Batavian Empire

Batavian Empire
	Batavian Empire
	Bataafse Rijk
	Constitutional Monarchy (Empire) Parliamentary Democracy
Flag	Coat of arms
	Motto; Post etiam noctem obscurissimum, matutinum emerget
	Anthem; Batavian March
Capital	Amsterdam
Largest city	Caïro
Languages	English
Official languages	English and Dutch*
Recognised regional languages	Arabic, French, Spanish, Russian, German and more
Government	Semi-Constitutional (Parliamentary) Monarchy
Emperor
Prime-Minister
Legislature	Consulate
History
	Population
HDI (2050)	0,873
Currency	Royal Dutch Florin
Drives on the	Right (with exceptions)

The Batavian Empire (Bataafse rijk) commonly called 'the Empire', is a semi-constitutional empire. It is bordered by 12 nations: the Neo Roman Empire, Turkish-Ottoman Empire, Central African Empire, Ethiopian Empire, Helvetica, Lichtenstein, Morocco, Russia, India, Canada, New-Granada and Brazil. The Batavian Empire covers about 26,3 million square kilometers and has an estimated population of 1,2 billion. The Batavian Empire comprises of certain subdivisions: 111 departments, 5 Crown Territories, 1 Imperial City and 1 Military Administered Zone.

The Batavian Empire contains a near absolute world hegemony since the dissolution of the United Nations in 2041. They are the permanent chair of the Royal Alliance and have good relations with every member nation of the Royal Alliance. They also have some special relations with nations which are not a member of the Royal Alliance.

History[]

Formation of the Empire[]

In 2025 many Dutch citizens were very angry with their government and protests and sometimes even rebellions started all over the country. In Belgium and the Netherlands people lost the faith in their democratic political system which lead to more popularity of the royals. A young politician, Citus, saw this and began with forming a rebellion to overthrow the democratic government. In the winter of 2027 his little army was big enough to start a rebellion and they gathered in the Dutch town Doorn. They started a march towards the capital city of Amsterdam, the police couldn't stop them and the army was mobilised way to late, and many soldiers even agreed with Citus. A week after the beginning of the "Loyal March" Citus's rebellion marched into the capital city, which lead to the surrender of the provinces Noord-Holland and Utrecht. One day later Flevoland also signed terms of surrender. Citus named his growing resistance the Monarchists.

The Monarchists started with invading the province of Gelderland, The Netherlands started with an offensive near the Grebbenberg but it lead to a huge victory for the Monarchists. After this victory king Willem-Alexander decided to join the side of the Monarchists and told he was willing to sign terms of unconditional surrender. The parliament immediately proclaimed the republic and forced the king to abdicate. This lead to the point that more than half of the Dutch army deserted or joined the side of the monarchists. In the following weeks the provinces Overijssel, Drenthe, and Groningen surrendered. Although the Monarchists had huge advantage in the Netherlands, Europe supported the Republic of the Netherlands. To stop this Citus ordered the growing monarchist organisations in Luxembourg to commit a coup d'état. The coup was a success which lead to a monarchist Luxembourg. With Limburg surrenders to the Monarchists they attacked Belgium from Luxembourg and Limburg.

Belgium had almost no soldiers left to fight and Citus ordered the Monarchists to attack Brussels immediately. In a three days fight Belgium surrendered. With the loss of Belgium The Netherlands became isolated and vulnerable. Citus decided to attack The Hague immediately, now the remaining Benelux was so vulnerable. With a final march and an army three times as big as the republic's The Hague was invaded seven days later. Zuid-Holland, Brabant and Frisia surrendered with this loss. In Zealand some volunteer French republican troops kept fighting for a few more days but were crushed and May 31, 2027 the Treaty of Doorn was signed which lead to the unification of The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and the proclamation of the Batavian Empire. The Empire was the jure constitutional but the parliament elections were not there yet and the Dutch crown was still unclaimed but guarded by Citus.

The Triple Alliance[]

As soon as Citus governed the Batavian Empire he started with militarising the land. Military service became compulsory and in half a year an army around the million people was ready to fight. The Dutch economy was also boosting with renewed gas drillings in the province Groningen. The country became quickly very popular because of a lot of civil freedom despite the autocratic government. A huge amount of emancipation and homo-sympathy swept across the country which was well supported by Citus. After some pressure France agreed to have a referendum for French-Flandres with the option to join the Batavian Empire. This lead to 78% for unification and so French-Flandres joined the Batavian Empire December 8, 2027. A month later East-Frisia asked Germany for a similar referendum. In the first place Germany refused, but after a lot of pressure from Citus they agreed and with a 65% voting for unification they also joined the Empire January 2, 2028. The Batavian Empire could benefit even more from these peaceful annexations.

After Italian elections in March 2028 the Monarchistic party won a full majority in the parliament and held a referendum to restore the monarchy which led to a 56-44 outcome. As soon as the monarchy was restored Italy started tightening relations with the Batavian Empire and they formed a common defence/attack-agreement in the end of April. After a few weeks Poland joined the alliance and in May 2028 the Triple Alliance was born. The alliance combined the forces of the three militarising countries and if one nation was attacked the other nations would help with the defence. With the birth of this alliance Italy and Poland retreated from the NATO, with two major powers out the United States and Canada both resigned from the NATO. As soon as the United States and Canada retreated their troops from Europe Poland attacked aggressively the German Federation. This came as a total surprise and Germany moved all their forces to the eastern border, leaving the western border unarmed and Dutch forces immediately crossed the border. 12 Dutch divisions occupied the border areas and started with the invasion of Nordrhein-Westphalia. Germany had a shortage of troops to fight a two-side war and after a month fighting the German army surrendered. The treaty of Potsdam was signed which gave some western provinces to the Batavian Empire, including the Rheinland. and some eastern German lands to Poland. Bayern received independence as the Republic of Bavaria. The remaining provinces became the Unitary Republic of Germany.

