Post by Germany on Jan 12, 2011 1:56:33 GMT -5
Okay, since nations age rather bizarrely, I’ve put together a list of appearance-ages for Ludwig throughout the years for my own reference and the sake of consistency. This is based upon the observation of Ludwig’s apparent ages during WWI & WWII in the series and the following assumptions:
1 ) periods of rapid growth, expansion, and prosperity age a nation more rapidly
2 ) having a relatively large population to area-size tends to age a country more rapidly
3 ) a nation ages relatively rapidly during its first major war, as the people are “getting their wings”, so to speak, learning what works and what doesn’t
4 ) periods of stagnation/economic depression/non-prosperity stunt or drastically slow a nation’s growth
5 )[/b][/font][/size]once they’ve reached a certain point in apparent age ( usually late teens or early twenties ), nations age much more slowly regardless of what’s going on ( wars, famines, etc. don’t affect their appearance-age much or at all ). At this point, some countries will age a year every few centuries in appearance, or not at all. It all depends on the nation in question.
Um…yeah. I threw this together just to have a formula to go by, because my brain likes order, and I by no means claim to be an expert on the matter. The creator of Hetalia doesn’t seem to be following any formula strongly, based on what I can tell — just, in general, nations over 1,000 years old appear 4-6 years or so older than most of the countries younger than that. Buuuut….then you get countries like China, who based on appearances alone look as though they could be younger than France, but are actually much older.
Edit: Little Ludwig really hit the ground running. XD So much growth in the first few decades since his "birth" in 1866!
Ludwig’s Appearance Ages
5-6 years old as proto-nation North German Confederation
7-9 years old as nation North German Confederation
9 years old upon first becoming the German Empire on Jan. 18, 1871.
9-16 years old as the German Empire prior to WWI
16 years old at the start of WWI
16-18 years old during WWI
19 years old in the period between 1933-1941
20 years old from 1942-present
Below are some of the notes I used when making this. Save for the first note they pretty much echo my history section, only in perhaps a little bit more detail.
August 27, 1866 — Ludwig is born as a proto-nation known as the North German Confederation. Prussia finds him on the day of his birth and gives him his human name. This is a few days after the signing of the Peace of Prague, when Prussia beat Austria and the German Confederation in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.
July 1, 1867 — The North German Confederation becomes a true nation. Prussia continues to have almost complete control over him.
January 18, 1871 — Victory in the Franco-Prussian War results in the final unification of Germany under King Wilhelm I of Prussia. On this date, Ludwig is renamed the German Empire and becomes a federal republic. Wilhelm is his emperor. From this period until the end of WWI, Germany possesses one of the most powerful industrial economies in the world and is a great power on the world stage. Alsace-Lorraine is seized by Prussia and given to Germany. Much new land is acquired. Lots of colonization attempts. Ludwig grows very rapidly during this time in his biggest growth-spurt. Prussia continues to dominate his affairs.
HOWEVER…Wilhelm II ignores/disregards Bismarck’s careful alliance-positioning to maintain power, and Germany steadily loses his allies. By the start of WWI, Austria and Hungary ( as Austria-Hungary ) are his only true allies.
August 4, 1914 — Germany invades Belgium at the start of WWI.
November 11, 1918 — The Allies win WWI. This really sucks for Germany/Ludwig, who is held accountable for causing the war, made to sign the Treaty of Versailles which requires him to pay a large sum in war reparations, and basically loses a lot of land ( including Alsace-Lorraine ), power, and money. Not to mention the deaths. A lot of Germans died during that war, which is often noted as the second most deadly war in history.
1 ) periods of rapid growth, expansion, and prosperity age a nation more rapidly
2 ) having a relatively large population to area-size tends to age a country more rapidly
3 ) a nation ages relatively rapidly during its first major war, as the people are “getting their wings”, so to speak, learning what works and what doesn’t
4 ) periods of stagnation/economic depression/non-prosperity stunt or drastically slow a nation’s growth
5 )[/b][/font][/size]once they’ve reached a certain point in apparent age ( usually late teens or early twenties ), nations age much more slowly regardless of what’s going on ( wars, famines, etc. don’t affect their appearance-age much or at all ). At this point, some countries will age a year every few centuries in appearance, or not at all. It all depends on the nation in question.
Um…yeah. I threw this together just to have a formula to go by, because my brain likes order, and I by no means claim to be an expert on the matter. The creator of Hetalia doesn’t seem to be following any formula strongly, based on what I can tell — just, in general, nations over 1,000 years old appear 4-6 years or so older than most of the countries younger than that. Buuuut….then you get countries like China, who based on appearances alone look as though they could be younger than France, but are actually much older.
Edit: Little Ludwig really hit the ground running. XD So much growth in the first few decades since his "birth" in 1866!
Ludwig’s Appearance Ages
5-6 years old as proto-nation North German Confederation
7-9 years old as nation North German Confederation
9 years old upon first becoming the German Empire on Jan. 18, 1871.
9-16 years old as the German Empire prior to WWI
16 years old at the start of WWI
16-18 years old during WWI
19 years old in the period between 1933-1941
20 years old from 1942-present
Below are some of the notes I used when making this. Save for the first note they pretty much echo my history section, only in perhaps a little bit more detail.
August 27, 1866 — Ludwig is born as a proto-nation known as the North German Confederation. Prussia finds him on the day of his birth and gives him his human name. This is a few days after the signing of the Peace of Prague, when Prussia beat Austria and the German Confederation in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.
July 1, 1867 — The North German Confederation becomes a true nation. Prussia continues to have almost complete control over him.
January 18, 1871 — Victory in the Franco-Prussian War results in the final unification of Germany under King Wilhelm I of Prussia. On this date, Ludwig is renamed the German Empire and becomes a federal republic. Wilhelm is his emperor. From this period until the end of WWI, Germany possesses one of the most powerful industrial economies in the world and is a great power on the world stage. Alsace-Lorraine is seized by Prussia and given to Germany. Much new land is acquired. Lots of colonization attempts. Ludwig grows very rapidly during this time in his biggest growth-spurt. Prussia continues to dominate his affairs.
HOWEVER…Wilhelm II ignores/disregards Bismarck’s careful alliance-positioning to maintain power, and Germany steadily loses his allies. By the start of WWI, Austria and Hungary ( as Austria-Hungary ) are his only true allies.
August 4, 1914 — Germany invades Belgium at the start of WWI.
November 11, 1918 — The Allies win WWI. This really sucks for Germany/Ludwig, who is held accountable for causing the war, made to sign the Treaty of Versailles which requires him to pay a large sum in war reparations, and basically loses a lot of land ( including Alsace-Lorraine ), power, and money. Not to mention the deaths. A lot of Germans died during that war, which is often noted as the second most deadly war in history.
