Commonwealth of Europa

The Commonwealth of Europa is often considered to be the oldest power in the era of world history known as Proxima Humana. It serves as the western half of the Second Cold War against the Joseon Empire of Korea, and exudes a sphere of influence through Europe, Africa, and parts of the Americas.

## History

### Background

The Commonwealth of Europa's foundations date back to the first French Revolution of the 1790s, where much of the French enlightened ideology originated. The Fifth French Republic began to experience turmoil in the 2030s as its Yellow Vest workers movement caused problems for the more right-leaning government. Also in this time, Europe was undergoing an economic crisis as the COVID-19 pandemic paired with Brexit had sent the European Union's markets into flux for a decade. In 2034, the European Union lost twelve member states including Germany, leaving France as the most powerful defender of the Union.

### The British Civil War

In 2027, the SNP became the sole party in Scotland's parliament and voted with full unanimity to leave the United Kingdom. While the UK initially accepted this result, a sudden vote of no confidence against the Labour Prime Minister and subsequent snap election put in power a Conservative PM whose main agenda was retaining full control over the nations of the United Kingdom. The parliament at Westminster declared that the SNP's vote was not respected because there was no national referendum and called for a vote to be held among the people of Scotland. They also insisted, however, that it be the central government of the UK that operates this election, a point that led to many protests on the floor of the Scottish Parliament. One member of the SNP even took a swing at a Queen's guard, which many cite as the first blow thrown in the British Civil War. With many Scottish politicians under arrest for disturbing the peace and a de-facto occupation of Scotland by English "election guards" underway, the turnout for the referendum was record low despite massive enthusiasm shown for the motion. Many citizens even said they were turned away from the polls because they were residents of regions of Scotland far away from the English border.

This show of voter suppression by the Tory government was met with outrage both in the UK and abroad, and the French President sent an official letter of condemnation to the Prime Minister. In the next year, Wales and Northern Ireland both issued their own articles of independence, prompting the Prime Minister to declare a state of emergency and, much like Churchill had, suspend all elections in the UK indefinitely. On January 1, 2030, at the dawn of the new decade, the first real gunshots of the British Civil War were fired. A Northern Irish paramilitary group that had made its way into London took control of Trafalgar Square and declared they would not end their occupation until the British ended theirs in Ireland. The Siege of Trafalgar lasted for three months, until finally the English military broke through and either executed or arrested all the protestors who had gathered there. Within the day, Ireland had declared the Good Friday Agreement null and void and engaged a liberation campaign into Northern Ireland.

King Charles III had, during the Siege of Trafalgar, suffered from a heart attack and had been bedridden. Upon the news of Ireland's invasion of Northern Ireland, the shock became too much for him and he passed away, leaving his son to become King William V. William was easily convinced by the Prime Minister into enacting emergency measures to suspend Parliament and place all executive power in the hands of the PM, who promptly declared that the United Kingdom was dead and that the nation must begin a new age of British Empire on August 15, 2030. This is considered the official beginning of the British Civil War, as shortly after this Scottish, Welsh, and even English Republican groups all declared war on the new Imperial Government.

This civil war initially was not terribly bloody, it was similar to the troubles in Ireland for a few years with simple civilian terror acts and occasional guerilla warfare. London became more and more fortified for the Empire, while the new unofficial capital of the British Republic, Birmingham, experienced a great deal of chaos and power grabs.

In 2034, France issued a declaration that it was officially recognizing the British Empire as the rightful nation of Great Britain. This led to upheaval and controversy at home, and leftist movements toppled the Fifth Republic. It was not the only nation to pick a side, however, and discourse and turmoil among different EU member states about the rightful nation led to twelve countries leaving. France, despite being in the nascent stages of forming a new government, was now the leader of the European Union. This new France and its following EU initially declared their neutrality with regard to the British Civil War, a position they maintained for the better part of the war until 2042.

### The European Empire

Germany, growing increasingly conservative and restless about maintaining its power which it felt it lost by leaving the EU, declared in 2042 its support for the British Empire and formed a coalition government with neighbors Hungary, Poland, and Denmark to create the European Empire, a sister nation to the British. This was not a centralized empire, rather an answer to the increasingly progressive European Union under the Sixth French Republic's control. This prompted the French to declare the EU would officially support the Celtic Union of Nations and the English Republic, the two major opposition factions to the British Empire. This sudden dissolution and creation of nations caused great controversy in the UN, as France tried to argue that the European Empire could not seat individual nation states for a close vote on sanctions. The controversy paired with a sudden downturn in the US economy that forced them into isolationism caused the authority of the United Nations to shatter. Many, including France and its allies, withdrew from the UN alongside the United States.

While no war was officially ever declared on the European Mainland between the EU and the EE during this time, tensions were high. They remained this way as the British Civil War reached a sort of stalemate in 2048, fourteen years after it began. This stalemate, which lasted 12 years, is considered to be the last decade of the old world order before the rise of Proxima Humana.

In June of 2060, what would have been an unfortunately routine terror attack in Birmingham turned more deadly than anyone could have expected when a dirty bomb was detonated just outside the People's Minister's office. This radiative explosion shocked the world, as nuclear weapons had been considered a thing of the past by much of humanity after the end of the Soviet-American Cold War. Investigations into this bombing found that material had been supplied by the European Empire, an act which would mark its downfall. The European Union declared war on the European Empire on August 9th, 2060.

The USA initially did not enter the war. Congress quickly passed a declaration, but Faloon refused to sign it, saying we were too fragile to get involved in another European Conflict. Vice President Hilton disagreed and, upon becoming president on January 20, 2061, Hilton immediately signed the declaration and sent troops over to support France and the English Republic.

While war in Britain remained a stalemate more or less, as no one faction could easily get an advantage over the others, war on mainland Europe spelled doom for Germany. Within just a few years, all of the European Empire had fallen to joint American and French forces, and the nation officially dissolved into its individual states on December 5, 2063. Initially, plans were drawn up to simply re-instate the former European Union and simply discount the votes of nations that formerly made up the Empire, however former president Faloon, now Secretary of State, pushed forward a new plan called the Proxima Europa Strategy. This plan is where the name for the new era, Proxima Humana, came from.

### Foundation of the Commonwealth and Assembly of States

Faloon's Proxima Europa Strategy contained three major points for moving past the European Imperial War.

* The former nations of the European Union and European Empire would be dissolved into one, French-controlled nation entiteld the Commonwealth of Europa.
* All recognized nations of the world must join a new version of the UN entitled the Assembly of States
* The Island of Great Britain was to be declared an indefinite warzone and no parts of it may be interfered with by any outside powers

This strategy was signed rapidly and on the 11th of February, 2064, the Commonwealth of Europa was formed and the First Directorate was called to power in Paris, and the Assembly of States began to dominate global diplomacy, its headquarters being in the Palace of Versailles.