Now that Germany was weakened enough Italy attacked Austria and Slovenia and invaded them without to much difficulty, since Germany was to busy with trying to rebuild their nation. Some Italian divisions also crossed the Croatian border to gain Istria. The rest of Croatia became a satellite state. The Italian army moved quickly to the west after the conquest in the east and did a dangerous attack on Corsica. The French army wasn't mobilised but still quick enough to move to Corsica. The French had an advantage but before the Italian forced were completely defeated Citus declared war on France and attacked from the north. 25 Dutch divisions crossed the northern border of France in a quick march towards Paris. French divisions had some trouble in reorganising their army and were a bit late ready to face the Dutch. This lead to a French defeat and an open route for Dutch soldiers to conquer Paris. After two weeks Paris was completely surrounded. Italian forces re-attacked Corsica with their full force. After a French defeat in Normandy the French signed terms of unconditional surrender and had to give up Corsica to Italy. The Batavian empire took the whole north of France; including Normandy, Bretagne and Paris. After some negotiations South-France became a protectorate kingdom of the Batavian Empire. With the gained French lands, the Batavian Empire became just as strong as Italy and took the Unitary Republic of Germany as well. To complete the hegemony in continental Europe, Poland invaded Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Poland made Bohemia a protectorate. Now that the continental European powers were defeated or defected the United Kingdom mobilised their complete army, but Citus had some tricks with him, as he really supported Scotisch national independence parties. Scotland asked for another referendum but the UK declined, because they were preparing for war. The Scotisch now demanded a referendum and proclaimed independence, Wales did exactly the same. England could do nothing more than accept the independence, but was enormously weakened by this move. The complete Dutch army crossed the Northsea and landed on English territory. The British armies fought back and a long war occurred for about half a year. But February 14, 2029 London fell and two days later the Treaty of Cambridge was signed. With this treaty Cornwall and Bristol stayed independent, but the rest of England became Dutch territory.

The conquest of Europe[]

Now that all major powers in Europe were defeated Citus could expand his just built empire in Europe. To secure Great-Britain Dutch forces also occupied Scotland and Iceland. After that Citus moved all Dutch forces to Denmark which fell in three days. The forces immediately crossed the sea to Norway, which fought back but had to surrender in three weeks. With some Polish help Sweden was invaded as well. Italy didn't want to stay behind and declared war on all the former Yugoslavian States and Albany. This became a long and terrible war which lasted for about five months but could only result in an Italian victory with huge air support from the Batavian Empire. The Italian Kingdom was secured with this, but Poland had trouble because their army was way to big for their lands, they hadn't much money left and had to invade their protectorate again, with Bohemia in their lands it saved them for a while, but economic trouble wasn't solved. Citus ordered the Treaty of Strasbourg, which made the French Protectorate and the Republic of Bavaria full provinces of the Batavian Empire. The Batavian Empire was now enormous. To hit England one more time the Batavian Empire signed the Pact of Bremen, which secured the souvereignity of Ireland and made sure it would never be invaded by the Batavian Empire if they stayed completely neutral. To ratify this pact the Batavian Empire took Northern-Ireland from the remaining England and gave it to Ireland. Now there was only one problem left in Europe: Russia.

The Russo-Dutch war[]

Russia had seen the growing threat of Citus and the Batavian Empire, but took advantage of it now the United States had withdrawn from NATO and invaded Belarus, and the Baltic States. After that they invaded Ukraine, Moldova and the Caucasus States. Citus had decided not to do anything but wait and had focused on the rest of Europe. Though the Batavian Empire wasn't interfering Italy was afraid of the Russian Federation and secured Romania with about ⅓ of their entire army. Not that this scared Russia. Russia committed a coup d'état in Bulgaria and from two sides they attacked Romania. Though Romo-Italian forces fought hard, the Russians destroyed their army and took Romania. Because of this victory Russia saw itself unstoppable and committed a coup d'état in Poland. As soon as this happened Citus interfered and invaded the east of Poland and former Silesia. Although there was a little quarrel Italian forces agreed that the Batavian Empire would commit the invasion of Greece because of this huge loss of Italian forces in Romania. Although Greece fell in Dutch hands Russia wasn't completely stopped and started mobilising their troops behind the Finish-Russian border. Now Citus reacted immediately and declared to the world that if the Russian federation would attack Finland the Batavian Empire would declare war on the Russian Federation. Russia did back down for a few weeks, but then suddenly attacked the remaining Finish Karelian provinces. As soon as Russia did this a huge Dutch army, supported by the entire Finish army fought against Russia. After a week the Finish war was ended with Russia gaining the eastern parts of Finland, and the Batavian Empire gaining the capital Helsinki and the western part. Now the Batavian Empire had declared war on Russia, Citus started with plans for an invasion of Russia. With all the knowledge of the past failed invasions of Russia he knew he had to fight in the summer. Luckily the spring had just begun.

March 21, 2031 30 Dutch divisions attacked the north of Russia, from Finland and from Poland. With the Dutch army much better equipped the battle was in advantage for the Dutch and in October 2031 The Dutch army marched into St. Petersburg. This was a huge loss for the Russians, but as soon as the winter started they began a huge offensive against the Dutch troops. In the north they gained enormous victories and the Dutch troops were pushed a bit back, but there was no real breakthrough and St. Petersburg stayed in Dutch hands.

