wipe out half of Bluehawk's initial invasion force with only 8,000 men. As Clemente retreated down along Spain's Eastern Coastline, several thousand able bodied farmers, fishers, peasants, and outlaws began to follow him on the road to Valencia. By the time he finally reached the city, his army had grown from 1,000 to 6,000 people, in which case he now outnumbered Bluehawk's army. In Valencia, Clemente recruited an additional 3,000 troops, and once he'd somewhat trained all 9,000 troops of his newly organized Ranger-Militia Army, he marched 20 miles outside of Valencia where he met Bluehawk's army of 5,000 on a Meditteranean shoreline. There was a brief silence before the battle, and then each side charged down upon one another in a medieval style battle. Both Clemente and Bluehawk each led their armies against one another at the front lines. The battle raged on for several hours until finally Bluehawk sounded a retreat and fled the field with only 600 of his original 5,000 grenadiers remaining. Clemente's Generals urged him to pursue Bluehawk and hang his men for cowardice, and Clemente turned to them as he watched Bluehawk's men scurry off the field and stated, "He has done all that the honor of war requires. I do not wish to shame our glorious nation by spilling even more unrighteous blood upon our Holy soil."

By March of 1720, France was left defenseless and Clemente had completely re-secured Spain. For the next 5 years, Spain would quickly rebuild its government, economy, and foreign relations. Most importantly, Clemente would form the largest army in the history of RP, and reclaim what was rightfully his.

## The Second Reconquista - (1720 - 1725)

Though Clemente had won the war, his enemies had not disappeared. A new kindgom in Great Britain had formed; "The British Viceroyalty" under Lord Robert Mcroberts. He established his kingdom in Scotland and Northern Ireland. To the south were the lords of The E.I.T.C., Lord Samuel Redbeard, Lord Cad Bane, Lord William Brawlmartin, and Lord Johnny Goldtimbers. It was rumor that among these lords a new man was rising to power; "John Breasly". The World had seen the previous failures of Lord Benjamin Macmorgan, Lord Leon Goldtimbers, and now Lord Samuel Redbeard, and rumors were rising that this man, John Breasly, would soon be the king of England. However, for that to happen, he would have to defeat his enemy to the north, Robert Mcroberts. McRoberts had no personal issues with John Breasly, but completely despised all men in The E.I.T.C., as did Phillipe V Clemente. Though Clemente hated The British for their cruel ambitions and torture of The Portuguese and Spanish colonists in the Caribbean, he had a decent amount of respect for Mcroberts. John Breasly knew that he had to pick a side. If he sided with McRoberts, he'd be at war with The E.I.T.C., but if he stayed loyal to the lords in The E.I.T.C., he'd bring England into a war with McRoberts.

In 1721, Clemente launched his massive counter-offensive of 300,000 Spanish troops into France, and crushed the Pro-British opposition with ease. When he reached Paris, his wife, Grace Goldtimbers ran to him to try and explain that she had been forced to dispatch Bluehawk's army, but Clemente had trouble believing her. In response, he divorced her, but within only a few months, they re-married and France was once again under the control of both Goldtimbers and Clemente.

In addition to reclaiming France, Clemente expanded The Russian borders to the East, and also conquered Northern Italy. In 1723, He gave his son, Johny Macbatten an army of 10,000 men, as well as his full permission to claim land in Northern Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, and form the Swedish providence as long as he remained loyal to Clemente. A year later in 1724, Clemente conquered lands East of Venice and founded the city of Vienna. He allowed his daughter, Hannah Bluefeather to rule this Province, which she named, "Austria", and proclaimed herself, "Empress of The Austrian Empire" - (Although it was technically a province.)

Many other new nations were also founded in 1724, including, The Netherlands, The Kingdom of Sardina, and The Kingdom of Tuscany. Venice also signifactly expanded its borders. Great Britain claimed a large piece of land in Northern France, and to prevent another massive war, Clemente did not resist this claim. Denmark claimed lands in Southern Norway, and islands above Scotland.

By 1725, Clemente's Empire had reached a new height. Unfortunately, things would very soon go terribly wrong on the Eastern Frontier, and would plunge Europe into yet another great war.

## The Russian Civil War - (1725 - 1726)

Almost immediately after Clemente had finally restored order in Europe, a former corrupt E.I.T.C. Lord whom Clemente had brought down in the past by the name of Benjamin Macmorgan had staged a military coupe in Russia. He was spreading rumors that, "Clemente was corrupt, and upon his return would slaughter the Russian people!" Of course, this was senseless, and Clemente assumed that this "Fool" Macmorgan wouldn't be able to gain enough supporters to actually overthrow Clemente's government in Russia.

 However... a few short months after the rumors reached Clemente's doorstep, Clemente also recieved notification that Great Britain had openly declared war on Spain and France, and had supported Macmorgan in taking the city of St. Petersburg. Clemente's army in St. Petersburg was poorly supplied due to the previous civil war in Spain and was easily defeated. When Macmorgan took Russia, he burned it to the ground with the blessing of Lord Samuel Redbeard of The E.I.T.C., and promised that he would create "A New Russia".

Infuriated, Clemente's initial intentions were to march army of 200,000 into Russia and hang all the traitors, however, his generals deemed it a "lost cause" and refused to support him. They believed that retaking Russia would be too costly and in truth, Russia meant nothing to anybody but Clemente. It was, for the most part, a barren wasteland. However, Clemente had very much wanted to turn that barren wasteland into a utopia for Spanish and French citizens. He had invested time, lives, and money into the founding of St. Petersburg, and now Macmorgan had destroyed the future of this new nation.

Many scholars believe losing Russia was what turned Clemente from "Freedom Fighter" to "War Mongerer".Clemente figured that if his generals would not risk defeat in Russia, then they would at least march on British controlled Northern France. Clemente was not interested in punishing Britain for their stupidity, but he knew sooner or later, he would have to deal with the problem, and so he reacted to their declaration of War, and invaded Caen in August of 1726.

Fortunately for Clemente, the same month he invaded Caen, a civil war broke out in Britain between England and Scotland. England's forces were strictly limited due to the aid they'd promised Macmorgan in Russia, and because of the war on their homefront, Caen was left poorly defended. Clemente jumped at this opportunity and won a series of small strategic battles throughout Caen and Brittany taking very few casualties, and acquiring large amounts of needed farmland. These victories helped boost the morale of The Spanish Army, and also struck fear into the hearts of British and Scottish citizens. The invasion of Caen was one of the first acts that helped make Clemente so feared throughout Britain.

By December of 1726, Russia was completely under Macmorgan's control. Ironically, few Spaniards seemed to care for their distant relatives in Russia. They were much more worried about their enemies to the West than a mob of peasants starving in a barren wasteland. Unfortunately for Clemente, due to this lack of popular support, it would be 20 years until he could finally reclaim what was rightfully his and dethrone the snakes that stole it from him. However, due to Clemente's skill in persuasion and manipulation, he convinced Macmorgan that he was intent on invading Russia by sending a small army to Sweden to frighten Macmorgan into thinking that it was simply a scouting troop of a much larger force. Macmorgan agreed that when and if he should choose to renounce the throne of Russia, he would restore all power to Clemente.

## Age of Imperial Expansion - (1726 - 1730)

For the next four years, empires throughout Europe would begin rapidly expanding through claiming new territories, and annexing new provinces, through both peace and war. Among these nations, was Spain, which seemed to benefit more than anyone.

While Britain was engulfed in civil war, starvation, and poverty, nations such as Spain, Sardina, Russia, Denmark, and Venice would all flourish both economically and culturally for the next four years.

Sardina annexed large masses of land in North Africa in 1726, and by 1730, would control nearly the entire Middle East, and would transform into The Ottoman Empire under Clemente's son, Don Roberto De Muerte Clemente.

Denmark annexed Iceland in 1728, but lost its control over the islands above Scotland during The British Civil War, due to its alliance with England.  Russia significantly expanded its borders to the East.

