APH: Kill the king!

Left to right: England, Russia, Serbia and France.

WOW, WOW WOW! Hang on a minute... If it's ENGLAND, why did I draw the Union Jack?! Damn it! I do make the distinction...

Let's go in chronological order:

1. Charles Stuart I, king of England. He wanted to be an absolute monarch, that is, have all the power for himself. But it so happened that parliamentarians didn't agree with him, and so the English civil war broke out between the royalists, who supported Charles I, and parliamentarians, those who wanted the Parliament to have control over the king. The civil war lasted from 1642 to 1651, and ended up with Charles I being beheaded, and Cromwell's republic (or whatever it was called) established.

2. Louis Bourbon XVI, king of France, who was beheaded in the guillotine by the Radicals during the French revolution (1789 - 1799). You all know this one, so I'll be brief: after the 13 colonies had got independent, France was merged in a big crisis, which affected mostly the Third State, who were forced to pay more and more taxes, while the Church and nobles didn't have to pay anything . There was a famine, peasants got fed up, they forced Louis XVI to swear a constitution, but he didn't like it so he tried to run to Austria to take control over France again, soldiers caught him in the border and, accused of treason, he was condemned to Death.

3. Alexandar Obrenovic I, king of Serbia. The Obrenovics' pro-Austria policy didn't satisfy Serbian people, so a conspiracy appeared. In May 1903, conspirators staged a coup d'etat; Alexandar and his wife were stabbed to death in the palace in Belgrade. (Better information here: link) I included this one, because this event is important for World War I: when Petar Karadordevic I seized the throne, he started a policy to have closer relations with Russia and France, instead of Austria. That shifted international relations prior to the first Great War.

4. Nicholas Romanov II, tzar (king) of Russia. He was caught prisoner in the Russian revolution (1917) and later shot. The reason was exactly the same as in the French Revolution: he was a tyrant who didn't give a damn about his people and broke all the progress promises he made. (That's why I hate Disney's Anastasia: because they make it look as if Tzarist Russia was a wonderful place to live in, and it was not, by any means.) Communism was not a lot better, but, at least, people didn't starve and had decent homes. I suggest you read Chekhov's Vanka. It'd give you an idea of how society was in Russia under the Tzars.

Sorry if I bored you to Death.

Please, let me know if I've made any mistakes. Remember I'm not from any of these countries!

I tried to draw England  in Cromwell's outfit (--->upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…). Sorry if it's not perfect. On the other hand, I'm very proud of the way France's revolutionary hat resulted. 

I love little Serbia, going with the big guys... Isn't he so cute?
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Arthur Kirkland (Britain), Ivan Braginsky (Russia) and Francis Bonnefoy (France) © Hidekaz Himaruya.
Vuk Misic (Serbia) © Tix91.
Art © Lady-Laryssa.