Hanseatic Empire News -

Kaiser Hans Wilhelm IV Dispatches Navy to the Mediterranean


Hanseatic cruiser Deutschland with two sister ships leaving port in Oslo

The Mediterranean Sea has become lately a safe haven for pirates and privateers seeking to hinder the economical situation of the rich Hanseatic Empire that has for centuries been trading with the nations and tribes of Africa and the Far East. In doing so it has constructed a delicate and profitable economy that has not been endangered by anything for decades. However, only months ago the Hanseatic trading vessel Baltisch Königin was attacked by a band of several small ships with armed men not only hijacking the vessel, but also sending a ransom demand to the Hanseatic Ambassador in the Seljuk Empire. The Kaiser has personally called a vendetta upon the low-life pirates of the Mediterranean and has sent the heavy cruiser Deutschland with two sister ships and a contingent of torpedo boats along with tender vessels. The plotted course has been revealed to take the flotilla through the English Channel and through the Strait of Gibraltar and finally into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Kaiser has expressed his wish for the flotilla to visit the Seljuk Empire, an old and important trading partner and a possible friend in the Mediterranean against pirates and other possible hostiles. Several reporters have shown worry over the naval mission, because the two most prominent nations in the Mediterranean area might not take the ships as only as a means to secure trade routes, but as a possible gunboat diplomacy effort, although nobody has any idea what would the gunboat diplomacy be for in the first place.


In other news:
- Airship Wasa leaves on her maiden flight from Berlin to Trondheim.
- Several icebergs spotted near Bergen. All shipping alerted to increased danger.

Imperial Navy Flotilla Arrives to the Mediterranean


The Cruiser Deutschland photographed as it enters the port in Istanbul

The people of Seljuk rejoiced earlier this week when the Hanseatic Imperial Navy arrived into the Mediterranean and had their first port call in Istanbul as invited by the Sultan of the Seljuk Empire. However, not all ships were accounted for during the port call, as the cruiser Admiral Graf Spee was not present along with one of the tender ships. Our reporters managed to get in touch with Admiral Svensson who is in command of the expedition: "The Admiral Graf Spee and the tender are all right, but were ordered to a different port after we heard of the L'iao Biella response to our arriving presence. My command is to ensure that there are no threats to the Hanseatic shipping and trade in and through the Mediterranean and the L'iao Bella government is walking a narrow line between being a threat and an inconvenience."

Kaiser Hans Wilhelm IV has also made it clear that the L'iao Bella now are in danger of being seen as a threat during his public appearance last week. According to the Kaiser, the closing of the Suez Canal from international shipping and tourism is "not a right the Kingdom should have, no matter how many towns and villages it happens to possess along the shores". The Kaiser has also given an order for the two Bismarck class Battleships to be readied for a trip to the Mediterranean if there is a reason to bulk up the Hanseatic presence there. It s already rumored that any U-boats in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean would be turning course to the Suez Canal in order to secure it's opening, although none of this is confirmed.

Several sightings of the Admiral Graf Spee have been confirmed in the Mediterranean by merchant vessels and by the course it has set, it would seem at th time that the Cruiser is heading directly to the Suez Canal.


In Other News:
- The national ban on Nationalist Socialist and Communist parties bears fruit: streets safe again in Germany.
- Cotton clothing the new rage. Trade with the Confederate States of America and the Texan Federation expected to boom.

L'iao Biellan Heretics Receive Support from the Pope


Saint Peters Square, the most recognized place in the entire Papal domain

Although the Hanseatic Empire has for ages been the hallowed ground of the Lutheran church due to it's domain over Wittenberg, it's people were shocked and appalled by the behavior of the current Pope. Pope Pius IX has not only dismissed the long standing practice of Christian unity in times of crisis but has now allowed news from the Papal States to announce even closer friendship with the L'iao Biellan Kingdom. Another traditionally Catholic country, the United Kingdom of Lusitania, has also had major internal conflicts due to the Papal diplomatic move. The Cardinal of Lusitania has already seen this move by the Pope as heresy towards their own church and belief system and has denounced the Pope as the rightful leader of the Christian faith or the Christian church for that matter.