As soon as the spring of 2032 Dutch forces marched from the occupied Greek territory towards Russian-Bulgaria and crossed the border, with help of Italian forces the Dutch army had a quick offensive towards Ukraine and the Crimea and landed in the Caucasus. Though there was heavy Russian resistance Dutch forces were able to invade the oil fields in the Caucasus and Baku was conquered in the high summer of 2032. In the beginning of the autumn Dutch forces were able to invade Volgograd. This was a heavy punch for the Russians, since the oil fields were Dutch now, they decided to spend their winter in securing the road to Moscow. This hadn't much effect because in the spring of 2033 Dutch forces surrounded Moscow and June 2, 2033 the Russian Federation surrendered. Sixteen days later, June 18, 2033 the Treaty of Helsinki was signed, this treaty declared the withdrawal of Russian troops from European Russia and would cede the Russian lands between Europe and the Ural and the Franz-Josef Islands. The Russian Federation would also become the Russian Confederation which made them even more weak.

After the Russian defeat Citus presented itself as Dutch Emperor and was crowned a year after the Treaty of Helsinki. From June 18, 2034 till 24 his coronation was held and he was crowned Emperor Citus-Augustus I.

Italian trouble[]

As soon as he was crowned Emperor Citus began having trouble in England. England began with recruiting more and more soldiers and this concerned the Batavian Empire. Citus didn't want to take any risk so he mobilised ten divisions and attacked England. In two days England was defeated and when Wales even showed a sign of sympathy for England, Citus moved his British forces also to Wales and one day later Wales also signed the capitulation. After this move it was clear that the Batavian Empire had gained hegemony in Europe. This concerned their ally Italy and to secure their position in Europe they asked for Greece. Citus refused to give Greece to the Italian Kingdom and warned them not to take it by force. Italy denied this and attacked with all their divisions. Immediately the Batavian Empire declared war on Italy and started a 'blitzkrieg' towards Rome. The Batavian Empire was about four times stronger than Italy and Rome fell in two weeks. The Italians kept fighting and replaced their capital to Budapest. Italy asked for a conditional surrender but Citus gave the order to invade Budapest as well. November 29, 2034 Italy signed terms of unconditional surrender. Italy was only occupied for about one month. Because January 1, 2035 Citus appointed one of his highest advisors as emperor of Italy and formed a new empire in Europe: the Neo Roman Empire. Now with the Neo Roman Empire at their side they started the invasion of the Iberian peninsula and February 3, 2035 the Dutch navy landed on Portuguese shores, conquering the nation in five days time. With help from the Italians they started with the invasion of Spain and Madrid fell February 28, 2035. Spain kept fighting for one more week with Sevilla as provisional capital city but signed a dual capitulation to the Batavian- and Neo Roman Empire on March 12, 2035. To finish is expansions in Europe he quickly invaded Malta and Cyprus and agreed with the independence of Switzerland, but not as a republic but as the Crowned Confederacy of Helvetica.

War in North Africa and the Middle East[]

Emperor Citus wasn't finished after conquering Europe and helped Italy with invading Libya. After Italy also invaded the African country of Tunisia it was Algeria's turn. With the Treaty of Valetta Italy occupied the northern half of Algeria and the south stayed independent. The Batavian Empire declared war on Morocco and took the country with some help from Italy in two months, Western Sahara followed two days later. The United Nations condemned this actions as Neo Imperialism. The Batavian Empire denied this and saw it as a 'stabilisation of Africa'. They also invaded Egypt and committed a coup d'état in Sudan. The Batavian Empire enlarged their size enormously with this movement and it didn't stop their because Chad, Niger, Mali and Mauritania followed. September 31, 2035 the Dutch soldiers also invaded South-Algeria with stabilising their hegemonial position in North-Africa. The problem for the Batavian Empire arose quickly after the conquest of North Africa. In the Russian Confederation a monarchist coup occurred and the confederation capital Irkutsk was conquered by them, which lead to the proclamation of the Unitary Russian Empire. With a new Russian unitary state the Batavian Empire began to worry, also because the new government reacted very aggressively towards the Batavian Empire. To make new alliances Citus aligned with Turkey. In the Treaty of Nicosia both parties agreed that Turkey would help invading the Middle East for more territory and securing the oil fields for the rest of the world. A long war followed between the Batavian Empire, the Turkish-Ottoman Empire, the Neo Roman Empire and the Middle East States. But in the winter of 2038 all of the Middle East was Turkish territory except for Israel, Lebanon, the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States. The island Soccotra became Italian. In February 2039 Dutch and Turkish armies attacked Iran. Iran prepared for this a long time and immediately launched a nuclear missile towards Turkish divisions. The Turkish army was hit enormously by this but with help of the Batavian Empire they invaded Tehran two months later. First they divided Iran, but later the Batavian Empire received the whole Iran since Turkey couldn't hendel the Iranians very good. Now that about 80% of the oil export had stopped in the world the United States began with feeling the trouble the Batavian Empire brought with her and started mobilising their army, for a possible counterstrike.

