Back History
This is only a tenetive history, and any comments, or suggestions are espcially welcome as there are a lot of empty, or incomplete spaces in my back history. The project is evolving almost daily.
Well, here it is, my entry into the AH field. I've been working on this project for something like 2 months, and some of you have seen bits and pieces of it in other posts on other boards, but here is the latest version.
My country is Zenda, a Dutch/Frisian island country that is located on the Celtic Shelf, just southwest of the UK. The islands were originally settled by the Amorican Celts, (recall the boat-builders that gave Caesar such a hard time?) but later were conquered by the Romans, though they never really Romanized. During the Dark Ages, the Islands were overrun and again conquered by the Frisians and to a lesser extent, the Saxons, giving the islands about the same ethnic composition as the Netherlands, with whom trade blossomed by the Middle Ages.
Indeed, Zenda was well located for trade, and in time built up a sizable merchant fleet, trading with Flanders, France, Spain and England. By the mid 1500s, only Spain and Portugal could boast of a larger merchant fleet. As the Sixteenth Century wore on, the Protestant Reformation came about, and many, including the ruling house of Zenda converted to Protestantism. When the Eighty Years war broke out between Spain and the Netherlands, The Zendians were quick to offer aid, which greatly strengthened the Dutch position. The end of the war brought about the beginnings of the Dual Monarchy, for over the course of the war, the nations had become so close to each other that it was decided to combine the two, each with its own, separate ruling house. The resulting country was known as the Zeeland Confederation, or simply Zeeland. It was during this time that the countries reached the height of their power, colonizing the East Indies, South Africa, and Northern North America (New York and Canada). North America in particular became a battlefield, as Zeeland fought with Great Britain and France over territory. The French fleet was soundly defeated in the Battle of the Azores, but Zeeland suffered a defeat to the British which resulted in the loss of New Amsterdam, leaving them with only Canada. This was only part of the larger Anglo-Zeeland Wars. For the most part, the two sides found themselves evenly matched and the war was inconclusive on the whole accomplishing little more than heavy casualties on both sides. Eventually, relations improved with the marriage of William of Orange to Mary of England--at least for a while. A war in the early 1700s with Portugal over possessions in the East Indies added more possessions to the empire.
By the reign of George II, relations were again deteriorating with England, and by the time George III took the throne, there was more fighting in North America, mostly inconclusive though in general favoring the British who had more people. More North American territory was lost.
Zeeland saw its chance to regain much however, when the British Colonists declared independence in 1776. Zeeland became the first country to extend formal recognition to the United States, and besides supplying such essentials as uniforms, guns and money to the Revolution, landed an army of 50,000. Interference by the Zeelandian navy compounded the supply situation badly for the British, and when France also joined the war, the British situation in North America became untenable. The treaty ending the war saw all lost colonial possessions lost in the last war returned, as well as an agreement on a permanent boundary between the United States and Zeeland owned Canada.
By this point, it appeared that Zeeland was to become a major player in Europe, but following the French Revolution, disaster befell Zeeland, when Napoleon's army conquered the Netherlands. Zenda refused to recognize the puppet regime of Louis Bonaparte, seized control of all the colonies (ostensibly to keep the French out, pending the restoration of the Monarchy) and joined England in the war, contributing troops to the Peninsular Campaign and vessels to the naval war. In 1805, a combined Anglo-Zendian Fleet of 45 vessals met the 33 strong Franco-Spanish fleet at the battle of Trafalger. The resulting battle was one of the most decisive naval battles in history, as nearly all the French or Spanish vessels were sunk or captured. At Waterloo, British, Dutch, and Zendian troops fought under the same banner for the last time, bringing about the final defeat of Napoleon.
The Congress of Vienna saw the end of Zeeland, when it was decided to form the Netherlands into an independent country. Though this was a British notion, they had considerable backing from the Dutch themselves that proved decisive. The Netherlands of 1814 was a different place from the Netherlands of 1805 and many of the ideas of the French Revolution and Napoleonic rule had instilled a desire for independence. Zenda, however, was allowed to keep the colonies it had taken over in 1806, and even added a few minor territories, spoils from the war.
Despite the loss of the Netherlands, which many blamed on Great Britain, Zenda continued to grow, and in relative peace save for some minor skirmishes over overseas territory and the occasional colonial war such as the Zulu Wars of 1867-69. The 1840-80s saw a great period of industrialization, helped by the warm relationship with the united States. Indeed, during this time period many American investors saw Zenda as a more pleasant alternative to doing business with Great Britain. In particular, American railroad companies won contracts to build railroads in not only Zenda, but Canada and South Africa (Transvaal) as well. The discovery of gold in diamonds in Transvaal brought more riches to the Zendian empire which paved the way for more colonial expansion. Unfortunately, this brought the Zendians in conflict with the British again, culminating in the battle of Vestingeiland in 1884 which saw a major defeat of the Zendian fleet, by the Royal Navy. The consequences of this battle might have been worse, were it not for the defeat of the British army in South Africa. The treaty saw Zenda losing Ceylon and its possessions in South America.
The defeat of Vestingeiland was blamed largely on the fact that the Navy, the Rijkszeemacht had been allowed to become obsolete. The 1890s saw a great expansion of Zendian shipyards and overseas naval bases in anticipation of a naval arms race with Great Britain. Germany, which was just entering the race was viewed as a natural ally, and so the stage was set for an eventual confrontation......