Hello, and welcome to the sixteenth Dev Report for Spartakus. Here is the link to last weeks Dev Report.
SovietLijm
Bulgarian Lore
Hello everyone! I’m SovietLijm, dev on Bulgaria and today I’m joined together with my partner in crime: Yee. -Yee say hello- We’ve been in the team for a while now but did not get the opportunity to show some of the lore/progress off. (Except for the wonderful portrait of Kiril made by Sporkz.) Anyway let’s get right into the lore of Bulgaria!
Bulgaria found itself in a difficult position after the Great War. With the signing of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, it lost all its territories gained in the Great War as well as its Aegean coastline to Greece and Dobruja to Romania. The war-torn nation had much rebuilding to do, being one of the poorest nations of Europe at the time. But the nation had a good look on the future. With the BZNS getting elected in the Bulgarian Parliamentary Elections of 1919, they promised democratic, agrarian and social reforms. Under president Aleksandar Stamboliyski the party got the support of the Tsar, Boris III, and began to stabilise the nation. But this was not for long.
The Communist party of Bulgaria grew in popularity in the years after the war. Stamboliyski didn’t see this as a threat but rather began to align with them hoping to secure a majority in the government. This action was met with outrage by the nationalists and the landowners. It also lead to mounting tensions with the military and the Tsar.
When the Stamboliyski signed an agreement with the Kingdom of Serbia agreeing to work together to suppress the VMRO tensions came to a boiling point. On the 9th of June, 1923 a military coup was orchestrated by Aleksandar Tsankov:
With support from the Tsar they overthrow Stamboliyski who was later brutally murdered by the VMRO. After Tsankov was declared prime minister, demonstrations, by left-wing groups, all over the country pop up. Tsankov sends the army in to deal with the demonstrators hoping to crush them. But the demonstrations escalate in a revolution organised by the Communist Party supported by the Orange Guard (Paramilitary of the BZNS). What followed was the Bulgarian Civil War (1923-1926). The Civil war was eventually won by the Military government under Tsankov but at a huge cost. The war made a giant scar on the Bulgarian economy and the Bulgarian people’s will to fight. Tsar Boris III died in the conflict and his brother Kiril became the new tsar. The years that followed were unstable ones and there are many problems that you’ll need to face if you want to combat the Communists.
Welp I think that’s it for this time. There are many things we haven’t talked about such as Zveno or the Ratniks but we’ll save that for later. Also keep a look around in the wiki as you’ll find more and more Bulgarian lore.
Steffplays123
Norway
Hello. I am Steffplays123, the developer for the development of Norway. Today, I will give some lore and maybe some content about what there will be for Norway in Spartakus.
When the world war raged on, the Kingdom of Norway took the choice to stay neutral. After the war, the economy suffered, with many Norwegians seeking new opportunities in America. With revolutions happening in Germany and Russia, many in the left wing Labor Party radicalized and the party joined the Communist International in 1919, with splits happening in the party over the 1920s. There were also other political parties being established at the same time. The agrarian Farmers’ Party was one such party.
The kingdom recovered from the post-war economic suffering, but the London Stock Exchange Crash in 1929, brought upon a new economic crisis in Norway since the country had been a trading partner to the United Kingdom.
This crisis brought the Liberals and the Conservatives together to support each other in the upcoming 1930 election so that the growing socialists was not able to form government.
This decision was not popular with the people, with many turning away from the established political parties.
At the start, Norway still has to deal with this, at the same time that they has to continue to do what they can for the economy: Media.moddb.com.
Election will be up in 1933, and the result of that will choose the direction of Norwegian politics. If it will be the socialists in the Labor Party, a continuation of the current government or the rise of a conservative and corporatist government backed by a Farmers’ Party that are moving more towards the right.
That will be all from me. I will not give any promise on showing more in the future, but might reveal more in the future.
sparkz
Estonia and the Latvian Revolt
With the Livonia PR coming soon and the Latvian and Estonian revolts being shown off recently, I figured I would go over the Estonian side of the revolt briefly, where I hopefully can also explain the role of Estonia in relation with Livonia.
Here is the Estonian politics screen:
Estonia starts off in a bit of a disadvantaged situation. It has a very small army, limited in size by its reduced territory and restrictions put in place by its overlord Livonia.
However, just because it has a small army in practice doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the ability to rapidly grow its army in a time of need. The strong Vaps Movement, an organization of nationalistic war veterans, makes this prospect much easier.
One of the most advantageous scenarios for Estonia to break away is in the case of the LNP under Rosenberg and Heydrich coming in power. Such a scenario guarantees that Latvia will break out in revolt. Keep in mind, this is not the only opportunity for Estonia to free itself, but is one of the best opportunities.
Upon the revolt breaking out, the news travels fast.
Estonia has to make a choice rapidly on its intervention. Remaining loyal is unpopular, but not an unwise decision if Estonia is unprepared. However, if it chooses to intervene, the fight will not be an easy one.
The Omakaitse, or the Home Guard, will rise up once again. Mostly made up of rag tag militias and dismissed former Estonian members of the Livonian Army, they are crucial to giving Estonia a fighting chance by bolstering their ranks.
However, Latvia is not in such a great situation. Its militias are scattered and disorganized and are in dire need of Estonian support. With the entry of Estonia, these militias will not let down without a fight, and will continue on in Estonian lands if driven out of Latvia. Only with the fall of Estonia will the Baltic resistance be crushed.
Thanks for reading. Scripting the Baltic revolts is a lot of fun and I hope it will be interesting for those who choose to play any of the Baltic nations. There will be a few different scenarios and the LNP isn't the only case where the Baltics can revolt, but it is the most difficult scenario for Livonia.
We hope you enjoyed the sixteenth Dev Report! Remember to join the Discord as well, as many additional teasers are posted on there daily. Discord.gg
Also, if you are interested in joining the Dev Team, please remember all you need to do is fill out this form: Goo.gl
