The Decades of Darkness TL was originally posted on AH.com a few months back, but the thread was sadly eaten in the crash. So, belatedly, I've recreated it.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Decades of Darkness, it's a timeline where the United States splits early in its history, with a free-soil New England in the north and a slaveowning South, which becames a rather large and unpleasant place. There's a more detailed synopsis below, or you can visit the website (https://www.alternatehistory.com/decadesofdarkness). The website is having some display problems (a lot of characters show up as question marks - I don't know why), but the main page has a link to a rich text document with the latest version of the timeline, and the maps are on the main page.
The longer version of the synopsis:
Decades of Darkness is an alternate history where U.S. President Thomas Jefferson dies during a crucial stage of the debate over the Embargo Act, a commercial measure which was causing considerable anger in New England and New York. Clinton and Madison, Jefferson’s successors, continue the Act, precipitating a secession movement in New England, which is dragged into a wider war with Britain (the War of 1811). At the war’s end, the USA is forced to concede the independence of seven states (Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey) as well as conceding parts of the northwest to Michigan Territory (a joint British/New Englander possession) and an Indian Confederation under Tecumseh as a buffer state. The severed states form the Republic of New England, or the ‘Northern Confederacy’ as some of its inhabitants prefer to call it.
After the war, the USA is dominated by slaveholding states and (at first) a desire for vengeance. Another Anglo-American War was fought during the 1830s (the War of 1833) which led to the defeat of the Indian Confederation, but the United States was unable to defeat the combined British-Yankee forces. The war eventually ended with the United States acquiring some small pieces of the former Indian Confederation but abandoning its preference for northern conquest. Instead, the United States turned west and south, conquering Texas after its 1833 revolution, and its citizens poured into northern Mexico.
The First Mexican War (1850-1852) saw the USA defeat the Mexicans and acquire a huge part of northern Mexico – all of what they acquired in OTL, plus Baja California, Tamaulipas, and the rest of Mexico north of the 25th parallel. The USA also established a ‘protectorate’ over the Yucatan. Since then, the USA has also annexed Cuba (1858) and Nicaragua (1859). After the annexation of Nicaragua, U.S. President Jefferson Davis proclaimed that it is the manifest destiny of the white race to unite all the peoples of the Americas until “all these lands are one nation under Godâ€. Since then, the USA has acquired Puerto Rico (1862), Honduras (1869), the Dutch Antilles and Surinam (1869), the French Caribbean (1875) and in two further Mexican Wars (1863-1854 and 1881 but with ongoing guerrilla conflicts) has taken control of all of Mexico. The United States now stretches from the 46th parallel to Nicaragua, and includes much of the Caribbean. Slavery is legal in virtually all of the USA, except for a few states in the northeast. Indentured restrictions have been placed on many, although not all, of the Spanish-speaking inhabitants within U.S. territory.
In Europe, the revolutions of 1849 saw the German Reich established, including Prussia, the Netherlands, Austria, and most of the German-speaking states. It has since acquired much of Switzerland, Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark, and Alsace from France. The Russian Empire expanded greater than in our history, acquiring much of OTL Romania, Bulgaria and parts of Turkey, but it has suffered a major setback with its defeat in the Second Napoleonic Wars. Italy has unified, but without the rich northern provinces of Lombardy and Venetia, which remain in firm Austrian rule. After decades of civil war, Spain was divided into a new northern Catalan-speaking Kingdom of Aragon. Aragon was briefly partitioned between France and Spain but has since been restored. The Ottoman Empire collapsed after a long war with Russia, and the British established a protectorate over the remnant core of Turkey and Mestopotamia. The British also have an expanded empire, with a larger Australia, Canada, and more settlement to the Cape.
Recently, the world has been engulfed by the Second Napoleonic Wars, with Napoleon IV, Emperor of France, driving a European struggle which spilled across the globe and saw American, New England and Brazilian troops in Europe. The war is now over, and the Third Congress of Vienna has met to redraw the borders of Europe and indeed, the world...
Also, note that the Decades of Darkness timeline is written through a combination of ‘eyewitness accounts’ and ‘historical documents’ – historical texts, newspaper articles, etc. None of these sources are entirely reliable. Eyewitnesses can be mistaken or miss details. Historical documents are written through often-biased historians or reporters, particularly nationalistic ones, and these authors are also sometimes guilty of sloppy research. Thus, they are sometimes biased or inaccurate, and they may focus on their own pet topics and ignore other important historical facts. Not everything they say can be trusted.
Now, onto the newest post, which deals with the end of the Second Napoleonic Wars in Europe...