Venice expanded its borders to the East and South, and annexed Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Western Turkey.

Clemente's son, Macbatten, tripled Sweden's land mass while his daughter, Bluefeather drastically expanded Austria's borders. It began to seem as if Clemente's empire was making a rapid reformation even after losing control of Russia.

## Wright's Dynasty - The Fall (1730 - 1737)

With most of Europe now claimed, The Age of Expansion was coming to a close, and problems were once again becoming visible. In October of 1730, rumors spread that Ferdinand Clemente had returned, and intended to ovethrow Clemente once and for all. Clemente's problems existed not only in Spain, but throughout his Empire, and would only worsen as the decade went on.

In 1731, Clemente's friend in Britain, Mcroberts, was defeated by Lord Samuel Redbeard, and England's future King, John Breasly. With the civil war in Britain over, stability had now returned to the governments of Spain's enemies, which would pose a great threat later on down the road.

The problems were not only external. Clemente's marriage had hit "Rock Bottom". Grace Goldtimbers was so fed up with Clemente's excessive military expansion that she divorced him in 1732. However, this divorce was not granted an annulment by the Pope, therefore, Goldtimbers and her family dropped out of The Pope's favor, and having sympathy for Clemente, The Pope and his Cardinals leaned towards supporting Clemente's military campaigns against The Pro-British Revolutions.

Having gained knowledge of Ferdinand's intents to overthrow his father in Spain, Goldtimbers called upon her brother, Jack Bluehawk to help overthrow Clemente in France. Suspecting a revolution, Clemente called upon an old adversary of his, Francis Bluehawk, who was now working as a mercenary who led an army of 50,000 Prussians to help defend France from the threat of revolution.

In 1734, Spain and France were both simultaneously hit hard by two massive revolutions. In France, King John Breasly and Lord Jack Bluehawk had assembled an army of 150,000, and in Spain, Ferdinand Clemente and Lord Samuel Redbeard had assembled an army of 250,000. Several other nations including Russia, Tuscany, and Denmark also joined in the war against Clemente.

Due to Clemente's great expansions in the East, he had cut his forces thin, and as a result, was severely outnumbered in both Spain and France. Knowing it was almost impossible to maintain control of both nations, Clemente had to make a choice. He could withdraw his forces in France to Spain to prevent from losing both, but be guaranteed the certainty of losing France, or he could keep half his army in Spain, and keep the other half in France, but risk losing everything. Fearing the ultimate destruction of his empire, Clemente decided to withdraw his entire army in France to Spain. He also ordered Francis Bluehawk's army of 50,000 Prussian mercenaries to help defend Spain as well.

Within only a few months, Clemente lost control over every major region in France. However, he did manage to repel the revolution in Spain, exile Ferdinand Clemente, and completely obliterate Redbeard's entire invasion force.

Unfortunately, Clemente's problems would not end here. In 1735, Britain made France its "puppet-state" and under extreme pressure, Grace Goldtimbers took a temporarily leave from the throne and left it to her Pro-British brother, Jack Bluehawk. Nearly a week after he was made King, he invaded Spanish Switzerland and Milan. Both were conquered within a couple of months.

Shortly after that, Clemente's daughter, threatened by the British invaders to the West, demanded independence from Clemente's Empire. At first, Clemente wouldn't have it, but recognizing that he didn't have the troops on hand to launch a full scale invasion of Austria and remove his daughter from power, he agreed to grant Austria independence as long as they would agree to maintain a permanent Mutual Defense Pact with Spain. This move is one of the main reasons why Hannah Bluefeather is widely considered "unfit" to rule seeing as she would have had the same obligations had she remained a part of Clemente's Empire.

In 1736, fearful of British invasion, Clemente's son Macbatten, the viceroy of Sweden also demanded independence from Clemente's Empire, but unlike Bluefeather, Macbatten refused to maintain any alliance or trade agreements with Spain, and as a result of this, Clemente declared war on Sweden in December of 1736, but took no immediate action. By 1737, Clemente's Empire had drastically decreased in size. Clemente had become the laugh of Europe. Britain and its alliances felt as if they were invincible, and completely overlooked the possibility of Spanish retribution. Unfortunately for them, only two years later, the entire European continent would be engulfed into another full scale war, larger than any the world had ever seen; The Paradoxian War.

## The Reconstruction Period - (1737 - 1739)

Though Clemente had lost over half his empire, he still held a few advantages over his enemies that they were completely blind to at the time. Because he hadn't taken any action against Austria, France, or Sweden, and had ordered all his armies back to Spain, he now controlled the largest army on the planet, consisting of roughly 1,700,000 men. At first, Clemente overlooked this, but when he gave a speech in 1738 on the shores of Gibraltar; the cheers, and screams that he recieved from the so many hundreds of thousands of people that held such high faith in Clemente,  inspired him to even further increase the size of his army, and reclaim the lands that he had lost due to rebellion and British corruption. Clemente also established a very stable government in Spain, full of men and women that he trusted his very life with. This would allow him to depart from Spain in the future, and not take the risk of a third civil war back in the Heartland.

To even further inspire the people of Spain, Clemente formed a critical alliance with The Pope. He also signed a Mutual Defense Pact with The Papal States, and promised The Vatican protection from all its enemies.

By 1739, Clemente's army had soared to 2.1 million fully trained, well equipped, and well fed Spanish soldiers. He was now ready to reclaim what was rightfully his.

## The Paradoxian War - (1739 - 1745)

*The War to end all wars... - Francis Bluehawk*

*It was during this war that Clemente made the most audacious move in the history of RP. On the 13th of February, 1739, he launched a full scale invasion of Russia with roughly 2.3 million fully trained Spanish troops at his disposal. What made The Paradoxian War so devastating, was strictly the fact that no one saw it coming. Britain had seemingly assumed us that they'd stored Clemente away forever after he had lost over half his empire in less than ten years. Unfortunately for them, this assumption would cost them dearly.*

In 1739, Czar Benjamin Macmorgan finally renounced the throne of Russia, however, untrue to his word, he did not restore powers to Clemente. Instead, he passed on the throne to a Pro-British subordinate named Andrew Mallace. Macmorgan then went on to gain fortunes in France which the British had practically conquered and were using as a puppet state. Infuriated by this betrayal, Clemente immediately declared war on Russia without the consent of anybody in The Spanish Government and dispatched his entire army from Madrid to St. Petersburg. In response, Britain, France, Denmark, and Tuscany all declared war on Spain. Fearing Spanish occupation, Johnny Sharkturner, a revolutionary in North Africa led a huge rebellion against The Ottoman Empire and won over a relatively large territory and founded The Barbary Republic in March, 1739. Convinced by British ambassadors that Spain would be defeated within the year, Sharkturner also declared war on Clemente and pledged total support to Macmorgan.

By the time Clemente had received word of all of this, his army had already passed over The French Border. Now faced with enemies on all fronts, Clemente's advance came to an abrupt hault and a meeting was held to decide what the army's next move should be. Almost all of Clemente's generals preferred an invasion of France or Britain over a long march into a freezing wasteland, and after several days of intense debating an agreement was finally reached. The invasion of Russia itself was set aside, and instead, Clemente fixed his eyes on conquering Spain's bordering nations. However, because he now had enemies closing in on all sides, he decided to split his army into three major flanks:\*The Northern Flank - Led by King Phillipe V Clemente himself. This army would consist of 1,000,000. It would be responsible for the invasion of France, Britain, and Denmark.\*The Eastern Flank - Led by Prince Ben Squidskull. This army would consist of 400,000. It would be responsible for the invasion of French Switzerland, and Tuscany.\*The Western Flank - Led by Overlord Augustine Clemente. This army would consist of 900,000. It would be responsible for the protection of The Spanish heartland, as well as the invasion of Portugal and The Barbary Republic.

In April, 1739, King Jeffrey Blastawhk of Portugal unconditonally surrendered and Portugal seceded to Spain. Soon after, Duke Davy Badbones of Andorra was instated by Clemente as The Viceroy of the new Portuguese province. Meanwhile, Clemente's Northern Flank was rapidly advancing into France. Then finally, on July 12th, 1739, British and French forces exchanged fire with Clemente's army at the battle of Toulouse.