Conflict with the United States[]

Now that the Middle East was secured Citus helped monarchist coups in Ethiopia and the Central African Republic. With a lot of military support from the Batavian Empire Ethiopia invaded Somalia, Eritrea, Kenya and Uganda and the Central African Empire invaded South-Sudan and Cameroon. January 1, 2040 the Batavian Empire proclaimed the Royal Alliance, the rival organisation of United Nations for all the nations aligned with the Batavian Empire. Emperor Citus also invaded the rest of North Africa the months after the creation of the Royal Alliance. This is when America interfered militarily. The United States located about a 10.000 troops in Liberia securing this land. Citus left Liberia first, but when the United States also attacked the Dutch Ivory Coast they stroke back. The war lasted for about eight days and led to a status quo ante bellum and an armistice between the U.S. and the Batavian Empire. This wouldn't last for long because March 4, 2040 the United States started the invasion of the Free State of Greenland. Even the UN condemned the attack but the Batavian Empire reacted much quicker with military intervention. With many Russo-Dutch soldiers from the invaded Russia the Batavian Empire had an advantage in fighting in the icy lands and March 15th Canada also declared war on the Batavian Empire and replaced the American troops. The Batavian Empire managed to conquer Greenland from the Canadians 10 days later and the Treaty of Nuuk was signed which secured peace between the Batavian Empire and Canada.

The Dutch-American war[]

In Canada was the social-liberal government which signed the treaty two weeks later was replaced by a conservative government which refused to ratify the treaty and attacked Greenland again. This attack, although it was supported by the United States, failed and the Batavian Empire used their entire army to attack the Canadian shores about a week later and on April 4, 2040. The landing on Canadian shore was a huge success and a Dutch invasion of Labrador and Newfoundland started. To stop the complete American army from interfering the Batavian Empire aligned with Russia after long negotiations and had to give up the land around the conquered Russian city Perm and give an enclave with Moscow back to the Russians. In exchange the Russians attacked Alaska, driving the American troops to the west. This worked and the Dutch invasion of Canada did go even faster than before and May 31, 2040 the whole province of Quebec was invaded by the Dutch army and an army marched towards Ottawa. This was the moment for the Canadians to surrender. The Conservatives presented the Treaty of Montreal. The Batavian Empire accepted the treaty and received Labrador, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. The island l'Anticostal became an occupied territory of the Batavian Empire. With the Canadians out of the war the Batavian Empire focused completely on the United States. The United States couldn't do anything with their nuclear weapons because the Batavian Empire could fire missiles to the entire eastcoast from Nova Scotia any time. This lead to so much pressure that the United States was persuaded to accept peace and signed the Treaty of Honolulu where they had to give up Liberia to the Batavian Empire and Alaska to the Russian Empire and had to pay 300 billion to the Batavian Empire for war reparations. After this war the UN recognised the Batavian Empire as a nation and completely withdrew support from the old governments in Europe in exile.

The Caribic -and Pacific Islands[]

Because after the invasion of France and the United Kingdom a lot of overseas territories had no leader anymore. This lead to some chaos in the Caribbean because some islands just agreed with the new Dutch rule (like Bonaire and Bermuda) and other islands declared independence (like Guadeloupe and St. Martin). After the war in North-America the Batavian Empire decided to send a large fleet to the Caribbean to 're-invade' all the islands. This wasn't hard and after a month all the former dependencies were reconquered. Emperor Citus just decided to invade the former dependencies also after that and so Jamaica, St Vincent, Barbados etc. also became Dutch. Only the island Hispaniola wasn't conquered but connected with the Batavian Empire in a personal union and made one country. Cuba wasn't invaded and was the only country where the communism was tolerated by the Dutch. Because this invasion had worked pretty good the Batavian Empire did the same with the Pacific dependencies and countries like Micronesia. To finish their work they also invaded Suriname and Guyana in a few weeks time.

Act of the Constitution[]

After the Batavian Empire covered around 26,2 square kilometres the direct military conquest stopped. Indirectly the Batavian Empire helped many monarchist organisations or political parties in other countries to commit coups in their countries. First the United States tried to stop them, but after the Latino-American war was fought and Mexico and Cuba, supported by the Batavian Empire, won, they were completely out of the game and many countries became kingdoms or empires. After they became monarchies they mostly joined the Royal Alliance which lead to the dissolution of the UN January 1, 2042. After this the Royal Alliance and the Batavian Empire had complete hegemony in the world. The Royal Alliance took over some old treaties of the United Nations, like the Antarctica treaty; but with all the land belonging to France, England or Norway passing over to the Batavian Empire. April 21, 2042 Citus ordered the creation of a good and democratic constitution and was adopted March 21, 2042. After this the Act of the Constitution was a fact which made Citus a semi-constitutional emperor with the right to suspend a few parts of the constitution and with control over the army. He was controlled by the elected Lower House (Consulate) and Upper House (Senate).

Geography[]

The Batavian Empire spreads all across the globe. It is the only country which is located in all seven continents. The capital city is Amsterdam which is in the department of the Netherlands. Amsterdam is the capital city because it's the cultural center of the Empire. It is by far not the largest city. Amsterdam isn't even close to the top 10. The largest city is Caïro in the department of Lower-Egypt with about 23 million citizens. Tehran, Lagos are also very large cities and the largest European-Batavian city is London.

The Batavian Empire contains 26,3 million square kilometers in 2050, which makes it the second largest Empire in history right behind the British Empire (which contained 35,5 million kilometers at his peak). Most people live in the European continent, which is also the cultural heart of the Empire. The highest population growth is in Africa. The nature in the Batavian Empire variates from deserts and mountains to forests and steppes. In the former Russian lands are enormous pine- and needle forests which spread as far as the eye can see. In the European departments are mostly oaks and leaf-forests.

Because the Dutch Empire is so large all the five main climates appear somewhere in the Empire. From cold polar climates on the North- and South Pole till hot tropical climates in Madagascar or Guyana.

After the dissolution of the United Nations the Royal Alliance took over the climate agreements made earlier. They even sharped them a bit more to secure a clean environment. The Dutch Empire is the fifth largest pollutant after the United States, China and Russia and India.