Decades of Darkness #87: The Sword and the Mind
“There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind.â€
- Napoleon I, Emperor of France
“War alone brings to the greatest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the men who have the courage to meet it.â€
- Napoleon IV, Emperor of France, during his abdication speech in Paris, just before his departure for Algiers
“Never start a war without being sure you can finish it.â€
- Thomas Corbin, U.S. President, to King Felipe VI of Spain (attributed)
“The best war is always the one fought between two of your enemies.â€
- King Christian IX of Denmark, describing the Second Napoleonic Wars
* * *
From: “No Place in the Sun: France From Great Power to Great Embarrassmentâ€
(c) 1951, Prof. D. Bennett
Kingsland University
Kingsland University Press, Hampshire [OTL Southport, Queensland]
Kingdom of Australia
12. Lost Opportunities
In short, Napoleon IV chose style over substance, fleeting glory over lasting achievement, and rifles over sculptor’s chisels. Few national leaders in his time or since can match his ability to deliver a well-turned phrase, or deliver a ceremony of pomp and glory. He was perhaps the first leader to use the national media as an instrument of policy, and he regularly succeeded in motivating the French people according to his will, and to follow his goals. Where he failed was in setting valuable goals.
Napoleon IV placed too much emphasis on emulating the military achievements of his great-uncle, the first Napoleon. His much-trumpeted colonial expeditions in Indochina and Africa gained France nothing but momentary glory and pride, and sank money and military resources which could have been put to better use.
Yet even a perfectly-organised military would have availed him little, given the forces arrayed against him. For one area where Napoleon IV did match his great-uncle was in placing ego ahead of diplomacy. He pursued his own military adventures regardless of the forces arrayed against him, and created needless enemies. His conquest of Aragon is the epitome of his pursuit of short-term glory over long-term gains. By doing so, he unnecessarily made an enemy out of the British Empire, the same foe which had undone his great-uncle, and set himself on a course for war with Germany.
France’s history throughout the Fourth Age can best be termed “opportunities lostâ€. He was unfortunate that the French language lacked the useful German word “Realpolitikâ€. In his foreign policy, he should have pursued quiet results, not column inches. His military was useful as a deterrent, to prevent war with Germany, but not as the chief goal of his policy. He could easily have secured a rapprochement, if not necessarily outright alliance, with Britain. For the United Kingdom favoured a balance of power in Europe, and would gladly have followed friendly relations with France to allow the same quiet economic growth which made Britain prosperous. By pursuing an alliance with Russia, Napoleon IV instead unbalanced the Powers in Europe, with unfortunate results.
Instead, Napoleon IV would have best served himself and France by expanding the sciences, industry, arts and commerce. There was much wealth to be made through trade and the growing spread of industrialisation, but where Napoleon IV made any encouragement of industry it was to foster those manufactures easily converted to war. France already had a reputation for fostering the arts, and this was one area where imperial patronage could have been valuably employed. And an encouragement of the sciences would have brought far more long-term benefits to France than even a successful war with Germany.
And above all, Napoleon IV made the cardinal error of awakening the Americans from their introverted world-view. Where before the United States had been happy to hide behind the Atlantic and seek influence in its own continents, now they had been called onto the world stage. In the long run, this may have been his greatest mistake of all...
* * *
Taken from: “Blood and Iron: The Concise Encyclopaedia of Military Historyâ€
(c) 1949 General D. Hanson (retd)
Vanderbilt Press
New York City: Long Island
Republic of New England
Second Napoleonic Wars (16 February 1884 – 28 August 1885).
Series of linked wars in Europe, with associated colonial struggles in Africa and Asia, precipitated by the formation of the Axis Pact between France and Russia (and later Spain). The immediate cause of the war was the Franco-Spanish annexation of Aragon, and subsequent Anglo-German demands for withdrawal. The wars were fought between the Axis Powers, initially France, Russia, Spain, Serbia and Montenegro, and later Italy, and the Allies (not all of whom were allied), initially the British Empire, Germany and Turkey, and later Portugal, the United States, Brazil, Greece, and New England. The wars resulted in the breaking of the Franco-Russian alliance, the re-creation of Aragon, and significant territorial changes within Europe and in the colonial empires.
State Entry Exit Combat Forces Casualties
Brazil 1870 1871 40,000 6,000
France 1870 1871 1,050,000 340,000
Germany [1] 1870 1871 1,800,000 460,000
Italy 1870 1871 850,000 280,000
Montenegro 1870 1870 20,000 6,000
New England 1871 1871 200,000 30,000
Serbia 1870 1871 115,000 36,000
Spain 1870 1871 650,000 110,000
Portugal 1870 1871 430,000 75,000
Russia 1870 1871 1,500,000 520,000
Turkey 1870 1871 180,000 55,000
UK [2] 1870 1871 740,000 110,000
USA 1870 1871 105,000 13,000
* * *
Taken from “The Compleat Textbook Series: Modern European Historyâ€
By J. Edward Fowler (Principal Author)
Sydney, Kingdom of Australia.
(c) 1948 Eagle Publishing Company: Sydney. Used with permission.
The Third Congress of Vienna (1885-1886)
The Third Congress of Vienna is the collective name given to a series of agreements and negotiations completed in the aftermath of the Second Napoleonic Wars. The attendees were Britain, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Aragon, the United States and Brazil from among the victors, and France, Russia, Italy and Spain from among the defeated powers.