### The Battle of Toulouse, France - (July 12th - July 15th, 1739)

 A combined British and French army of 200,000 under Lord Samuel Redbeard engages Clemente's army of 1,000,000 at the first battle of The Paradoxian War. Expecting a much smaller force, Redbeard is taken by surprise, but nevertheless, he decides to engage Clemente anyway hoping to inflict heavy casualties forcing Clemente to withdraw back to Barcelona.

   At roughly 5pm, the first shots are fired when Redbeard's infantry are bombarded by Clemente's cannons from across the river. Within a few hours, Redbeard's main infantry line is ripped to shreads. As his rear infantry flank moves in to support the front flank as it retreats behind the line of fire, Clemente's calvary crush the entirety of Redbeard's infantry from the East. At 9pm, Redbeard's army retreats into the city, and Clemente agrees to a cease fire until morning. The following day, Redbeard is awakened to the sound of Spanish cannons bombarding the city. Immediately, he rallies his troops together and fires back with all he has. After the outer city defenses are taken down, Clemente's massive infantry line of 800,000 begins advancing on the city. One British lieutenant wrote, *"The ground trembled as the massive army decended upon the city like an army of locusts."* By nightfall, Clemente had moved his infantry into the city, and ordered his artillery to cease fire.

As Clemente advanced further and further into the city, it began to seem that Redbeard wasn't even putting up a fight. Clemente began to sense that he was being lured into a trap, and coincidentally only an hour later, when Clemente's infantry was too far into the city to withdraw to protect his artillery, a large force of 20,000 British calvary under General Ericson Machawk charged down from the mountains to the West of Toulouse and crushed Clemente's Western Artillery Flank. Confused and panic stricken, Clemente's cannoneers abandoned their posts and fled the field. Once Clemente received word of the attack, he considered turning his entire force around to protect his Artillery, but was later informed that *his* calvary force of 60,000 under General George Sailward and engaged and defeated Machawk.

Now confident that he had Redbeard surrounded, he ordered his entire force to move into the city, and by the morning of the 15th of July, Redbeard was cornered at the central city square and surrendered the city to Clemente. Respecting Redbeard's honor and courage, Clemente allowed his crippled army to retreat to Bordeaux.

Casualties

* Spanish - 53,000
* British/French - 148,000

Political Results

* France loses nearly a quarter of its territory. Britain is shocked by Redbeard's defeat and requests that Parliament send reinforcements to France immediately.

Many nations had greatly invested in Britain, and after Redbeard's army was crushed at Toulouse, governments throughout Europe began to reconsider who they were siding with in the war. On August 2nd, 1739, Austria entered the war on Spain's side. Shortly after, The Papal States also entered the war after Cardinal Hector Wildhayes persuaded Pope Clement XII into believing that Britain was intent on invading The Italian Peninsula.

While Clemente continued advancing through Southern France, Prince Squidskull engaged an army of 50,000 French soldiers under General Ryan Blademonk at Mont Blanc in Southern Switzerland. This was not seen as a major battle of The Paradoxian War, but was however a very important step in the invasion of Switzerland. Blademonk's entire force was obliterated, and Blademonk himself was captured and sent to a war prison in Bilbao, Spain. In late August, Clemente captured Bordeaux. However, Redbeard had left weeks prior for Tours where a reinforcing army of 75,000 was awaiting his command. As Clemente marched further into The French Heartland, Prince Squidskull led an attack on Bern, Switzerland in September where he was aided by a smaller army of 40,000 Austrians. Within a week, the city fell. There was a small disagreement as to what Austria would inherit, which was eventually resolved when Squidskull threatened to invade Austria if they did not stand down. These acts of boldness were what helped make Spain dominate at the beginning of The Paradoxian War, but would take a toll on Clemente's Empire later on in history.

By Mid November, Clemente had taken Tours and had once again defeated Redbeard. At Tours, Redbeard was once again outnumbered with only 160,000 men. Clemente suffered few casualties and instead of making the mistake he had made at the previous battle, Clemente forced his enemy to come out of the city by barraging it for several days. Redbeard had very few artillery pieces to match Clemente with, and when he tried to advance upon Clemente from the lower ground, his forces were cut to ribbons, and he was forced to retreat even further, back to Paris.

With France nearly entirely under Spanish control, many of Britain's allies began to fear Clemente's ambitions. In January of 1740, Denmark withdrew from The First Coalition against Clemente. In response, Britain declared war on Denmark shortly after as they needed access through The Baltic Sea to send reinforcements to Macmorgan should he need them, or vice versa.

Prince Squidskull invaded and conquered French Milan and Western Tuscany in Mid January, but was unconfident that he would be able to take Venice. There was a large British Fleet there, as well as an additional 90,000 British/Tuscan infantry, calvary, and artillery pieces. Squidskull's force had been reduced to 150,000 and fearing the possibility of a crushing defeat, he waited in Bolgona and wrote to Clemente requesting reinforcements.

While all of this was occurring, Johnny Sharkturner of The Barbary Republic attempted to take the Spanish port of Gibraltar but was easily repelled and retreated back to Africa.

### The Battle for Paris - (November 8th - November 17th, 1740)

Nearly a year after the war began, Clemente marched on Paris with a revitalized army of 1,200,000. He had received Squidskull's letter requesting reinforcements, but wrote back stating that a siege on Venice could wait a few months. Realizing that losing Paris could very well cost Britain the war, The British Parliament sent an additional 200,000 troops to aid the already 300,000 present in Paris. The defense of Paris was left to Lord Samuel Redbeard, Lord William Brawlmartin, and King Jack Bluehawk. The Battle for Paris is considerably the second biggest battle of The Paradoxian War.

On the 8th of November, 1740, Clemente's massive army was spotted just beyond the River Seine. Bluehawk had suggested that Redbeard keep his forces behind the first outer layer of the city's fortifications, but Redbeard insisted that the entire army be placed outside the city so that their artillery would have a clear shot at Clemente's army. While this was true, putting Redbeard's army outside of Paris left it completely exposed to Clemente's much more powerful artillery force which outnumbered Redbeard's four to one.

Fortunately for Redbeard, he did have a couple of advantages that Clemente lacked:\*Clemente's army would have trouble crossing the River Seine as they'd be under fire from their own artillery as well as Redbeard's. The River had only two shallow crossing, each which Redbeard had heavily guarded.\*The ground was damp, therefore making it difficult for Clemente to maneuver his artillery into position. This slowed progress and left Clemente's forces even more vulnerable to enemy bombardment. Like Redbeard, Clemente had two major advantages over his enemy; superior artillery, and superiority in numbers. At around 8pm, Redbeard began his bombardment against Clemente's army as it slowly moved into position. It took nearly a day for Clemente to position his artillery exactly how he wanted it, and by then, several thousand Spanish soldiers had been wounded from enemy artillery. By the time Clemente's forces were in position, night had fallen, and they were extremely fatigued. Clemente's generals advised him that it would be wisest to wait the night out and strike in the morning when the soldiers were fed and rested, but Clemente insisted that the River Seine had to be crossed at night to cut the casualties.

After a long heated debate, Clemente's generals agreed that if the river were to be crossed, it would have to be by cover of night fall. However, Clemente decided that he did not want to strike immediately, for three reasons:\*His army was exhausted and fatigued.\*The weather was poor.\*He had a highly superior artillery force, and wanted to loosen up Redbeard's defenses before he sent his infantry across the Riveer Seine. And so, Clemente and Redbeard bombarded each other for the next four days. Heavy casualties were inflicted on both sides. Reports suggest that Clemente had lost 50,000 men by the 14th, while Redbeard had lost nearly 80,000. However, these numbers would soar once Clemente tried crossing the River Seine.Finally, after 6 days of indirect contact, Clemente sent 400,000 infantry across the River Seine under cover of nightfall. At first, things seemed to be working well, but at roughly 3am, once about half of Clemente's force was across the river; disaster struck. A Spanish soldier had set off a mine, which broke the silence of the night, and alerted the entire French garrison. Immediately, Redbeard's forces rose out of their tents and began marching to engage Clemente's army. As they marched, Redbeard's artillery pieces obliterated the nearby Spanish troops.

