Add 1775-1820: Italian Napoleon's Roman Empire, complete conquest arc

Italian Napoleon (~1755-???):
- Phase 1 (1775-1790): Unifies Italy, defeats triple coalition, conquers Balkans, crowned Emperor
- Phase 2 (1790-1805): Conquers North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, Libya). Hafsid Caliphate destroyed.
- Phase 3 (1805-1820): Conquers western Anatolia from Ilkhanate
- Claims "Roman Emperor" title — Mare Nostrum nearly achieved

Pope expelled from Rome → exile in Aragon. Catholicism as political force effectively dead.
Sunni Islam also loses last caliphate (Hafsids destroyed).

Impact: Aragon devastated (lost all Italian territory), Ilkhanate severely weakened (lost W. Anatolia),
French Republic diminished, Burgundy survives (400yr identity)

Post-Napoleon: Italy, Illyria, N.Africa, W.Anatolia, Byzantine vassal institutionalized
Bulgaria may break free. "Roman Empire" continues under successor.

Updated all other nations through ~1820. Power rankings revised.
England rising as naval/commercial superpower. New Song consolidating.
Great Khanate: serfdom unchanged, main V3 crisis.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

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-## Open Questions (Post-1750)
-
-1. **Napoleonic equivalent**: French Republic → military genius? What does he conquer?
-2. **Portuguese South America**: Two exile courts + independence movements = ?
-3. **Great Khanate**: Serfdom abolished before V3?
-4. **Australia partition**: Song vs England vs Kalmar?
-5. **Portuguese Cape Colony**: Ilkhanate seizes it?
-6. **New France**: Independent? English satellite? French dominion?
-7. **Remaining to 1836**: 86 years, ~3 checkpoints (1775, 1800, 1836)
+## 1775-1820: The Italian Napoleon and the Remaking of the Mediterranean
+
+### The Man
+- Born ~1755, Genoese (possibly Corsican-born Genoese subject)
+- Military genius in the mold of historical Napoleon but in a Garibaldi-like nationalist context
+- NOT a French revolutionary dictator — an Italian unifier who becomes a conqueror-emperor
+- Historical Napoleon died at 51 of stomach cancer; this Napoleon's lifespan uncertain but military stress limits longevity
+
+### Phase 1: Italian Unification (~1775-1790)
+- Rises through Genoese military, unifies northern Italy (Genoa + Milan + Turin + Florence)
+- Defeats Aragon-France-Germany triple coalition attempting to prevent unification
+- England secretly supports Italy (weakens three rivals simultaneously)
+- Conquers Venice, Naples (Aragon expelled from peninsula), Papal States
+- Pope expelled from Rome → **flees to Aragon** (Barcelona/Valencia). Papacy-in-exile.
+- Conquers Illyria (previously unified South Slavic state). Crown prince made King of Illyria.
+- Vassalizes Byzantium and Bulgaria
+- Conquers Libya
+- **Crowned Emperor (~1788)**: Claims title of **Roman Emperor (Imperium Romanum)**
+  - Controls Italy + Balkans + North Africa = core Roman territory
+  - No competing "Roman" claim (HRE never existed, Byzantium is his vassal)
+  - Self-coronation in Rome (Pope already expelled)
+
+### Phase 2: North African Conquest (~1790-1805)
+- **Tunisia conquered**: Hafsid Caliphate destroyed → last recognized Sunni caliph deposed
+  - Sunni Islam loses its LAST political center (after Abbasids 1258, now Hafsids ~1795)
+  - Islamic world has NO caliphate at all
+- **Algeria conquered**: Weak Zayyanid state falls quickly
+- Stops at Moroccan border: Morocco too large, industrialized, and distant. Not worth the cost.
+- Mediterranean south shore from Algeria to Libya under Italian direct colonial rule
+
+### Phase 3: Anatolian War (~1805-1820)
+- **Justification**: "Restoring Roman/Byzantine Anatolia" (Byzantium is his vassal → inherited territorial claims)
+- Crosses from Balkans into western Anatolia
+- **Ilkhanate is past its golden age**: lost Egypt, lost Malacca, fighting in India, constitutional merchant government strained by military costs
+- Italy has: naval superiority (Aegean/Mediterranean), industrial military, military genius
+- **Result**: Western Anatolia conquered. Ilkhanate retreats to eastern Anatolia/central plateau.
+- Border stabilizes along a mountain/river line in central Anatolia
+- **Anatolia becomes a direct colonial province** (not vassal — too strategically important)
+
+### The Roman Empire at Maximum Extent (~1820)
+```
+Direct rule:
+  Italian peninsula (Rome = capital)
+  Western Anatolia (colonial province)
+  North Africa: Tunisia + Algeria + Libya (colonial provinces)
+  
+Personal union:
+  Illyria (King = Emperor's heir/family member)
+  
+High-autonomy vassal (cannot leave — surrounded):
+  Byzantine Empire (Constantinople + Greece + Albania)
+  
+Possibly still vassal:
+  Bulgaria (has escape routes north/east → may break free post-Napoleon)
+```
+
+Territory = Western Roman Empire core + Balkans + western Anatolia. **"Mare Nostrum" nearly achieved.**
+
+### Napoleon's Death and Succession (~1815-1825?)
+- Dies of illness/age (cancer? exhaustion? ~60-70 years old)
+- Successor (son/heir) inherits:
+  - **Keeps**: Italy, Illyria, North Africa, western Anatolia, Byzantine vassalage — these are institutionalized