The Third Congress marked the last time the powers of Europe met in general congress after the end of another European war, this one like the first initiated by the defeat of another expansionist Bonaparte. The Congress revisited Vienna, in large part because that was the residence of the Holy Roman Emperor, who remained the expected representative of the Reich in foreign affairs. This did not stop the attendance of the Kaisers of Prussia and the Netherlands, nor that of a string of German monarchs, and especially not the dignified Reichs Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who became the de facto representative of Germany for those foreign powers who did not wish to negotiate with three Great Powers and a host of lesser monarchs. It also included, for the first time, representatives from the New World powers, the United States and Brazil – another historic development.
Unlike the previous two Congresses, which had invited all the states in Europe to attend and negotiate, the Third Congress deliberately included only those powers which had been involved in the military struggles, and excluded other nations. Even Russia was not formally an attendee of the Congress, as peace terms had already been negotiated, but Grand Duke Michael attended as an ‘observer’, and concluded some informal negotiations regardless of the status of his formal invitation. Neither Sweden nor Denmark were formally invited either, as they had remained neutral throughout the war. Even some of the wartime participants were excluded, such as Serbia and Montenegro, which were kept out because the peace treaty with Russia had already disposed of the status of those two nations. Turkey, Australia, Canada and the Cape colonies were also represented only through Britain, despite the contribution those nations had made to the war.
Also unlike the previous two Congresses, which had tried to act in accordance with the principles of creating unity in Europe and restoration of established forms of government, the outcome of the Third Congress was a series of interlocking agreements developed according to conflicting national interests, and expressed the competing wishes of the victors. It included a formal recognition of the results of the previous peace treaty with Russia. It also included what had begun as an afterthought, with the congregation of all major powers who took the time to divide up much of the world into colonial spheres of influence, even when this involved negotiation amongst victors who had no firm requirement to trade. This was not strictly speaking part of the resolutions of the Congress, but involved “recognition of interest†amongst the various powers not to interfere in prescribed areas assigned to other powers, mostly regions in Africa.
One of the major sticking points of the Third Congress, and which was left unresolved, was the overlapping claims for southern Africa, particularly access to the River Zambezi. The Portuguese wanted recognition of their claims across the entirety of the interior north of the Zambezi and some portions south; the British (or rather, their South African colonies) wanted the Boer republics and a connection to British East Africa, the Germans wanted the Boer republics independent, and New England wanted Liberia to have as much of the hinterland as possible, including access to the Zambezi. The Boer republics themselves were not represented to state their case.
The main outcomes of the Third Congress were:
ARAGON:
European settlements:
- Restored as an independent nation
- Gained the Balearics and Andorra from France
Colonial settlements:
- Granted a ‘sphere of influence†in the Congo basin [most of OTL Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo, although the southern portions of that are part of Portuguese Angola] [3]
BRITAIN:
European settlements:
- Received 4,000 million francs in reparations from France
- Regained Gibraltar from Spain
Colonial settlements:
- Gained the Seychelles, Réunion and the Comoros from France
- Gained German East Africa from Germany in exchange for Madagascar and Heligoland
- Gained the Philippines from Spain
- Confirmed in its possession of Egypt
- Confirmed in its possession of British Somaliland [OTL British Somaliland less Awdal and Togdheer, but plus Bari and Nugaal]
- Recognised in its claims to British East Africa [roughly OTL Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania], stretching from the Sudan to Zanzibar, except for Abyssinia [Ethiopia], Somaliland [roughly OTL Italian Somaliland, which is left unclaimed after the Congress], and German Somaliland
- Created British Equatorial Africa from its existing Nigerian colony and gains from France [OTL Nigeria and Cameroon, and parts of Chad and the Central African Republic]
- Confirmed in its possession of Malaya
- Confirmed in its possession of the Gambia and Sierra Leone
- Confirmed in its rule over Aden, Yemen, Oman and the Indian Ocean coast of Arabia; the Red Sea and Persian Gulf coasts remained uncolonised although with substantial British influence
BULGARIA:
- Detached from Russia and created as an independent state under a cadet branch of the House of Bernadotte [Swedish royal family]
FRANCE:
European settlements:
- Conceded Nice, Savoy and Corsica to Italy
- Conceded Lorraine to Germany, where it became part of the enlarged Duchy of Alsace-Lorraine, and Nord and Artois to the Netherlands
- Agreed to pay 8,000 million francs to Britain and Germany in reparations
- Lost the Balearics and Andorra to Aragon
Colonial settlements:
- Confirmed in possession of Algeria, stretching from Oran to their new gain of Tunis (from Italy), the only French diplomatic gain from the Third Congress [4]
- Confirmed in possession of Syria-Lebanon
- Lost Indochina to Germany
- Lost Madagascar, initially to Britain but then traded by Britain to Germany
- Lost the Seychelles, Réunion and the Comoros to Britain
- Lost Gabon and its Congo possessions to Portugal
- Created French West Africa from its remaining African possessions [OTL Senegal, Guinea, southwestern Mali, Liberia and Ivory Coast]
GERMANY:
European settlements:
- Gained Lorraine from France and included it in the Duchy of Alsace-Lorraine, and Nord and Artois for the Netherlands. This led Chancellor von Bismarck to declare that all German speakers in Europe had been united, and that there was no need for further German territorial gains in Europe.