Several Catholic priests in the Hanseatic Empire, the Catholics being a small but distinct religious minority especially in southern Hanse, have also renounced the Pope and have lodged an official request for the Pope's dismissal to the Sacred College of the Holy Roman Church, although such action would be unprecedented and is unlikely to happen. As so, several fringe groups and religious extremists have vowed to "rid the World of the current heretic Pope" and they have reportedly said that they would accomplish this "by any means necessary". The Hanseatic leadership has not commented on th possible foreign relations crisis these fringe groups might present.

In Other News:
- Kaiser to personally attend a summit over the Suez Crisis.
- Chancellor Jacob Ålsson to visit Seljuk Empire over the Suez Crisis and possible alliance.
- Bismarck reportedly halted at the Strait of Gibraltar.

Hanseatic Navy Withdraws from the Mediterranean


A Hanseatic submarine entering the port on the recently leased island of Burgazada

The Kaiser has officially announced early this week that all Hanseatic military vessels have been withdrawn from the Mediterranean Sea as requested by the L'iao Biellan government. The three cruisers along with a small group of submarines has been arriving slowly to the leased island of Burgazada, located in the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul. The complete strength of this force is unknown, but according to local sources that have observed the arrival of vessels, the Hanseatic presence in the Mediterranean has been growing exponentially since the beginning of the Suez Crisis or has been since day one stronger than thought before the Crisis began.

The Admiral Graf Spee has reportedly left the Suez Canal entrance and has been spotted in the Aegean Sea heading for the Sea of Marmara as well. The Bismarck along with other vessels that had gathered near the Strait of Gibraltar have scattered and are heading for their previous position around the Atlantic although are in full preparedness to return to the Strait should the Kingdom of L'iao Biella not diffuse the situation in the Mediterranean. According to the Kaiser, the matter is now "in the hands of the L'iao Biellan monarchy".

In other News:
- Alliance signed with Seljuk Empire
- Askari Treaty to include White Russia?
- Hanseatic Archbishop and several other bishops leave for a conference in Lusitania
- Kaiser denies support to the Hanseatic Catholic Church in their actions against the Pope.
-- Kaiser comments that "this would not be the first time the Pope would be proven wrong, however"

Pope Pius IX Incites People to Stand Up Against Freedom of Religion Act


A group of Hanseatic Catholics known as "Christ's faithful" cause mayhem in central Stockholm

Freedom of Religion, which has been in place within the Hanseatic Empire since the Unification Wars, is being now openly challenged by the schism between Catholic factions around the globe. The strong minority of Catholics in the Hanseatic Empire have been so far compliant with the Archbishop's direction to denounce Pope Pius IX, but a recent open letter for all "faithful" to bring their churches and priests back into fold and by spilling blood if necessary. In Stockholm, one of the most extremist pro-Rome factions has shown it's teeth when they took over the city central the same day the open letter hit the media.

The pro-Rome groups still amounts to a very small minority of Catholics within the Hanseatic Empire, although they have thus far been more than extreme in their methods of showing support to the Pope. The Kaiser has personally been forced to act upon the matter after the Stockholm incident and has ordered that anyone caught attempting to rob the freedom of religion, a basic right of Hanseatic citizens, from anyone will be given as punishment a lifetime in jail in one of the worst prisons that can be found within all of the Hanseatic Empire. Kaiser Hans Wilhelm IV has also announced full censorship to any and all such inflammatory Papal messages and has made it clear that if Pope Pius IX ever during his travels on Hanseatic soil attempts to incite people into open rebellion against anyone, he will personally renounce any diplomatic status from the Pope and have him arrested. This also proves the very first time in the history of the Hanseatic state's existence that the Kaiser has threatened any foreign leader with arrest or removal of diplomatic status. It provides also an unfortunate but much requested precedent in the field of international diplomacy.