Clemente awoke enraged at his generals, panting around, screaming, *"Can't I leave the field for half an hour? What's the matter with you fools!? Where are my infantry!?"* By the time Clemente's army had gotten across the river, around 10,000 had been slaughtered by Redbeard's artillery. Fearing defeat, Clemente himself was mounted on his horse, and led a division of 20,000 calvary across an alternate crossing to the South. He ordered all artillery pieces to open fire on Redbeard's advancing army.

Fortunately for Clemente, by the time he'd crossed the river, his infantry had overwhelmed Redbeard, and were storming the city's outer garrison. As his army scaled the city walls, Clemente rode in from the rear, with a burning British flag in one hand, and a sword in the other, shouting, *"VIVA LA ESPANA!!!"* The entire army cheered and screamed as Clemente made his way to the front lines. Even more encouraged to win the day, Clemente's infantry battered down the outer gates, and charged into the city.

For the next two days, Clemente's army pushed through the city, slaughtering anyone that resisted, taking no prisoners. Fianlly, on the 16th, Clemente cornered Redbeard, Brawlmartin, and Bluehawk around Notre Dame. A desperate attempt was made by Redbeard to evacuate Bluehawk, but was quickly foiled. Bluehawk was caught shortly after he crossed The River Seine and was sent to a war prison in Madrid where he would face the wrath of Augustine Clemente, Overlord of The Spanish Army. By 3pm on the 17th of February, only a small group of British soldiers remained inside The Notre Dame. Clemente had surrounded the cathedral with 60 12 pounders, and threatened to demolish the entire Church along with the resistance within it.

At 5pm, three British soldiers made their way out of the Cathedral bearing a white flag tainted with blood. The soldiers walked through a narrow path, formed between two thin lines of single file Ranger Templars, the last existing ones within Clemente's army. When the soldiers reached the end of the narrow path, they dropped to the ground before Clemente and accepted unconditional surrender. Clemente dismounted, and a priest approached him from the side, bowing his head with a large golden bowl filled with holy water blessed by Cardinal Hector Wildhayes. Clemente dipped his hands in the water and blessed each of the soldiers. He then gave the order for the doors to Notre Dame to be opened, and for all the British soldiers and generals to be escorted back to the sea where they could be pardoned to return home to Britain.

The battle for Paris had many lasting effects. It ended Samuel Redbeard's military career. It ended Britain's occupation of France, and it convinced the world that Spain was once again *the* European superpower.

Casualties\*Spanish

* Spanish - 257,000
* British - 598,000

Political Results\*Samuel Redbeard lost control of The British Army.

* Spain gained many new allies.
* France was now completely under Spanish control.

After Paris fell to Spain. Britain realized that Clemente was virtually unstoppable on land. However, having been isolated from the mainland for centuries, The British Empire had created the largest navy on Earth. King John Breasly of England knew that defeating Clemente at sea was the only chance Britain had in preventing Spain from conquering Britain itself.

So, in June of 1740, The British Parliament dispatched a fleet of 150 warships carrying 90,000 infantry, 300 artillery, and 5,000 calvary under Admiral Johnny Coaleaston to invade the heartland of The Spanish Empire.Parliament hoped to scare Clemente into turning around and marching his army back to Spain, leaving France defenseless. However, by now, Augustine's army in Spain was even larger than Clemente's in France, so he didn't even bother.

The invasion of Spain in 1740 is considered to be one of the worst military disasters in the history of RP. Though Britain's navy was in many ways superior to Spain's; invading Spain was almost suicide from the start. Coaleaston's army was severely outnumbered, outgunned, and unfamiliar with the terrain. Even worse, the nearest supply depot was all the way back in England. In addition to all of that, Coaleaston would be facing Spain's second best military commander; Augustine Clemente, Overlord of The Spanish Army.

Coaleaston's original orders were to secure the coastal city of Léon, which was of great strategical importance to Spain. It held the only major seaport in Northern Spain. Without it, Clemente's supply routes would be severely delayed.British intelligence suggested that Augustine's army was in Madrid, which was a 10 day march from Léon. However, this isn't what worried Coaleaston. The British Parliament had completely overlooked the possibility of a counter Spanish naval engagement. Parliament assumed that the bulk of Spain's navy was either in Gibraltar, or off the coast of Sicily. This assumption by Parliament would cost the lives of Britain's greatest fleet, greatest admiral, and 90,000 British soldiers.

On July, 3rd, 1740, Coaleaston's fleet reached the Northern shores of the Iberian Peninsula, and began undocking. At first, things seemed to being going well. Coaleaston had encountered no resistance, and the strong Southern winds allowed the British ships to sail smoothly into the Bay of Biscay.

However, shortly after Coaleaston began undocking his troops, a dense fog rolled in from the North completely obscuring the rear naval guard's vision. Coaleaston wrote, "The situation had gone from great to terrible within a matter of hours. We couldn't see five feet in front of us, and just when I thought the circumstances couldn't possibly worsen, we came under fire from a Spanish fleet to the West."

Completely undetected, a spy had overheard talk of the invasion of Spain a month prior and had warned Augustine in advance. Augustine had Coaleaston right where he wanted him. It was the ideal situation for a Spanish counter attack, and the fog only made matters worse for Coaleaston. Not only were his ships now anchored and vulnerable, but he couldn't even see where his enemies were attacking from.

As Coaleaston's ships attempted to pull up their anchors, they were all peppered with cannon fire from a fleet of 40 120 gun Spanish SOTL's under Admiral William Sharkskull. Coaleaston made one last attempt to save his men by scuttling his ships and sending them into the Spanish armada, but they were quickly sunk, and within only a few hours, Coaleaston and his entire fleet lay at the bottom of the ocean leaving 30,000 British troops stranded on the Iberian Peninsula with no one to command them. As Sharkskull's unscathed armada sailed through the ruin of Coaleaston's fleet, he rounded up nearly 20,000 British sailors and had them all executed by firing line once they were "safely" onboard. At the beginning of the war, Clemente had been known to be somewhat merciful and pious; but after Britain attempted to invade the Spanish heartland, Clemente had letters sent to each of his generals stating that they could use any tactics necessary to win the war against Britain.

As for the 30,000 British troops stranded outside of Leon; Augustin Clemente sent an army of 100,000 and crushed them before they were able to launch an invasion on the city. Though these two battles were of critical strategic importance, they are not considered "major" as they aren't comparable to battles such as those for Paris, Venice, or Tolouse, where up to 12X as many people may have died, and an entire country's fate may have been pinned on the battle's outcome.

    For the next few months, neither side engaged the other. There were skirmishes throughout Northern France and Tuscany, but no major movements by either side. Clemente had just reclaimed France, and needed to instate a strong central and sustainable government before he moved on to Denmark whereas Great Britain had lost a series of major battles and needed to build an entirely new army before it returned to the offensive. In addition to not having a single major army, roughly a third of Britain's navy had been destroyed during the invasion of Spain. Fearing invasion, Breasly called all of his ships in The Baltic back to England.

Finally, in November, Clemente marched East from Paris to aid Prince Squidskull in Italy. Squidskull's force had been under fire from British and Tuscan artillery and had been further reduced to less than 80,000 men whereas British and Tuscan forces now totalled 120,000. In addition to this, there was a large British fleet just outside of Venice. Clemente realized that taking Venice would be the end of the British threat in The Mediterranean. He assumed that due to the series of major battles that he'd won against Britain that they would pose no threat to France for at least a year. Clemente's army in France after the battle of Paris totalled 800,000. However, Clemente wanted to conquer more than just Venice. He'd heard the rumors of what fortunes may lie in The East, and fascinated by them, he took 600,000 men from his army, and marched East leaving France with only 200,000, only a quarter of what his initial force was.There were many problems that Clemente had completely overlooked when he set out for Venice. Genoa denied Clemente passage and therefore Clemente would have to pass through the Swiss Alps. This route was dangerous year round, but was especially dangerous since December was only weeks away. Many of Clemente's generals advised that he simply invade Genoa, but Clemente knew of the alliance that they had with The Ottoman Empire, and didn't want to risk open war with Robert Shipstealer.