- Created the Kingdom of Poland, a state in personal union with the Holy Roman Emperor, from the former Russian Duchy of Warsaw and Austrian Kingdom of Galicia [5]
- Created the Kingdom of Courland under the role the nephew of the Kaiser of Prussia [6]
- Received 4,000 million francs in reparations from France
Colonial settlements:
- Gained Madagascar (from Britain) in exchange for German East Africa [roughly the southern half of OTL Tanzania], Heligoland and recognition of British claims to most of eastern Africa
- Gained Indochina from France
- Gained Tripoli as a new colony
- Created German Somaliland [OTL Djibouti plus the Somali provinces of Awdal and Togdheer]
- Created German West Africa [OTL Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and the southwestern part of Niger up to the river Niger]
GREECE:
- Awarded southern Albania around Sarandë
ITALY:
European settlements:
- Gained Nice, Savoy and Corsica from France
- Lost Albania [divided between Greece and an independent prince chosen from the House of Habsburg]
Colonial settlements:
- Lost Tunis to France
LIBERIA:
Recognised as a sovereign nation with New England protection (except by the USA), and with acknowledged claims to its interior [most of OTL Namibia], but with overlapping claims to the Boer republics.
MONTENEGRO:
Retained its independence but required to accept a Wittelsbach monarch [the Bavarian royal family]
NIPPON:
While not formally represented at the congress, Nippon was confirmed in its annexation of the Ladrone Islands [OTL Marianas Islands], including Guam, from Spain.
PORTUGAL:
European settlements:
- Gained the Canary Islands from Spain
- Gained border territory from Spain up to the River Navia and the district of Valverde Del Fresno
Colonial settlements:
- Confirmed in Mozambique
- Confirmed in its possession of Portuguese Guinea
- Confirmed in Angola [which does not have southern Angola as per OTL, but which extends further east to the Zambezi and into southern Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo]
- Created Portuguese Morocco from Morocco and gains against France [roughly OTL Morocco, western Algeria, Western Sahara, Mauritania, and northern Mali] [7]
- Created Portuguese Equatorial Africa [OTL Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Republic of the Congo (Middle Congo, not former Zaire] from gains against France
- Was unable to resolve the border along the Zambezi with the Boer Republics and British South Africa
SERBIA:
Retained its independence, but required to accept a monarch from a cadet branch of the Habsburgs
SPAIN:
European settlements:
- Recognised the independence of Aragon
- Restored Gibraltar to Britain
- Lost border territory along the River Navia and Velverde Del Fresno to Portugal
- Renamed itself Castile
Colonial settlements:
- Lost the Philippines to Britain
- Lost the Ladrone Islands [OTL Marianas Islands] to Nippon
- Lost Spanish Guinea to Portugal
RUSSIA:
European settlements:
- Lost Poland and Courland to Germany
- Lost Bulgaria, which became an independent state
- Lost the region around Kars to Turkey
TURKEY:
- Confirmed in its possession of Mesopotamia, under British protection
- Regained Kars from Russia
* * *
[1] This includes forces deployed from the associated kingdoms of Hungary, Croatia and Galicia.
[2] This includes Empire troops from Australia and South Africa.
[3] It will take the Aragonese some time to establish control of this region, but Britain and Germany have guaranteed that no other power will be permitted to take over the area. Of course, this will not stop the British themselves nibbling at the edges if the Aragonese take too long to establish themselves.
[4] Napoleon IV was still entrenched in Algeria in 1886 at the end of the Third Congress, with the support of the locals and the Algerian branch of the Foreign Legion
[5] As the New England secretary of state remarked at the congress, “Frederick IV is Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of Austria, King of Croatia, King of Hungary, and now King of Poland. How many crowns can fit on one head?â€
[6] The eastern border of the new Poland and Courland is more or less the line left after the 1793 partition of Poland, although Poland also has Warsaw in the west. The Poland-Courland border is the River Nieman. See http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/russian_growth_1300_1796.jpg.
[7] The border is basically the OTL Morocco-Algerian border extended south to meet the extended Mauritanian-Malian border running east. This matches the original claims of Morocco itself, which Portugal has taken over.
* * *
This post wraps up the Second Napoleonic Wars. I’ll be writing a couple more posts describing some developments elsewhere in the world, particularly in South America, then there will be another ‘global tour’ style post giving a breakdown of what’s happening around the world up to 1885-1886.
* * *
Thoughts?