Image 14-01-17 at 13 — The Batavian Empire (green) Military Administered Zones (light green) Independent but in Personal Union (red)

Demographics[]

Population[]

The population of the Batavian Empire is different in every department. In some departments there is a high population density, and in other departments there is a small population or low density. There is also much difference between the resistance of people against the Dutch, or monarchist government. In the former Russian lands is the biggest resistance which sometimes even requires military intervention. In the European and polar regions is few resistance and acceptation, also because their wealth did improve and people didn't feel that much of a difference. In Africa is much difference between the resistance, in Madagascar and the islands around is much sympathy for the government though in Nigeria and the southern Sahara people are heavily against the empire. Nigeria is the department with the largest population, though they aren't officially treated differently there is a clear difference between how the government treats matters there. They listen more to the local legislature and doesn't overrule too many things. In the Middle East people want more of their own traditions and less Dutch or European, but agree with the monarchis way of ruling.

Because of high levels of social equality there is very little racial-discrimination. The government is doing everything in her power to fight it. Though there is no social-ethnic inequality, there is huge aristocratic community in the Dutch Empire which has some privileges. Some people, mostly in Europe, do agree with this and do not care much, but many people in the other continents disagree with this and try to fight this. Emperor Citus has so far vetoed any law which limits the aristocratic power completely but did agree with some changes which would lead to a slow change in this aristocratic society. Emperor Citus is under a lot pressure to change it. A large majority of the elected House and a small majority in the Senate supports change in the powers and advantages of aristocrats, but the barons from the baronies all over the Empire pressure Emperor Citus to veto any change.

Language[]

When the Treaty of Doorn was signed in 2024 Dutch became the offical language in the country. When the conquest followed and more countries were added to the Empire English became the commonly used language, though Dutch stayed the offical language. The demissionary European Parliament advised the Emperor to undertake steps and proclaim English as the new official language. Citus's own temporarily council cabinet advised him against this, since it would lead to the loss of his large mandate of monarchists in the Netherlands. Citus decided to keep this issue closed untill the Empire would have settled and untill the 2042 he kept the status quo. After his first imperial order, the Act of the Constitution he launched a second order in which he declared English and Dutch the two official languages, but English as the language the government would be speaking.

Beside of the two official languages there are more than 50 languages spoken in the departments and the legislatures of the departments. Finnaly there are also regional recognised languages in which people in local communities can speak and which they can teach.

Religion[]

There is no official religion in the Batavian Empire. There is freedom of faith and there are no religions prohibited. There is a strict secular government which is not connected with church and the Emperor has to stay atheist in public, so that his religion is unknown and can't be used for political achievements. The largest religion in the Empire is Christianity, followed by Islam. There are thousands of small or tribal religions.

Race[]

There are a lot of ethnic groups in the Batavian Empire. The ethnic groups and race variates in every department. The Batavian Empire a rela multicultural pluriform state. There is no real meltingpot since all minorities and peoples keep there own traditions and values.

Largest Cities[]

Rank	City	Population	Department
1	Caïro	23.345.509	Lower-Egypt
2	Tehran	21.534.340	Persia
3	Lagos	20.034.567	Nigeria
4	London	19.678.547	East-Britain
5	Paris	19.511.317	Île-de-France
6	St. Petersburg	18.989.598	St. Petersburg
7	Madrid	14.459.247	Castillia
8	Berlin	12.500.789	Prussia
9	Abidjan	9.891.788	Ivory Coast
10	Alexandria	8.237.899	Lower-Egypt

Government[]

The Emperor[]

The Batavian Empire is governed by a hereditary monarch, an Emperor. The Emperor of the Batavian Empire is the sovereign Head of State. After his coronation, the Emperor is granted with various titles, the most important of which are Emperor of the Batavian Empire, King of Hispaniola and the Rio Plata, Prince of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Aragon and Castilla, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Antarctica, Co-Archduke of Austria, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Britain, Souvereign Lord of Russia, Magistrate of Frisia, Lictor of Scandinavia, Squire of Labrador and Baron of Amsterdam. The Emperor has a lot more (minor) titles which he founded after his coronation or he litteraly 'stole' from other nobility in Europe. Unlike common constitutional monarchies the Emperor has a large amount of political influence since he governs some provinces directly and has a seat in the Senate. With his seat he can debate with other Senators, propose amendments and veto a proposal. He also has the power to suspend the constitution for three months, which can be extended by the Senate. The Emperor is also commander in chief, he can appoint any general or authorise an attack without any permission from the Consulate. The Emperor can declare a State of War as Commander-in-Chief for three months, after three months the Consulate needs to lengthen it, however that is purely symbolic as the Emperor can deploy any troops by executive order as Commander-in-Chief. The Emperor can also dissolve the whole House of Consuls or the Senate. Besides this he is allowed to dismiss any cabinet member, including the Prime-Minister. The Emperor also gives his Royal Assent to laws. Besides his weekly conversations with the Prime-Minister, he also meets with the Privy Council every week.

The Emperor is always a member of Citus's dynasty and a direct or indirect successor of Citus-Augustus I. An Emperor may choose to step down at any time, although it is common that they stay in charge untill their death.