It would take Clemente two months to reach Venice, and somewhere between 5,000 - 10,000 men perished in the Alps. However, by February of 1741 Clemente's huge army met with Squidskull outside Venice where the two began going over invasion plans. Squidskull proposed that they strike immediately, but Clemente believed that he would be more successfull if he formed a blockade around Venice starving the city of food, water, and supplies. There was only one problem. Clemente didn't have a single ship anywhere near Venice, and The British had a massive fleet stationed right outside the city. Clemente could blockade Venice on land, but that would only make The Venitians resort to trading through the sea, and at the time, 70% of Venice's trade lines were sea routes, meaning Clemente's blockade would have a limited effect.

Even if Venice were taken, The British Navy would be able to blockade it from the sea, and bombard it until The Spanish withdrew. Clemente concluded that the only way he could achieve victory was through Naval dominance. His closest fleet, "Flota De Fuego" was stationed in Valencia, which would take a month to reach Venice. The fleet in Valencia was only half the size of The British fleet in Venice, however, it did have one huge advantage. With La Flota De Fuego sailed a massive 170 gunned, Phoenix Class Spanish SOTL; "The Santissima Trinidad". The Santissima Trinidad was the largest in the World by 1740. It could carry up to 2,000 men, and had obliterated French and Barbary fleets in the past. It had been personally blessed by Pope John V and Cardinal Hector Wildhayes, and was armored with thin steel plates basked in wax which would literally make cannon balls bounce off the hulls of the ship. The British had never faced it before, and therefore would be completely taken by surprise at the sight of the massive vessel.

Clemente tasked one of his most skilled admirals, a former Ranger Lord, "Spadus Iganacio II" with commanding La Flota De Fuego from The Sanitissima Trinidad. The Spanish fleet consisted of 57 ships, roughly half the size of The British Fleet in Venice. The fleet dispatched from Valencia on the tenth of March, 1741 and was scheduled to arrive on the seventeenth of April. Clemente ordered his men to construct a large 20 foot wall around the entirety of Venice consisting of earth, wood and stone. Britain had expected Clemente to siege the city immediately, but instead, he created a wall outside Venice's walls which inturn would create a "Death Zone" in between Clemente's outer Walls and Venice's Outer Walls. Anyone that entered this "Death Zone" would be pinned down and obliterated by fire from both sides.

Venice had only two weeks of reserve supplies and food since it had been exporting all of its recources to France to help fuel The Defensive against Clemente's advancing armies. All of these export supply routes were intercepted and pillaged by Clemente's advancing armies. Clemente had decimated the land between his newly erected wall, and Venice's outer walls, and was using all of the farmland outside his wall to fuel his blockading army. Britain knew it only had a couple of weeks before it'd have to act, or Venice would have to cope with starvation until reinforcements arrived, if they ever did.

The commander of The British Garrison in Venice, "General Davy Hookwrecker", was confident that the fleet stationed outside of Venice would act as the city’s “big brother” and scare the Spaniards into striking. He was completely clueless to what Clemente had on the planned for him. Clemente’s “Outer Wall” was built in only 2 weeks, and for the next 6 weeks 23,000 Venetian soldiers and civilians would perish trying to escape Venice. The city was starved of food and supplies, and no reinforcements had come to their aid as Hookwrecker had hoped they would.

On the 10th of March, The Spanish Fleet was spotted from The Venetian Walls. Completely oblivious and taken by surprise, The British Fleet pulled up anchor and attempted to get into a defensive formation. As the British Fleets cast off to prevent The Spanish ships from coming within firing range of the city, Hookwrecker ordered most of his men to the fortified coastal position along the city to aid The British Fleet. Doing this left the Western Wall weak. Clemente knew this was his opportunity. He immediately ordered a 200,000 man infantry advance.

Clemente suspected that this large advance would draw Hookwrecker back into the city, so he dispatched Squidskull with an army of 100,000 to march to the shores of Venice and scale the walls to cut off Hookwrecker from behind should he attempt to retreat back into the city. Clemente made it very clear to Squidskull that he was not to strike until Hookwrecker's forces retreated back into the city, and if they didn't Squidskull would need to make camp and wait for further orders. Within an hour of the first Spanish spottings, The British and Spanish fleets engaged fire. Admiral Spadus had held his flag ship, the Santissima Trinidad behind the line of fire and sent in 6 of his 106  gunned SOTL's. The British Admiral, Billy Hullbatten, sent his entire fleet straight at The Spanish. He had hoped that this would scare them into routing away from the city so that Hookwrecker's men could get into defense positions before The Spanish attacked. This massive blunder was exactly what Spadus wanted. Spadus' subordinate commanders advised him to turn and broadside before the British ships got too close, but he refused. Spadus turned and stated to his men, "Our King once taught me a valuable lesson." The men looked at him with confusion. "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. That's rude manners yes?" All the men laughed and then grew silent once more. Spadus pointed to The British fleet, "Look there." All the men walked towards the edge of the boat. "They're superior in numbers, yes, but was it numbers that let Clemente unite Spain and fend off The British invaders? No. These men fight for a corrupt king hundreds of miles away." Spadus pointed towards the land. "Our king sits right there. Victory is dependant upon us. If we falter now, thousands of our fellow Spaniards will perish at the hands of these British bastards!" The crowd chanted as Spadus raised his voice. "You are soldiers of Phillipe V Clemente! Today I will lead you into war against these blasphemous devils and together we will conquer evil!" The crowd roared louder and chanted, "Viva La Espana!" "To your posts sailors! Fight with me today!" Spadus ordered. The Trinidad then pulled up anchor and slowly crept onto the field of battle. Meanwhile, at the front lines, Spadus' large SOTL's were holding back The British advance but it was only a matter of time before they would give way and the British would break through. The British ships had all grouped tightly together making it hard to manuever or even exchange fire without hitting their own ships. Spadus dispatched 10 of his 70 gun Frigates, and 18 of his 40 gun galleons and had them surround the sides of The British Fleet. Soon after, The British Fleet broke through the Spanish line, leaving 4 of Spadus' 106 gun SOTL's heavily damaged and 2 halfway sunk. However, as The British ships charged through The broken Spanish line, they saw something that they simply couldn't fathom. The Flagship of The Spanish Navy, The massive Santissima Trinidad was sailing right towards them. Spadus himself was at the helm, and ordered the rest of his fleet to wait behind. As The Trinidad charged at The British ships, Admiral Hullbatten began to realize what a Hell Hole he had fallen into. The British Fleet was peppered with cannon fire from all sides as they attempted to manuever helplessly out of the kill-zone. The Trinidad charged into the center of the British Fleet and fired both broadsides, instantly obliterating 2 of the 7 British SOTL's, The HMS Bristol and The HMS Hemingway. The British attempted to return fire, but ended up hitting their own ships for the most part, and those that were able to hit The Trinidad were in disbelief when they saw the cannon balls bounce right off the sides of The Trinidad's steel hulls. Determined to sink The Trinidad, Hullbatten took control of the helm of the British flagship, HMS Araxes, a 132 gunned First Rate SOTL. It was the pride of The British Mediterranean fleet, and Hullbatten was confident that with the aid of the rest of the British fleet surrounding the Trinidad that he'd be able to sink it.