Kaiser Wilhelm III
https://www.alternatehistory.com/decadesofdarkness/
http://decadesofdarkness.blogspot.com/
For those of you who aren't familiar with Decades of Darkness, it's a timeline where the United States splits early in its history, with a free-soil New England in the north and a slaveowning South, which becames a rather large and unpleasant place. There's a more detailed synopsis below, or you can visit the website (https://www.alternatehistory.com/decadesofdarkness). The website is having some display problems (a lot of characters show up as question marks - I don't know why), but the main page has a link to a rich text document with the latest version of the timeline, and the maps are on the main page.
The longer version of the synopsis:
Decades of Darkness is an alternate history where U.S. President Thomas Jefferson dies during a crucial stage of the debate over the Embargo Act, a commercial measure which was causing considerable anger in New England and New York. Clinton and Madison, Jefferson’s successors, continue the Act, precipitating a secession movement in New England, which is dragged into a wider war with Britain (the War of 1811). At the war’s end, the USA is forced to concede the independence of seven states (Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey) as well as conceding parts of the northwest to Michigan Territory (a joint British/New Englander possession) and an Indian Confederation under Tecumseh as a buffer state. The severed states form the Republic of New England, or the ‘Northern Confederacy’ as some of its inhabitants prefer to call it.
After the war, the USA is dominated by slaveholding states and (at first) a desire for vengeance. Another Anglo-American War was fought during the 1830s (the War of 1833) which led to the defeat of the Indian Confederation, but the United States was unable to defeat the combined British-Yankee forces. The war eventually ended with the United States acquiring some small pieces of the former Indian Confederation but abandoning its preference for northern conquest. Instead, the United States turned west and south, conquering Texas after its 1833 revolution, and its citizens poured into northern Mexico.
The First Mexican War (1850-1852) saw the USA defeat the Mexicans and acquire a huge part of northern Mexico – all of what they acquired in OTL, plus Baja California, Tamaulipas, and the rest of Mexico north of the 25th parallel. The USA also established a ‘protectorate’ over the Yucatan. Since then, the USA has also annexed Cuba (1858) and Nicaragua (1859). After the annexation of Nicaragua, U.S. President Jefferson Davis proclaimed that it is the manifest destiny of the white race to unite all the peoples of the Americas until “all these lands are one nation under Godâ€. Since then, the USA has acquired Puerto Rico (1862), Honduras (1869), the Dutch Antilles and Surinam (1869), the French Caribbean (1875) and in two further Mexican Wars (1863-1854 and 1881 but with ongoing guerrilla conflicts) has taken control of all of Mexico. The United States now stretches from the 46th parallel to Nicaragua, and includes much of the Caribbean. Slavery is legal in virtually all of the USA, except for a few states in the northeast. Indentured restrictions have been placed on many, although not all, of the Spanish-speaking inhabitants within U.S. territory.
In Europe, the revolutions of 1849 saw the German Reich established, including Prussia, the Netherlands, Austria, and most of the German-speaking states. It has since acquired much of Switzerland, Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark, and Alsace from France. The Russian Empire expanded greater than in our history, acquiring much of OTL Romania, Bulgaria and parts of Turkey, but it has suffered a major setback with its defeat in the Second Napoleonic Wars. Italy has unified, but without the rich northern provinces of Lombardy and Venetia, which remain in firm Austrian rule. After decades of civil war, Spain was divided into a new northern Catalan-speaking Kingdom of Aragon. Aragon was briefly partitioned between France and Spain but has since been restored. The Ottoman Empire collapsed after a long war with Russia, and the British established a protectorate over the remnant core of Turkey and Mestopotamia. The British also have an expanded empire, with a larger Australia, Canada, and more settlement to the Cape.
Recently, the world has been engulfed by the Second Napoleonic Wars, with Napoleon IV, Emperor of France, driving a European struggle which spilled across the globe and saw American, New England and Brazilian troops in Europe. The war is now over, and the Third Congress of Vienna has met to redraw the borders of Europe and indeed, the world...
Also, note that the Decades of Darkness timeline is written through a combination of ‘eyewitness accounts’ and ‘historical documents’ – historical texts, newspaper articles, etc. None of these sources are entirely reliable. Eyewitnesses can be mistaken or miss details. Historical documents are written through often-biased historians or reporters, particularly nationalistic ones, and these authors are also sometimes guilty of sloppy research. Thus, they are sometimes biased or inaccurate, and they may focus on their own pet topics and ignore other important historical facts. Not everything they say can be trusted.
Now, onto the newest post, which deals with the end of the Second Napoleonic Wars in Europe...