+  - **Loses**: Bulgaria probably declares independence (not completely surrounded, border with Great Khanate provides escape)
+  - "Roman Empire" title continues but external recognition uncertain
+- V3 (1836): Empire in **post-Napoleon consolidation phase** — strong core, institutionalized conquests, but the genius is gone
+
+### Impact on Other Powers
+
+**Aragon (DEVASTATED)**:
+- Lost: ALL Italian peninsula territory (Naples), Papal hosting duties (Pope came but Aragon shrunk)
+- Keeps: Catalonia + Aragon + Valencia + Languedoc + Navarre + Sicily + Sardinia + South French coast
+- From Mediterranean hegemon → medium western Mediterranean power
+- Still has Pope-in-exile (prestige but also burden)
+
+**Ilkhanate (SEVERELY WEAKENED)**:
+- Lost: Western Anatolia (to Italy), Egypt (independent since ~1700), Malacca (to Song since ~1700)
+- Keeps: Persia (core) + Iraq + eastern Anatolia + Central Asian vassals + Indian puppets + East African colonies + Sinai/Palestine
+- From global #1 → still a great power but diminished
+- Persian industrial core intact → can rebuild
+
+**France (REPUBLIC, DIMINISHED)**:
+- Revolution → republic → lost colonial war → lost colonies
+- Keeps: Continental France only + some minor overseas remnants
+- Still has large population → potential for recovery
+- Rivalry with Italy replaces rivalry with England as primary concern?
+
+**Papacy-in-Exile**:
+- Pope in Aragon (Barcelona or Valencia)
+- Catholicism as political force effectively dead
+- Remaining Catholic states: Aragon, Castile, southern Germany, France (secularized), Poland (underground)
+- V3: Papacy-in-exile as a diplomatic entity without territorial power
+
+**Tunisia/Algeria**: Conquered by Italy. Hafsid Caliphate destroyed. North African Islamic states reduced to Morocco (independent, large) and Egypt (independent).
+
+### French Republic Post-Revolution
+- Republic established ~1765
+- Revolutionary wars + colonial losses → weakened
+- But continental France is LARGE (biggest European population)
+- Domestic industrialization ongoing (without English coal → using continental resources, importing)
+- No Napoleonic equivalent (Napoleon is Italian, not French) → France may develop more stable republican institutions
+- **Burgundy survives**: 400 years of distinct identity. France doesn't annex it despite temptation — too risky with England and Germany watching. Burgundy's independence is guaranteed by the balance of power.
+- V3: French Republic — democratic but weakened former great power, seeking to rebuild
+
+### Great Khanate (~1775-1820)
+- Lost Balkan influence completely (Italian conquest of Balkans)
+- Still holds: Volga core + Ukraine + Hungary + Kazakhstan + direct-ruled Poland + Wallachia/Moldavia (barely)
+- Serfdom continues → industrial gap with neighbors widens every decade
+- Population growing (potatoes) but living standards stagnant
+- **Serfdom abolition?** Possibly under internal reform pressure by 1836 — or it's the main crisis of V3 gameplay
+- Ukraine: continued identity formation through periodic uprisings
+
+### England (~1775-1820)
+- Supported Italian unification (weakened France, Germany, Aragon — all rivals)
+- Continues industrial expansion (coal/iron → second industrial revolution: steam/railways?)
+- North American colonies growing rapidly
+- Indian colonial expansion (eastern coast + West Bengal)
+- Australia: expanding settlement (competing with Song on east coast, Kalmar on west)
+- **Becoming the world's dominant naval/commercial power** (like historical British Empire)
+
+### New Song (~1775-1820)
+- Post-reunification consolidation continuing
+- Population boom → largest country by population
+- Australian colony growing
+- Malacca secure
+- Eastern Bengal (India) maintained
+- Industrial innovation: renewed since the civil war but still behind Ilkhanate in some areas
+- Jianzhou Republic: still independent, Northeast Asian rivalry continues
+
+### Global Power Rankings (~1820, pre-V3)
+| Tier | Powers |
+|---|---|
+| Tier 1 | **Italian Empire/Rome** (new superpower), England, New Song, Greater Germany |
+| Tier 1.5 | Ilkhanate (diminished), Japan, Kalmar Union, Bohemia |
+| Tier 2 | French Republic, Aragon (diminished), Jianzhou Republic, Morocco |
+| Tier 2.5 | Korea, Egypt, Burgundy, Byzantium (Italian vassal), Illyria (Italian), Castile |
+| Tier 3 | Mongol Khanate, Bulgaria (newly independent?), Portuguese S. America, Great Khanate |
+
+---
+
+## 1836: V3 START — TO BE DEFINED
+
+Final checkpoint needed: the exact V3 opening state for every country.
+Key remaining questions:
+1. **Great Khanate**: Serfdom status? Reform or revolution imminent?
+2. **Portuguese South America**: Two exile courts → independence? Fragmentation?
+3. **Australia partition**: Song east, Kalmar/England west?
+4. **India final map**: English coast, Ilkhanate NW, Song Bengal, indigenous interior?
+5. **New France / North America**: French colonies → independent? English satellites?
+6. **Italian Empire**: Post-Napoleon stability or succession crisis?
+7. **Japan**: Tier 1.5 by now? Pacific power?
+8. **Second Industrial Revolution**: Steam? Railways? Electricity? Who leads?