Scholars suggest that by this point in the battle, Hullbatten knew he couldn't win. His entire fleet was surrounded, and he was taking heavy casualties at a rate much faster than the British were. However, Hullbatten concluded that if he was going to go down, he'd make sure that he brought the pride of The Spanish Navy down with him. By nightfall, Britain's force had been reduced to 40 battle capable ships, and Spain, which had initially had only half the force of the British, had 42. At roughly 10PM, the HMS Araxes and the HMS Alexander both aligned on the opposite sides of The Trinidad and opened fire. This time, the broadsides of the British ships pierced through the Trinidad's armor, however, Spadus believed that the damage sustained was little compared to that delivered upon the HMS Araxes and the HMS Alexander. The Alexander was taking on water, and was tilting to its portside. The Araxes had been partially engulfed in flames, but the fire was quickly put out. Fearing total destruction, the Alexander's captain ordered the ship to break formation and flee. It was however quickly obliterated by the broadsides of the surrounding Spanish fleet. Hullbatten, now determined to take Spadus down with him, turned 180 degrees, and went back at the Trinidad for another round. Unfortunately, this time, would be his last. The Araxes now had only 98 working guns, while the Trinidad still had 120. Spadus ordered his gun lieutenants to put highly explosive barrels in the canisters which released a swarm of nails and sharp shrapnel, followed by poisonous gasses gathered years prior in the Amazon rainforest. The two ships engaged, and at first, upon looking at the damage that had been done to the Trinidad, Hullbatten felt encouraged, but once he started hearing the screams below deck from all the men which had been inflicted by the tortuous devices within the Spanish cannon balls, his heart skipped a beat and when he turned to look at the Trinidad he saw Spadus staring right back at him with a grim smirk on his face. The entire crew on the 2 levels below the top deck died of poison intake and damage from the shrapnel of the Spanish cannon balls within a couple of minutes. Spadus circled around and opened fire once again, and with 60% of his crew now gone, Hullbatten was unable to return fire quickly enough to save his men, or himself. The Araxes was literally shot out of the ocean, and ripped to shreads. As the Trinidad sailed away, a massive explosion went off which scared the other British ships into retreating back to land. Spadus ordered his entire fleet to advance behind them and shoot them down before they reached the shore.

The men on the deck of The Trinidad chanted and rallied together waving their colors and singing songs of victory, and as Spadus looked to his men with pride and dignity, he felt as if he was unstoppable, but then... horror struck. A scream was held from below deck, "FUEGO, FUEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!". The crew went silent, and Spade walked down the stairs to see what the problem was, then out of nowhere, the entire ship exploded in a ball of fire and smoke. The entire crew instantly vaporized. Everyone present at the battle, turned around in disbelief with dropped jaws, and wide bloodshot eyes.

The naval battle outside of Venice had costed Spain its most prized ship, as well as its best admiral. The explosion was so large, it was seen from the shore. Clemente himself arose from his chambers and gazed upon the ploom of fire and smoke in disbelief as the remnants of the Trinidad plummeted to the bottom of the ocean. Clemente made the sign of the cross around his chest, and then turned and yelled, "TO WAR!!!!!". The men all chanted and took up their arms as Clemente personally led them on foot into battle.

*(Archived Past History)*

## **Our National Anthem**

**Spanish lyrics**

 ¡Viva España! Cantemos todos juntos con distinta voz y un solo corazón. ¡Viva España! Desde los verdes valles al inmenso mar, un himno de hermandad. Ama a la Patria pues sabe abrazar, bajo su cielo azul, pueblos en libertad. Gloria a los hijos que a la Historia dan justicia y grandeza democracia y paz.

**English lyrics**

 Long live Spain! Let's sing together, with different voices, and only one heart. Long live Spain! From the green valleys, to the immense sea, a hymn of brotherhood. Love the Motherland, which knows how to embrace, below the blue sky, people in freedom. Glory to the sons, who have given to history, justice and greatness, democracy and peace.

## **Department of State**

The Spanish Empire has embassies in the capitals of every single nation on the planet. The Department of State's responsibility is to try and resolve political matters through diplomacy rather than war even in some of the most hostile nations on Earth. The Head of The Spanish Department of State

#### **A.) List of Spanish Embassies**

* Great Britain - London Embassy
* Switzerland - Bern Embassy\*Romania - Bucharest Embassy
* Poland - Warsaw Embassy
* Austria - Vienna Embassy\*Prussia - Berlin Embassy
* China - Beijing Embassy\*Japan - Kyoto Embassy
* Genoa - Genoa Embassy
* Barbary Republic - Tunis Embassy
* Wurttemberg - Stuttgart Embassy
* The Vatican - Vatican City Embassy
* The Netherlands - Amsterdam Embassy

#### **B.) List of Spanish Ambassadors**

* Switzerland - (Vacant)\*

Romania - (Vacant)\*
Poland - (Vacant)

* Austria - (Vacant)
* Prussia - (Vacant)
* China - (Vacant)
* Japan - (Vacant)
* Genoa - (Vacant)
* Barbary Republic - (Vacant)
* Wurttemberg - (Vacant)\*The Vatican (Vacant)
* The Netherlands - (Vacant)

### **C.) International Relations**

* The Vatican
* Pope Benedict XIV
* Allied/Mutual Defense Pact
* Active Trading
* Very Friendly

* The British Empire
* King George II
* At War
* Sanction and Embargo
* Hostile

* The Austrian Empire
* Empress Hannah Bluefeather
* Allied
* Active Trading
* Friendly

* The United Providences/The Netherlands
* President Jarod Pillagebain
* At War
* Sanction and Embargo
* Hostile

* The Confederacy of Switzerland
* King Tyler Crossbones
* Allied/Mutual Defense Pact
* Sanction and Embargo
* Hostile

* France - (Province of The Spanish Empire)
* King Phillipe V Clemente and Queen Grace Goldtimbers
* Allied/Mutual Defense Pact
* Active Trading
* Very Friendly

* Russia - (Province of The Spanish Empire)
* Duke Jason Brawlmartin
* Allied/Mutual Defense Pact
* Active Trading
* Very Friendly

* The Ottoman Providences - (Province of The Spanish Empire)
* Duke Hannibal Clemente
* Allied/Mutual Defense Pact
* Active Trading
* Very Friendly

* Sweden - (Providence of The Spanish Empire)
* Duke Jack Darksteel
* Allied/Mutual Defense Pact\*Active Trading
* Friendly

* Poland
* (Unknown)
* Neutral
* No Active Trade Policies
* Indifferent

* Portugal - (Province of The Spanish Empire)
* Duchess Grace Redskull
* Allied/Mutual Defense Pact
* Active Trading
* Very Friendly

## The Spanish Royal Family

* ~~King Phillipe V Clemente of Spain and France~~
* King Ferdinand VI of Spain
* ~~Queen Isabella V Clemente~~
* Queen Mother Grace Goldtimbers of France
* ~~Pope Hector Wildhayes~~
* ~~Prince Ben Squidskull of Spain, Sicily, and Naples~~
* Prince George Sailward of Spain
* ~~Princess Jade Stormfury of Spain and Naples~~
* ~~Duke Jack Darksteel of Sweden\*Duke Jason Brawlmartin of Russia~~
* Duchess Grace Redskull of Portugal
* Empress Hannah Bluefeather of Austria/Princess of Spain and France\*Duke Samuel Ironshot of Spain and Nueva Espana
* Viceroy Hannibal Clemente of The Ottoman Provdences/Prince of Spain\*Viceroy Samuel Creststeel of The Phillippines/Prince of Spain
	+ *For more information on The Spanish Royal Family, please click here.*

***(NO LONGER OFFICIAL)***

**(ARCHIVED)**

## **Territories**

The Spanish Empire is the largest and most powerful empire on Earth. Its territories stretch to every corner of the globe, and because of Clemente's audacity in war, Spain has become the largest European power in history. It currently controls nearly 75% of Europe, both directly an indirectly.

