Part 76: Bonus Congress of Cádiz - Part 2

The Congress of Cádiz

Part 2: The Partition of the Tirruni Empire


The Majlis al-Shura votes in favour of installing a new monarch, though not without loud protests from the more liberal factions within the assembly. The crown is offered to Raed Zulfiqar - as the man who’d suffered countless hardships in his attempt to drag Al Andalus back onto the world stage, there was no better candidate for the throne.



He was certainly better than a Jizrunid, at any rate.

In the interest of avoiding hostility with the great powers, Grand Vizier Raed accepted the offer, though he guaranteed that power would largely remain with the Majlis. News of Zulfiqar accepting the crown is met with huge celebrations in Qadis, where he’s very popular amongst the working classes, and a coronation is quickly planned once the Congress reaches its end.



Meanwhile, several minor powers had taken this opportunity to present their disputes to the Congress. Greece, for example, demanded that the Peloponnese be returned to them, after it was conquered by the Berbers at the height of the Tirruni Wars.

For Morocco, however, this was an open and shut case. They refused to return the peninsula, or even grant autonomy to it, instead asserting direct military rule on the Peloponnese. This decision proved unpopular with the other Congress powers, however, upsetting relations with them.



Similarly, many believed that the Russian Empire’s seizure of Constantinople was aggressive and unjust. Just like the Berbers, however, the Russians weren’t willing to surrender their conquests and hard-won influence so easily.

So the Russian Empire also asserted direct rule on Constantinople, even sending a steady stream of Russian immigrants to begin repopulating the devastated city.




The Dual Monarchy of France-England was facing a similar dispute, though this one was centred around the Rhineland, which was made a puppet of France after their wars against Revolutionary Bavaria. When presented with demands for autonomy from both the Confederacy and Hannover, however, the French decided to acquiesce, albeit reluctantly.

And so the Rhine Confederacy is granted autonomy, though it will remain firmly under the influence of France-England, for the time being.



Once these minor matters have been settled, the Congress turns to their first major dilemma: the Partition of the Tirruni Empire. For several days, the various great powers hears countless arguments and counter-arguments in favour of one plan or another, but when the time finally comes to settle this matter, there are only two clear options open to them…

The first is to restore these conquests to their former owners, and for obvious reasons, France-England is its main advocate. There are concerns that gifting half of Occitania to France will upset the already-precarious balance of power, however, not to mention the disruption it would cause along demographic lines.

The second is to set up several new kingdoms along cultural lines, carefully-sized so that none of them would be stronger than another. This plan is favoured by Hannover, who doesn’t want to see northern Italy restored to Bavaria, fearing that it would strengthen the Archduchy to the point where they could challenge them as the dominant German state once more.



The Majlis al-Shura convenes to decide what stance Al Andalus will take on the matter:

Option A - Restore these territories to their former owners.

Effects: France receives western Occitania; the Kingdom of Provence is restored to eastern Occitania, Provence and parts of North Italy; Bavaria’s north Italian territories are returned to them; The Papal States are restored.
We receive a relations boost with France, Provence, Bavaria, Papal States.
We receive a relations hit with Hannover.

Option B - Set up new, strong states as neutral buffers.

Effects: Occitania is formed; a smaller Provence is restored; the Kingdom of Italy is formed.
We receive a relations hit with France and Bavaria.
We receive a relations boost with Hannover, Occitania and Italy, and a smaller boost with Provence.

Option C - Abstain from the vote.

Effects: We remain neutral in this matter, so it will be decided by other powers. Our relations with other nations are unchanged.

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So yeah, this is part 2 of the Congress, and our options are clearly laid out above. I just wanted to be clear that this vote concerns ONLY Occitania, Provence and North Italy. Catalonia and northern Iberia will be decided on in a separate vote.

Also, a reminder that we (Al Andalus) will have 1 vote in this matter, alongside France, Bavaria, Hungary, Armenia, and Egypt. The great powers of Morocco, Russia and Hannover will have 2 votes apiece. So keep in mind that even if our chosen option doesn’t win overall, the relations boost/hits will still take effect, and the other powers will remember how we voted.