Forced abdication[]

In the extraordinary case an Emperor is committing crimes like abuse of power or there are other problems like mental illness the Prime-Minister can ask the Emperor to abdicate. If the Emperor refuses to abidcate a so called 'Act of Abjuartion' can be invoked. The Act of Abjuartion allows an 'impeachment' of the Emperor. As soon as the Emperor is forced to abdicate the next in line of succesion with be crowned Emperor

Consulate[]

House of Consuls[]

The Consulate (sometimes reffered to as Parliament, Congress or National Assembly) of the Batavian Empire comprises of two legislative houses. The Lower House is the House of Consuls, or simply the House (sometimes reffered to as House of Representatives, House of Commons or Chamber of Deputies) and comprises of 500 seats. The House of Consuls is located in the capital city Amsterdam and is elected every 5 years, although, with its pluralist and complicated politcal landscape, snap elections are an often occurance. The House of Consuls has the authority to make, amend or repeal laws. A Consitutional Amendment requires a two-third majority in the House and a ⅔ majority in the Senate. Consuls can sit in the House without term-limits. Right now the House is filled with about 65% Europeans and the others being African, Asian, Canadian or Polynesian

Senate[]

The Senate (sometimes reffered to as First Chamber, Chambre de Réflection or Council of Departments) is the Upper House of the Consulate. The Senate comprises of 115 seats and is located in Amsterdam. The 111 departments each choose one Senator which represents their department. The elections of the Senate are every 2 years. There is no term-limit for a Senator. The capital city of Amsterdam can send 3 Senators insetad of 1. The 114 Senators discuss the proposals suggested and passed by the House of Consuls and can stop them if their is a minority of Senators in favour. There is a ⅔ majority required to pass amendments. The Senate can also propose amendments themselves, this is called a Unicameral Amendment. There is a ⅔ majority required to pass a Unicameral Amendment, with this supermajority representing departments containing more than 50% of the entire population. The Senate ials acts as a Consultancy Branch for the Emperor regarding his governance of other subdivisions. If the Emperor makes a decision about his Crown Territories, the Imperial City or makes any military moves he can ask the Senate for a Advisory Session in which the Senate Consults the Emperor, or if he wishes to, can even vote in (dis)approval of the earlier token decision. The Emperor also takes sitting in the Senate, acting as the Speaker or Senator. This seat is marked as the 115th Seat or Imperial Seat. With this seat he is able to attend any plenary meeting and participate in debates. He is also able to launch a veto and stop any proposal or amendment.

Council of States-General[]

The Council of States-General is a traditional branch consisting of the religious, nobles and people. Unliike the Consulate, the Council of States-General does not have any legislative power. The Council of States-General meets once a year, just before the State of the Empire. The Emperor is the chairman of the States-General and debates with them about the course of the nation. The Statesmen (as members of the States-General are called) serve for life and are appointed by different authorities. Each department has it's own number of Statesmen regarding the population. The States-General comprises 2500 seats and is located in the Imperial Palace. Sometimes Statesmen are called Peers or Lords, to refer to the Upper House of the British tradition.

Imperial Cabinet[]

After the elections of the House of Consuls a cabinet is to be formed. A party can form a cabinet if it is ensured by the support of a majority in the House (50%+1 seat). It is very unlikely that one party gains the absolute majority so coalition talks are held immediately after the election. In the meantime a caretaker cabinet remains in place. As soon as a coalition proposal is made the House elects an informator consulati (commonly called Prime-Minister-Elect) who visits the Emperor and proposes the formation plans. The Prime-Minister-Elect needs a majoity in the House to be elected. If the Emperor agrees with the coaltion proposed the Prime-Minister-Elect and his contemplated ministers visit the Emperor which formerly appoints them in a new cabinet. A member of the cabinet needs to give up his seat in the House (if he had one). During the term the Prime-Minister can change the coalition, he needs approval from the Emperor for this.

The Imperial Cabinet is the head of the executive branch and lead by the Prime-Minister. In the Batavian Empire the Emperor is not a part of the cabinet, though the Emperor stays responsible for the government since it governs in his name. The Prime-Minister is also the leader of the Council of Ministers which meets every morning from monday till friday. The Prime-Minister also has a weekly chat with the Emperor which is usually mondays. The Prime-Minister and his ministers can propose bills to the Consulate and thus also participate in the legislative proces. They are also responsible to the House of Consuls and are obliged to attend plenary meetings if asked to. The House of Consuls can also petition a motion of distrust. If the motion is accepted by the House it is likely for the Prime-Minister or his whole cabinet to resign. The Emperor can also dismiss a minister or the Prime-Minister during their term. If the Prime-Minister is to be dismissed by the Emperor the deputy is appointed as Prime-Minister till the next election or the appointment of a new Prime-Minister

Judicial Branch[]

The Rule of Law governs the Batavian Empire, and various judicial branches exist to ensure the correct application of the law on Batavian citizens across the Empire.

District Courts[]

The lowest level in the Batavian judicial hierarchy the so-called District Courts, also refered to as Barony Courts. Every subdivision has at least one District Court that deals with both civil and criminal cases up to a certain degree of severity, although larger populated baronies often have many more. A District Court consists of at least three District Judges, who single-handedly deal with first degree offences brought forward to them. In some cases, with second-degree offences, the three judges rule on cases together in a so-called joint sitting.

Magistrate Court[]

There is at least one Magistrate Court in every department, although the more populated departments often have more. Magistrate Courts are as both a Court of Appeals, meaning that practically every plaintiff or defendant can appeal to the Magistrate Court after their case has been ruled on by the District Judge. Some more severe third-degree cases however, are immediately refered to the Magistrate Court, that will rule on them immediately. Magistrate Courts consist of Magistrate Judges. Cases are always ruled on by three Magistrate Judges.

Crown Court[]

There are 15 Crown Courts in the Batavian Empire. The Crown Court operates as a Court of Appeals to third-degree offences and as a Court of Cassation to first- and second-degree offences. For legal purposes, the Batavian Empire is divided into 15 Crown Circuits: The Caribbean, North-American, Middle-East, Pacific, Russia, Caucasus, East-Africa, Saharan-Africa, West-Africa, Indian-Africa, Scandinavia, Central-Europe, North-Western Europe, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe. In addition to operating as Court of Appeals or Cassation to plaintiffs, both District and Magistrate Judges can appeal to Crown Courts for the issueing of preliminary references on complex cases and the interpretation of the law. Crown Court judges are refered to as High Justices.