### Europe

* **Spain** - The Motherland region of The Spanish Empire. Spain is a large region in the most Southern part of Europe home to 18,000,000 people. This region is considered to have given birth to RP. Spain has a very rich and diverse cultural heritage from the times of Muslim and Barbarian occupation to the times of Kings and Queens. Spain has been invaded many times in the past but has never been fully conquered by any man other than Phillipe V Clemente who united Spain together after he overthrew his father, Spartan Petalbee.
* **Gibraltar** - Located on the tip of Southern Spain, Gibraltar is a small region of great strategical importance home to nearly 30,000 Spaniards, Moroccans, and Italians. It's said that whoever controls Gibraltar, controls the waterway between Europe, and Africa, connecting The Atlantic Ocean to The Mediterranean.
* **~~Portugal~~** ~~- Portugal is a relatively moderate sized region to the West of Spain bordering The Atlantic home to over 7,000,000 people. Before it was annexed during The Paradoxian War, Portugal acquired several colonies in South America and Asia and once it became a province of The Spanish Empire, these vast amounts of colonies all became subject to Spanish rule. like "Spain", many foreign enemies have attempted to invade Portugal, but all have failed.~~ (Territory lost)
* **~~France~~** ~~- France is one of of the oldest regions in European, and RP History. In addition to this, it is also the most populous region in all of Western Europe home to roughly 24,000,000 people. France has been conquered and controlled by several different nations throughout the century, including, Britain, Prussia, and Spain. France's capitol city, "Paris", is considered to be a center of enlightenment, wealth, power, and culture. France has been a part of Spain for several years but has gone back and forth to different rulers multiple times. However, recently after The war of French Succession in 1746, all of France aside from Brittany, (which remained under the control of Bobby Moon) became a province of The Spanish Empire under the direct control of King Phillipe V Clemente.~~ (Territory lost)
* **~~The Spanish Netherlands~~** ~~- The Spanish Netherlands/Belgium is a area of land between France and The Netherlands nearly twice the size of The Netherlands home to roughly 1,200,000 people. This piece of land has been under Spanish control for nearly a century and is of great strategical importance as it is bordering both The Netherlands and The English Channel.~~ (Territory lost)
* **~~Sicily~~** ~~- Sicily is the most southern region in Italy home to roughly 1,800,000 people and has been under Spanish rule ever since Spartan Petalbee unified The Spanish people. It is currently governed by Prince Ben Squidskull.~~ (Territory lost)
* **~~Naples~~** ~~- Naples is the largest region within on The Italian Peninsula to the north of Italy and is home to roughly 5,400,000 people. Like Sicily, it has been under Spanish rule ever since Spartan Petalbee unified The Spanish people and is currently governed by Prince Ben Squidskull.~~ (Territory lost)
* **~~Corsica~~** ~~- Corsica is a small Franco-Italian-Spanish region to the West of Italy, below France. It is a critical Mediterranean port within The Spanish Empire. It is a part of The Triple Legion which is currently governed by Prince Ben Squidskull.~~ (Territory lost)
* **The Papal States** - The Papal States is the most central region of The Italian Peninsula and is home to roughly 6,300,000 people. It is also home to The Pope, and is the center of all of Christendom throughout Europe.\* **Venice** - "The Port to Europe". Venice is an average sized region in North-Eastern Italy connecting Austria, and The Balkans to the Italian Peninsula. It is an extremely valuable Mediterranean port. The Spanish acquired Venice in 1741 during The Paradoxian War. A total of 2,300,000 people inhabit the Venetian region, most of which live in "Venice", the capital of The Veneitian region.
* Milan
* ~~Bosnia~~
* ~~Greece~~
* ~~Ukraine~~
* ~~Sweden~~
* ~~Norway~~
* ~~Lithuania~~
* ~~Russia~~
* ~~Iceland~~
* ~~Crete~~

### Africa

* **Northern Morocco** - Northern Morocco is the most Northern region in all of Africa, directly below Gibraltar. It is home to roughly 3,000,000 people. When coming from Spain to Africa, Northern Morocco is the first stop. Nothern Morocco borders the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
* Southern Morocco - Southern Mouthern Morocco is the more populous Moroccan region, below Northern Morocco home to roughly 1,300,000 people. Southern Moroco borders the Atlantic.
* Tunisia
* Libya
* Egypt
* Madagascar
* Angola
* Somalia

### Middle East

* ~~Turkey~~
* ~~Israel~~
* ~~Palestine~~
* ~~Lebanon~~
* ~~Southern Arabia~~
* ~~Northern Arabia~~
* ~~Iraq~~
* ~~Iran~~

### Asia

* ~~Goa~~
* Philippines
* ~~Russia~~
* ~~Northern Siam~~

### North and South America

* Nueva Espana
* Cuba
* Hispaniola
* Peru
* Argentina
* Brazil
* Colombia
* Mexico
* Bolivia
* Guyana
* Ecuador
* Florida

***( We are currently working on adding subpages for each of these territories with detailed information for each region providing economic, militaristic, political, religious, ethnic, and government details. )***

## **Economy**

The Economy of The Spanish Empire is The World's largest National Economy. With an annual GDP of roughly 527 Billion Pasetas, The Spanish Empire is a thriving nation both economically, and politically.

* **Annual GDP** - ₧527,000,000,000
* **GDP per Capita** - ₧894
* **GDP by Sector** - Agriculture: 34%, Industry: 43%, Services: 23%
* **Inflation** - 1.9%
* **Total Population** - 73,000,000
* **Homeless Population** - 800,000
* **Population below poverty line** - 17% - 12,410,000
* **Unemployment** - 6%
* **Export income** - ₧127,000,000,000
* **Import expenses** - ₧9,000,000,000
* **Major Export goods** - Machinery, Wine, Fruits, Vegetables, Wheat, Gold, Diamonds, Coal, Copper, Iron, Steel, Wood, Silver, Marble, Coffee, Furs, Silk
* **Major** I**mport goods** - Machinery, Spices, Tea
* **Revenues** - ₧217,000,000,000
* **Annual Expenses** - ₧432,000,000,000
* **National Deficit** - ₧72,000,000,000

#### **Distribution of Wealth**

The Spanish Empire is divided into three different social classes:

* **The First Estate** - 1% of The Population. The First Estate controls roughly 60% of The Economy, and 40% of the land. The First Estate is made up of Royalty, Nobles, and High commanding Government and Military officials.
* **The Second Estate** - 2% of The Population. The Second Estate controls roughly 20% of The Economy, and 10% of the land. The Second Estate is made up of Clergy-men, Cardinals, Bishops, and Monks.
* **The Third Estate** - 97% of The Population. The Third Estate controls roughly 20% of The Economy, and 50% of the land. The Third Estate is made up of merchants and peasants. However, there are several wealthy men and women within this estate, including business owners, inventors, educators, writers, and lawyers.

## **The Department of Warfare**

The Spanish Empire is considered to be the most powerful in Europe. It utilizes quality over quantity, but has often used numbers to its advantage in the past, especially during The Paradoxian War. However, before and after The Paradoxian War, Spain's armies were typically greatly outnumbered, but still managed to win most of its wars. In 1701, when Phillipe V Clemente came to power, he personally had control over Spain's entire military until 1737 when Augustine Clemente was instated as Overlord by Clemente's court when people began to fear Clemente's ambitions. In addition to this, Grand Lord Admiral William Sharkskull would assume complete control of The Spanish Navy in 1738. However, in 1745, Sharkskull was accused of treason and was exiled to the Yucatan Peninsula for 15 years. (He is still currently in exile.) Even worse, in 1746, Augustine Clemente died from an unknown illness as he was retreating out of Austria and back to Spain. With both of these major tribunes now fallen, Clemente re-assumed total control of The Spanish Army in November 1746, but allowed his son, Prince Ben Squidskull of Spain and France to succeed Sharkskull as Grand Lord Admiral of The Spanish Navy.

### **Army Militaristic Division**

As of February, 1746, The Spanish Army totals 3,950,000 men, all of different ranks, and divisions. This army is spread out throughout The Spanish Empire and although Clemente has indirect control over the entire army, there are 15 sectors in which his subordinate commanders rule.