Decades of Darkness #87: The Sword and the Mind
“There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind.â€
- Napoleon I, Emperor of France
“War alone brings to the greatest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the men who have the courage to meet it.â€
- Napoleon IV, Emperor of France, during his abdication speech in Paris, just before his departure for Algiers
“Never start a war without being sure you can finish it.â€
- Thomas Corbin, U.S. President, to King Felipe VI of Spain (attributed)
“The best war is always the one fought between two of your enemies.â€
- King Christian IX of Denmark, describing the Second Napoleonic Wars
* * *
From: “No Place in the Sun: France From Great Power to Great Embarrassmentâ€
(c) 1951, Prof. D. Bennett
Kingsland University
Kingsland University Press, Hampshire [OTL Southport, Queensland]
Kingdom of Australia
12. Lost Opportunities
In short, Napoleon IV chose style over substance, fleeting glory over lasting achievement, and rifles over sculptor’s chisels. Few national leaders in his time or since can match his ability to deliver a well-turned phrase, or deliver a ceremony of pomp and glory. He was perhaps the first leader to use the national media as an instrument of policy, and he regularly succeeded in motivating the French people according to his will, and to follow his goals. Where he failed was in setting valuable goals.
Napoleon IV placed too much emphasis on emulating the military achievements of his great-uncle, the first Napoleon. His much-trumpeted colonial expeditions in Indochina and Africa gained France nothing but momentary glory and pride, and sank money and military resources which could have been put to better use.
Yet even a perfectly-organised military would have availed him little, given the forces arrayed against him. For one area where Napoleon IV did match his great-uncle was in placing ego ahead of diplomacy. He pursued his own military adventures regardless of the forces arrayed against him, and created needless enemies. His conquest of Aragon is the epitome of his pursuit of short-term glory over long-term gains. By doing so, he unnecessarily made an enemy out of the British Empire, the same foe which had undone his great-uncle, and set himself on a course for war with Germany.
France’s history throughout the Fourth Age can best be termed “opportunities lostâ€. He was unfortunate that the French language lacked the useful German word “Realpolitikâ€. In his foreign policy, he should have pursued quiet results, not column inches. His military was useful as a deterrent, to prevent war with Germany, but not as the chief goal of his policy. He could easily have secured a rapprochement, if not necessarily outright alliance, with Britain. For the United Kingdom favoured a balance of power in Europe, and would gladly have followed friendly relations with France to allow the same quiet economic growth which made Britain prosperous. By pursuing an alliance with Russia, Napoleon IV instead unbalanced the Powers in Europe, with unfortunate results.
Instead, Napoleon IV would have best served himself and France by expanding the sciences, industry, arts and commerce. There was much wealth to be made through trade and the growing spread of industrialisation, but where Napoleon IV made any encouragement of industry it was to foster those manufactures easily converted to war. France already had a reputation for fostering the arts, and this was one area where imperial patronage could have been valuably employed. And an encouragement of the sciences would have brought far more long-term benefits to France than even a successful war with Germany.
And above all, Napoleon IV made the cardinal error of awakening the Americans from their introverted world-view. Where before the United States had been happy to hide behind the Atlantic and seek influence in its own continents, now they had been called onto the world stage. In the long run, this may have been his greatest mistake of all...
* * *
Taken from: “Blood and Iron: The Concise Encyclopaedia of Military Historyâ€
(c) 1949 General D. Hanson (retd)
Vanderbilt Press
New York City: Long Island
Republic of New England
Second Napoleonic Wars (16 February 1884 – 28 August 1885).
Series of linked wars in Europe, with associated colonial struggles in Africa and Asia, precipitated by the formation of the Axis Pact between France and Russia (and later Spain). The immediate cause of the war was the Franco-Spanish annexation of Aragon, and subsequent Anglo-German demands for withdrawal. The wars were fought between the Axis Powers, initially France, Russia, Spain, Serbia and Montenegro, and later Italy, and the Allies (not all of whom were allied), initially the British Empire, Germany and Turkey, and later Portugal, the United States, Brazil, Greece, and New England. The wars resulted in the breaking of the Franco-Russian alliance, the re-creation of Aragon, and significant territorial changes within Europe and in the colonial empires.
State Entry Exit Combat Forces Casualties
Brazil 1870 1871 40,000 6,000
France 1870 1871 1,050,000 340,000
Germany [1] 1870 1871 1,800,000 460,000
Italy 1870 1871 850,000 280,000
Montenegro 1870 1870 20,000 6,000
New England 1871 1871 200,000 30,000
Serbia 1870 1871 115,000 36,000
Spain 1870 1871 650,000 110,000
Portugal 1870 1871 430,000 75,000
Russia 1870 1871 1,500,000 520,000
Turkey 1870 1871 180,000 55,000
UK [2] 1870 1871 740,000 110,000
USA 1870 1871 105,000 13,000
* * *
Taken from “The Compleat Textbook Series: Modern European Historyâ€
By J. Edward Fowler (Principal Author)
Sydney, Kingdom of Australia.
(c) 1948 Eagle Publishing Company: Sydney. Used with permission.
The Third Congress of Vienna (1885-1886)
The Third Congress of Vienna is the collective name given to a series of agreements and negotiations completed in the aftermath of the Second Napoleonic Wars. The attendees were Britain, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Aragon, the United States and Brazil from among the victors, and France, Russia, Italy and Spain from among the defeated powers.