**Crown Circuits of the Batavian Empire**
Circuit	Area	Seat
1	North-West Europe	The Hague
2	South-West Europe	Zaragoza
3	Central Europe	Prague
4	Eastern Europe	Kiev
5	Scandinavia	Stockholm
6	Russia	Nizhny Novgorod
7	Caucasus	Tblisi
8	Middle-East	Doha
9	Eastern-Africa	Khartum
10	Western-Africa	Lagos
11	Saharan Africa	Tamanghasset
12	Indian Africa	Antananarivo
13	Pacfic	Papeete
14	North-America	Halifax
15	Caribbean	Willemstad

High Court of Justice[]

The High Court of Justice is the highest judicial organ of the Batavian Empire. It is located in the Imperial Palace of Amsterdam and consists of two branches: the Grand Jury and the Supreme Court.

Grand Jury of the High Court[]

The Grand Jury of the High Court is the highest legal organ of the Batavian Empire in criminal cases, acting as a Court of Cassation to third-degree offences and as a Court of Appeals to third-degree cases from the Imperial City of Amsterdam. In addition to this, it judges on so-called fourth-degree offences, alhough these are rare. In extraordinary circumstances, the Minister of Justice reserves the right to refer any case directly to the Grand Jury, should he see the necessity to do so.

The Grand Jury comprises 15 judges, which are refered to as Grand Jurors. In total, one High Justice from each Crown Circuit is selected to ensure regional balance on the bench. Grand Jurors serve for a non-renweable term of six years, and the selection happens in three cycles, meaning that every two years five Grand Jurors jurors are replaced. Grand Jurors are selected by an independent judical recommendation committee, that advises the Minister of Justice on the selection of Grand Jurors. The Minister of Justice then confirms the choices and the Emperor commissions them. In the case of an untimely resignation of a Grand Juror, a replacement will be appointment for the remainder of the resigned Juror's term, without having to forfit the possibility of being selected for another full term afterwards.

Cases before the Grand Jury are decided by panels of 3, 7 or 15 Jurors, depending on the nature and complexity of the case. The Grand Jury is presided by the President of the Grand Jury, which is a rotating position on a bi-yearly basis. Conventionally, one of the 5 longest serving Jurors takes on the role of president for two years, after which he resigns as Juror (due to the end of his term) and the another President is elected from the now most senior pool of 5 Jurors. Presidents are elected from and by the Grand Jurors.

Supreme Court[]

The Supreme Court is the most important branch within the High Court of Justice. The Supreme Court consists of 7 Supreme Court Justices. The Supreme Court rules on cases relating to the power of government institutions. Priviliged actors, such as the House of Consuls, Senate, Ministers or the Crown can take cases directly to the Supreme Court that will rule on the legality of acts, decrees or administrative actions. Imperial-Governors, State Deputies, State Senators, Lieutenant-Chancellors, Excutives, Mayors, Aldermen or Councillors are semi-priviliged actors, meaning they can bring cases forward but only if they are in relation to the vertical seperation of powers. Citizens are non-priviliged actors, meaning they are in principle not allowed to bring cases before the Supreme Court, although the Supreme Court has the unique power to annul any decision made by lower tribunals or the Grand Jury. Whilst the Supreme Court can rule on the constitutionality of governance relations, they are not allowed to rule on the constituionality of parliamentary acts, as the constitution protects these under the principles of legislative supremacy. The Supreme Court is politically significant, as the law on governance relations or the vertical seperation of powers is often vaguely defined with room for a lot of interpretation.

Supreme Court Justices are appointed for a period of 7 years. Supreme Court Justices can serve two non-consecutive terms. Unlike Grand Jurors, there is no prior requirement for Supreme Court Justices to have served as High Justices, or in fact, any other judicial position. The Minister of Justice nominates Supreme Court Justices when there is a vacancy on the bench. A nomination for Supreme Court Justice needs to be endorsed by the House of Consuls by a simple majority and confirmed by the Senate by an absolute majority before they can be commissioned by the Emperor. If a nominee is not endorsed by a majority of the House of Consuls, the Minister of Justice can still move the nomination forward for confirmation in the Senate, but without an endorsement, a two-thirds supermajority of Senators will need to confirm the nominee. The Emperor is able to block nominees through his veto in the Senate. Whereas nominees do not appear before the House, the Senate conducts extensive hearings before the nomination is put for confirmation.

The Chief Justice serves as the President of the Supreme Court. The appointment of the Chief Justice is up to the discretion of the Emperor, as the Chief Justice is also a permanent member of the Privy Council. The Chief Justice can only be selected from among the serving Supreme Court Justices. Customarily, two judges are from the aristocracy, two from the clergy and three from the third estate, one of the latter serving as Chief Justice. This is not an official requirement, however, and ocasionally the balance is slightly different.

Current Composition of the Supreme Court
#	Title	Name	Term	Estate	Department
1.	Rt. Hon. Lnd	Andrew Morris	2051-2058	Third	Scotland
2.	Hon. Lnd	Victor Imanuel	2048-2055	Third	Igbo
3.	Hon. Lnd	Lorea Sholz	2050-2057	Third	Bremen
4.	Hon. Lnd Dame	Catherine Lavinge	2047-2054	Second	Aquitaine
5.	Hon. Lnd Lord	Dimitri Jezierski Feodor	2049-2056	Second	St. Petersburg
6.	Hon. Rev	Gregorio Osoro Sierra	2054-2061	First	Castille
7.	Hon. Rev	Muhammed Ibrahim	2052-2059	First	Persia

Military[]

The Batavian military is generally known as the most powerful in the world, with 9 million active military personnel and a further mobilisation capacity of at least 200 million. The Batavian military is as-a-whole referred to as the United Batavian Forces, but is colloquially often referred as 'the Dutch Army' comprises multiple different branches, most notably the Imperial Army, the Imperial Navy, the Imperial Airforce and the Imperial Guard.