* Sector (1) - Spain: 800,000 men
* ~~Sector (2) - Portugal: 200,000 men~~ (Territory lost)
* ~~Sector (3) - France: 500,000 men~~ (Territory lost)
* ~~Sector (4) - Spanish Netherlands: 50,000 men~~ (Territory lost)
* ~~Sector (5) - Sicily, Corsica, and Naples: 150,000 men~~ (Territory lost)
* Sector (6) - The Papal States, Tuscany, and Venice: 300,000 men
* ~~Sector (7) - Sweden, Norway, and Finland: 400,000 men~~ (Territory lost)
* Sector (8) - North Africa: 200,000 men
* ~~Sector (9) - Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Arabia: 100,000 men~~ (Territory lost)
* ~~Sector (10) - Turkey: 500,000 men~~ (Territory lost)
* Sector (11) - South America: 300,000 men
* Sector (12) - Nueva Espana: 200,000 men
* Sector (13) - The Caribbean: 200,000 men
* ~~Sector (14) - Russia: 200,000 men~~ (Territory lost)
* Sector (15) - Gibraltar: 50,000 men

### **Naval Militaristic Division**

As of April, 1746, The Spanish Navy totals roughly 1,200,000 men, all of different ranks, and fleets, and 1,484 battle-ready warships. These fleets are on constant patrol throughout the Seven Seas ensuring that The Spanish Empire is the most dominant on the planet. Although Grand Lord Admiral Prince Ben Squidskull has indirect control over The Spanish Navy, there are several sectors in which his subordinate commanders rule.

* Sector (1) - The Mediterranean: 400,000 and 527 ships
* Sector (2) - The Pacific: 150,000 and 226 ships
* Sector (3) - The Atlantic: 250,000 and 318 ships
* ~~Sector (4) - The Baltic: 125,000 and 92 ships~~ (Ships Relocated)
* Sector (5) - The Caribbean: 150,000 and 129 ships
* Sector (6) - The Indian Ocean: 75,000 and 108 ships
* ~~Sector (7) - The Artic: 50,000 and 84 ships~~ (Ships Relocated)

### **Royale Hierarchy**

The Royale Hierarchy consists of the three heads of the three major branches of The Spanish Military, The Spanish Army, The Spanish Navy, and The Ranger Core. Note that there are *many* other generals and admirals throughout Spain, and that The Ranger Core is relatively small and is almost a small "branch-off" of The Spanish Army. Both are led by Phillipe V Clemente, whilst the Navy is headed by Prince Ben Squidskull.

* ~~Overlord(Head of The Spanish Army) - King Phillipe V Clemente~~
* ~~Grand Lord Admiral(Head of The Spanish Navy) - Prince Ben Squidskull~~
* ~~Lord Templar(Head of The Ranger Core) - King Phillipe V Clemente~~

## Ground Forces

Spain's ground forces are what has made it the superpower that it is today. As of 1746, Spain holds the largest and most elite army on Earth. The Spanish Army is directly led by King Ferdinand VI himself.

### **A.) Infantry Units**

Only recently did Spain begin using its infantry in a Napoleonic form of warfare. Before The Paradoxian War, Spain's armies typically were spread out, and fought guerilla style warfare. However, after Clemente reformed The Spanish Empire and began to realize how massive Spain's army truly was, he decided to use its sheer size to his advantage. Within only a few short years, The Spanish Line Infantry went from nearly non-existant to the most feared infantry regiments on the planet.

### 1.) Line Infantry

* Largest Branch of Infantry in The Spanish Military
* Broken into regiments of 240 men each led by a colonel
* Each soldier carries a bayoneted rifle, two duel pistols, an engraved cutlass that states, "Viva La Espana" on the tip of the blade, and three throwing daggers
* Line infantry are typically used on flat open surfaces in large battles

### 2.) Spanish Marines

* Second largest branch of infantry in The Spanish Military
* Broken into companies of 75 men each led by a captain
* Each soldier carries two duel pistols, two engraved cutlasses which also state, "Viva La Espana" on the tip of the blade, and twelve throwing daggers.
* Spanish Marines are typically used when boarding beaches, or fighting small or large battles in rough terrain, such as forests, deserts, or tundra. Marines also accompany Spanish naval fleets as well as Spanish government trading ships

### 3.) Spanish Skirmishers

* Third largest branch of infantry in The Spanish Military
* Broken into companies of 300 men each led by a colonel
* Each soldier carries a long range and short range bayoneted musket, two duel pistols, an engraved cutlass, ten grenades, (two which are smoke, eight which are explosive), and twenty throwing daggers
* Spanish Skirmishers typically scout ahead of Line Infantry, but sometimes also ahead of Spanish Marines. They perform best under cover of fire whilst spread out and undetected by the enemy

### 4.) Ranger Templars

* Forth largest branch of infantry in The Spanish Military
* Broken into companies of 500 each led by a Ranger Lord
* Each Templar carries two duel pistols, two engraved cutlasses which state, "Viva Clemente" on the tip of the blade, ten grenades, (two which are smoke, two which are toxic, and six which are explosive), twenty throwing daggers, and two stabbing daggers
* In all, there are only 3 companies of Ranger Templars left within The Spanish Empire, all which answer directly to Phillipe V Clemente and are stationed in Barcelona, Espana. Ranger Templars perform well on all terrains, and all forms of battles. However, they perform best under cover of fire. One unique feature about all Rangers are that they do not hold loyalty to anybody in Spain other than Clemente. Ever since the battle of Muerte De Clemente, The Rangers have pledged total allegiance to Clemente despite his ambitions, or the circumstances, however poor they may become

### **B.) Calvary units**

Calvary never played a huge role in Spanish wars. However, Clemente often used them to his advantage particularly in battles where he was outnumbered. Many Spaniards believed that the use of "horses" in warfare was cowardice, but Clemente explained that in The Bible it stated that God would return on a white horse and conquer Satan forever. Many people saw this as blasphemy, but there were some who admired Clemente's audacity, intelligence, and ability to decipher the messages behind Biblical verses; The Ranger Knights.

### 1.) Spanish Knights

* The largest branch of calvary within The Spanish Army
* Spanish Knights are broken into companies of 200 led by Noble Lords or Generals
* Each Knight carries a large shield with a Red Cross, and a heavy engraved broadsword which states, "In God's name" down the left side
* Spanish Knights are well trained, well disciplined nobals of Spain, Portugal, and France. They were not used until The Paradoxian War. Before then, calvary were very rarely used in Spain, and the only calvary forces that existed were The "Ranger Knights".

### 2.) Ranger Knights

* The smallest branch of calvary within The Spanish Army\*Ranger Knights are broken into companies of 50 and are led by Ranger Lords
* Each Ranger Knight carries two large engraved curved cutlass blades both which state "For God and glory!" on the left sides. Each Ranger Knight also bears an onyx ring with a black jewel on the left hand and a solid gold necklace that bears the Holy Cross.
* Ranger Knights are professional soldiers each trained by Phillipe V Clemente himself at some point in their lifetime. Ranger Knights have served Clemente since before his revolution against Petalbee. However, over the years they began to die out. By 1746, less than 30 remained. Among these 30 are Ranger Warlord Phillipe V Clemente, and Lord Hector Wildhayes.

### 1.) The Spraygun

* The Spraygun was a Technological leap forward for the world, firing 100 rounds per minute. 6 teams of sprayguns could tear apart an entire army, ripping the strongest of men apart, both physically and mentally. The only drawbacks of this weapon system was the possibility of it overheating. At any moment some black powder in the pre-made cartiges could explode damaging the barrel and various components, even killing the gun's operaters
* Cews of twelve operate one gun. Only specially trained gunners and loaders can operate this weapon to push it to reach its full potential on the field of battle.
* A team of spray guns consist of 4 individual guns.
* This weapon system is usually used in defensive structures, such as the walls of the Palacio De Clemente.
* In recent years, this weapon has been mounted onboard many Spanish naval ships and has proved extremely effective at sea combat.