The Third Congress marked the last time the powers of Europe met in general congress after the end of another European war, this one like the first initiated by the defeat of another expansionist Bonaparte. The Congress revisited Vienna, in large part because that was the residence of the Holy Roman Emperor, who remained the expected representative of the Reich in foreign affairs. This did not stop the attendance of the Kaisers of Prussia and the Netherlands, nor that of a string of German monarchs, and especially not the dignified Reichs Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who became the de facto representative of Germany for those foreign powers who did not wish to negotiate with three Great Powers and a host of lesser monarchs. It also included, for the first time, representatives from the New World powers, the United States and Brazil – another historic development.
Unlike the previous two Congresses, which had invited all the states in Europe to attend and negotiate, the Third Congress deliberately included only those powers which had been involved in the military struggles, and excluded other nations. Even Russia was not formally an attendee of the Congress, as peace terms had already been negotiated, but Grand Duke Michael attended as an ‘observer’, and concluded some informal negotiations regardless of the status of his formal invitation. Neither Sweden nor Denmark were formally invited either, as they had remained neutral throughout the war. Even some of the wartime participants were excluded, such as Serbia and Montenegro, which were kept out because the peace treaty with Russia had already disposed of the status of those two nations. Turkey, Australia, Canada and the Cape colonies were also represented only through Britain, despite the contribution those nations had made to the war.
Also unlike the previous two Congresses, which had tried to act in accordance with the principles of creating unity in Europe and restoration of established forms of government, the outcome of the Third Congress was a series of interlocking agreements developed according to conflicting national interests, and expressed the competing wishes of the victors. It included a formal recognition of the results of the previous peace treaty with Russia. It also included what had begun as an afterthought, with the congregation of all major powers who took the time to divide up much of the world into colonial spheres of influence, even when this involved negotiation amongst victors who had no firm requirement to trade. This was not strictly speaking part of the resolutions of the Congress, but involved “recognition of interest†amongst the various powers not to interfere in prescribed areas assigned to other powers, mostly regions in Africa.
One of the major sticking points of the Third Congress, and which was left unresolved, was the overlapping claims for southern Africa, particularly access to the River Zambezi. The Portuguese wanted recognition of their claims across the entirety of the interior north of the Zambezi and some portions south; the British (or rather, their South African colonies) wanted the Boer republics and a connection to British East Africa, the Germans wanted the Boer republics independent, and New England wanted Liberia to have as much of the hinterland as possible, including access to the Zambezi. The Boer republics themselves were not represented to state their case.
The main outcomes of the Third Congress were:
ARAGON:
European settlements:
- Restored as an independent nation
- Gained the Balearics and Andorra from France
Colonial settlements:
- Granted a ‘sphere of influence†in the Congo basin [most of OTL Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo, although the southern portions of that are part of Portuguese Angola] [3]
BRITAIN:
European settlements:
- Received 4,000 million francs in reparations from France
- Regained Gibraltar from Spain
Colonial settlements:
- Gained the Seychelles, Réunion and the Comoros from France
- Gained German East Africa from Germany in exchange for Madagascar and Heligoland
- Gained the Philippines from Spain
- Confirmed in its possession of Egypt
- Confirmed in its possession of British Somaliland [OTL British Somaliland less Awdal and Togdheer, but plus Bari and Nugaal]
- Recognised in its claims to British East Africa [roughly OTL Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania], stretching from the Sudan to Zanzibar, except for Abyssinia [Ethiopia], Somaliland [roughly OTL Italian Somaliland, which is left unclaimed after the Congress], and German Somaliland
- Created British Equatorial Africa from its existing Nigerian colony and gains from France [OTL Nigeria and Cameroon, and parts of Chad and the Central African Republic]
- Confirmed in its possession of Malaya
- Confirmed in its possession of the Gambia and Sierra Leone
- Confirmed in its rule over Aden, Yemen, Oman and the Indian Ocean coast of Arabia; the Red Sea and Persian Gulf coasts remained uncolonised although with substantial British influence
BULGARIA:
- Detached from Russia and created as an independent state under a cadet branch of the House of Bernadotte [Swedish royal family]
FRANCE:
European settlements:
- Conceded Nice, Savoy and Corsica to Italy
- Conceded Lorraine to Germany, where it became part of the enlarged Duchy of Alsace-Lorraine, and Nord and Artois to the Netherlands
- Agreed to pay 8,000 million francs to Britain and Germany in reparations
- Lost the Balearics and Andorra to Aragon
Colonial settlements:
- Confirmed in possession of Algeria, stretching from Oran to their new gain of Tunis (from Italy), the only French diplomatic gain from the Third Congress [4]
- Confirmed in possession of Syria-Lebanon
- Lost Indochina to Germany
- Lost Madagascar, initially to Britain but then traded by Britain to Germany
- Lost the Seychelles, Réunion and the Comoros to Britain
- Lost Gabon and its Congo possessions to Portugal
- Created French West Africa from its remaining African possessions [OTL Senegal, Guinea, southwestern Mali, Liberia and Ivory Coast]
GERMANY:
European settlements:
- Gained Lorraine from France and included it in the Duchy of Alsace-Lorraine, and Nord and Artois for the Netherlands. This led Chancellor von Bismarck to declare that all German speakers in Europe had been united, and that there was no need for further German territorial gains in Europe.