Army ranks[]

The Batavian Emperor is the commander-in-chief of the United Batavian Forces and has the power to override decisions of lower commanders. In his duties as commander-in-chief, the Emperor is supported by the Minister of Defence and his ministry. In contrast with constitutional monarchies, the Batavian Emperor has an active in the military command, which contributes to the centralised command the United Batavian Forces are known for. The active military role for the Emperor means the role of the Minister of Defence is limited. The Minister of Defence has no official status within the chain of command, but rather serves as the highest military advisor of the Emperor and is the core liaison between the army and the civilian government. The Minister of Defence is also the representative of the military in the Privy Council.

The highest military rank in the United Batavian Forces is the rank of Imperial Legate. There are four Imperial Legates, one for each military branch and together with the Emperor and the Minister of Defence, they form the Military High Command, equivalent of the American Joint Chiefs. The High Command can be seen as the army's executive committee, deciding on the most important military decisions.

The four Imperial Legates have a number of Legionary Legates serving under their command. Whilst the exact number of Legionary Legates varies per branch, there are generally about 5 to 10 Legionary Legates per Imperial Legate. Legionary Legates oversee the command of their army branch in a specific area and report to the Imperial Legate. Other ranks in the Batavian United Forces under the Legionary Legates are different per branch.

Commander-in-Chief: Batavian Emperor
Imperial Legate for the Army	Imperial Legate for the Navy	Imperial Legate for the Airforce	Imperial Legate for the Imperial Guard
Legionary Legate	Legionary Legate	Legionary Legate	Legionary Legate
General	Admiral	Marshall	Prefect
Lieutenant General	Commodore	Marshall	Brigade General
Colonel	Colonel	Colonel	Sergeant-Major
Major	Major	Wing Commander	Guard Commander
Captain	Captain	Squadron Leader	Captain
Army Lieutenant	Navy Lieutenant	Air Lieutenant	Guard Lieutenant
Officer	Navy Corporal	Air Corporal	Guard Corporal

Economy[]

The Batavian Empire has a partially regulated market economy. Based on market exchange rates the Batavian Empire is today by far the largest economy in the world followed by Kwomintang-China and India. The Ministry of Finance, led by the Minister of Finance, is responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and economic policy. The Batavian Bank is the central bank of the empire and is responsible for issuing notes and coins in the nation's currency, the Royal Dutch Florin. Royal Dutch Florin is the world's largest reserve currency.

The Batavian service sector makes up around 73% of the national GDP. London is one of the three "command centres" of the global economy (alongside New York and Tokyo), it is the world's largest financial centre and it has the largest city GDP of the Batavian Empire. Berlin is also one of the largest financial centres in Europe. Tourism is very important to the Batavian economy and, with over hundreds of millions tourists arriving in the last year, the Batavian Empire is ranked as the major tourist destination in the world and London, Paris and Amsterdam take the lead in most visited cities in the empire.

Culture[]

After the Treaty of Doorn and the re-unification of the Benelux the Dutch started with 're-culturising' Belgium. Dutch became the offical language in the whole country and obliged for government instances and schools. During the conquest of Europe and North-Africa the Dutch were less active in the spread of their culture. They mostly left the native cultures in the countries invaded. Dutch style was however applied everywhere and in the whole Batavian Empire you could still see signs of the Dutch rule.

In the years that followed the Dutch influence in culture slowly decreased (although political influence increased). As soon as the Act of the Constitution was exectued and the first Consulate was elected the Houses of Parliament ensured native culture in departments all over the empire. Especially the African National Front hugly participated in this process. Certain laws were adapted to protect culture.

A large portion of European culture is however adpated in the Middle-East departments and North-Africa. beatifull French-style palaces were built for governors and Greek-style parliaments, this proces is still ongoing and the empire moves, although very slowly, in a similar cultural direction.

Infrastructure[]

Even before Citus was crowned Emperor and was still in politics in the Netherlands, his party already had infrastructure as a top priority. As soon as he became the leader of the empire he started to build roads, railways and airports. In his vision a strong infrastructure would represent the prosperity of the nation and was very practical for military forces, who where then busy with an offensive.

The cabinets following the Act of the Consititution also had infrastructure as a main issue. They made excellent road connections between the departments and large cities in the empire. Futuristic and progressive railroads were established, connecting the Europe and Africa like never before. There was put hundreds of millions of dollars to enlarge Schiphol Airport as one of the biggest airports in the world and maintaining strong air connections with many nations in the world. The United States has a ban on planes from the Batavian Empire, so all air traffic to the United States goes via Canada.

Energy[]

"Clean and Green" was the mantra of the governments policy concerning environment. Since 2049 the Minister of Environment and Energy is a politcian from the Green Progressive Party who is striving towards a complete green economy in 2075. The Batavian Empire is very progressive concerning environment. At the moment the largest percentage of energy comes from nuclear power plants. The coal industry is fought by the government and many of the people, especially after huge trouble with smog in dense areas. There is a large hydro-energy project which should be covering 30% of the energy supply to the European departments in 2055. The solar-driven energy projects are mainly in the Sahara dessert.