- Created the Kingdom of Poland, a state in personal union with the Holy Roman Emperor, from the former Russian Duchy of Warsaw and Austrian Kingdom of Galicia [5]
- Created the Kingdom of Courland under the role the nephew of the Kaiser of Prussia [6]
- Received 4,000 million francs in reparations from France
Colonial settlements:
- Gained Madagascar (from Britain) in exchange for German East Africa [roughly the southern half of OTL Tanzania], Heligoland and recognition of British claims to most of eastern Africa
- Gained Indochina from France
- Gained Tripoli as a new colony
- Created German Somaliland [OTL Djibouti plus the Somali provinces of Awdal and Togdheer]
- Created German West Africa [OTL Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and the southwestern part of Niger up to the river Niger]
GREECE:
- Awarded southern Albania around Sarandë
ITALY:
European settlements:
- Gained Nice, Savoy and Corsica from France
- Lost Albania [divided between Greece and an independent prince chosen from the House of Habsburg]
Colonial settlements:
- Lost Tunis to France
LIBERIA:
Recognised as a sovereign nation with New England protection (except by the USA), and with acknowledged claims to its interior [most of OTL Namibia], but with overlapping claims to the Boer republics.
MONTENEGRO:
Retained its independence but required to accept a Wittelsbach monarch [the Bavarian royal family]
NIPPON:
While not formally represented at the congress, Nippon was confirmed in its annexation of the Ladrone Islands [OTL Marianas Islands], including Guam, from Spain.
PORTUGAL:
European settlements:
- Gained the Canary Islands from Spain
- Gained border territory from Spain up to the River Navia and the district of Valverde Del Fresno
Colonial settlements:
- Confirmed in Mozambique
- Confirmed in its possession of Portuguese Guinea
- Confirmed in Angola [which does not have southern Angola as per OTL, but which extends further east to the Zambezi and into southern Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo]
- Created Portuguese Morocco from Morocco and gains against France [roughly OTL Morocco, western Algeria, Western Sahara, Mauritania, and northern Mali] [7]
- Created Portuguese Equatorial Africa [OTL Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Republic of the Congo (Middle Congo, not former Zaire] from gains against France
- Was unable to resolve the border along the Zambezi with the Boer Republics and British South Africa
SERBIA:
Retained its independence, but required to accept a monarch from a cadet branch of the Habsburgs
SPAIN:
European settlements:
- Recognised the independence of Aragon
- Restored Gibraltar to Britain
- Lost border territory along the River Navia and Velverde Del Fresno to Portugal
- Renamed itself Castile
Colonial settlements:
- Lost the Philippines to Britain
- Lost the Ladrone Islands [OTL Marianas Islands] to Nippon
- Lost Spanish Guinea to Portugal
RUSSIA:
European settlements:
- Lost Poland and Courland to Germany
- Lost Bulgaria, which became an independent state
- Lost the region around Kars to Turkey
TURKEY:
- Confirmed in its possession of Mesopotamia, under British protection
- Regained Kars from Russia
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[1] This includes forces deployed from the associated kingdoms of Hungary, Croatia and Galicia.
[2] This includes Empire troops from Australia and South Africa.
[3] It will take the Aragonese some time to establish control of this region, but Britain and Germany have guaranteed that no other power will be permitted to take over the area. Of course, this will not stop the British themselves nibbling at the edges if the Aragonese take too long to establish themselves.
[4] Napoleon IV was still entrenched in Algeria in 1886 at the end of the Third Congress, with the support of the locals and the Algerian branch of the Foreign Legion
[5] As the New England secretary of state remarked at the congress, “Frederick IV is Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of Austria, King of Croatia, King of Hungary, and now King of Poland. How many crowns can fit on one head?â€
[6] The eastern border of the new Poland and Courland is more or less the line left after the 1793 partition of Poland, although Poland also has Warsaw in the west. The Poland-Courland border is the River Nieman. See http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/russian_growth_1300_1796.jpg.
[7] The border is basically the OTL Morocco-Algerian border extended south to meet the extended Mauritanian-Malian border running east. This matches the original claims of Morocco itself, which Portugal has taken over.
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This post wraps up the Second Napoleonic Wars. I’ll be writing a couple more posts describing some developments elsewhere in the world, particularly in South America, then there will be another ‘global tour’ style post giving a breakdown of what’s happening around the world up to 1885-1886.
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Thoughts?
Kaiser Wilhelm III
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