Hi!
This is my first real serious attempt at a TL, other ideas have run for a part or two and then faded away. So here's a hopefully better one. After all, I've only been here for a few months
.
The PoD is that King Charles Albert of Piedmont was more shrewd and was planning for a war in 1847 which coincided nicely with the 1848 revolutions. He plotted with French revolutionaries and even the then exiled Louis Napoleon, and launched a slightly more succesful campaign than OTL. All this will eventually develop into a European and Mediterranean TL, and later even International.
Comments, criticicm, suggestions, hell, tear it to bits if you have good reason to, but of course- Enjoy...
The revolutions of 1848 shocked the world. They started, though, in 1847 France, when rebellions against King Louis Philippe began in July. As these rebellions grew, a certain Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, in exile in the UK, began to look around for allies. His dream was to ride the rebellions happening in his homeland, return spectacularly to France and eventually gain control of the country. Along with a section of the French rebels, Napoleon agreed with some Piedmontese agents to support their cause in Italy, if Piedmont supported their eventual takeover.
As the French continued to rebel against their King, in January 1848 revolutions started in Italian cities all over Austria. King Charles Albert of Savoy, King of Piedmont, had a vague plan for a war against Austria dating from the agreements with Napoleon, but had to rush to seize the opportunity. The French rebels sent some volunteers and troops, but the bulk of the troops were to be Piedmontese. Charles Albert soon decided to draft a Constitution for his country, the Statuto Albertino, and slowly prepared for an invasion.
The situation in France worsened, and by February the revolution began in earnest. In Piedmont, an invasion of Lombardy was planned for March. Co-ordinated revolutions were also to happen in the other Italian cities to facilitate the Piedmontese advance. The new, fairly liberal Pope, Pius IX, also looked as though he would help. The well-timed, fiercely desperate revolts started in the Italian cities in the second week of March, and soon Piedmont declared war on the Austrian Empire. Troops marched east, finding little resistance as the revolts nearly cleared Austrian troops from the region. With the French troops also helping, and Papal support to the south, it looked as if the invasion would succeed.
The revolution in France had now succeeded and a Republic was hastily proclaimed. The Italian ally Louis Napoleon returned to France but was soon asked by the government to leave for a short while. He fled to Piedmont, where he co-ordinated the French troops in Italy and became somewhat of a popular supporter of the ‘Risorgimento’- the Italian cause. Other revolts in the other Italian states caused constitutions to be granted to many small countries. The stage was set for a large change in Italy.
The allied Italian troops reached the ‘Quadrilateral’ of Austrian forts near Venice and quickly prepared for a large battle. Then, Pope Pius changed his mind and withdrew his troops, fearing taking sides in a war between two catholic nations. This unprecedented betrayal lead to quick allied occupation of Papal Romagna in revenge and was instrumental in the downfall of the campaign later on.
Another factor in the failure of the campaign was that the French government soon demanded all their troops back for ‘consolidating control’ throughout the country, an excuse to put down rebellions. Napoleon could do nothing but watch as the allied force was reduced to only Piedmontese troops. Charles Albert knew that the army was now weak and overstreched, and after losing a battle at the Quadrilateral, he asked the Austrians for a truce. He felt truly ‘stabbed in the back’ by the Pope and by France and even though he always supported the Italian cause, Napoleon was soon expelled after the peace treaty.
The Treaty of Milan ended the ‘First war of Italian Unification’ and was actually quite favourable for Piedmont. Piedmont gained Lombardy west of the rivers Adige and Mincio, while most of the duchy of Modena, minus the city itself, was also annexed. Ravenna and North-East Romagna was combined with Veneto and annexed into Austria proper, while most of Romagna united with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Parma, Lucca, and Modena into the Kingdom of Tuscany under Austrian influenced Leopold II. This first step into unification left Piedmont stronger but exhausted in the North, a strengthened Austrian dominated Central Italy under Leopold, and a shamed Papal States further south, weakened by successful rebellions in Rome by Mazzini and Garibaldi, who will be important later on.
In the South, the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies lay weak, corrupted, with the people victorious after their winning of a constitution. But it would not last long, unless someone were to intervene and liberate the peasants. Charles Albert looked around, plotting for his next move, as British Malta silently looked north at the turmoil and planned…
This is my first real serious attempt at a TL, other ideas have run for a part or two and then faded away. So here's a hopefully better one. After all, I've only been here for a few months
.The PoD is that King Charles Albert of Piedmont was more shrewd and was planning for a war in 1847 which coincided nicely with the 1848 revolutions. He plotted with French revolutionaries and even the then exiled Louis Napoleon, and launched a slightly more succesful campaign than OTL. All this will eventually develop into a European and Mediterranean TL, and later even International.
Comments, criticicm, suggestions, hell, tear it to bits if you have good reason to, but of course- Enjoy...
Just one stroke of a pen...
“Just one stroke of a pen has erased all our liberties, all our reforms, all our hope. We Italians have neither Parliament, nor hustings, nor liberty of the press, freedom of speech, possibilty of lawful assemblage, no means of expressing the opinions that are stirring within us.”
-Giuseppe Mazzini, after the Congress of Vienna denied Italy of all its newfound nationalism and gave it a new oppressor- Austria.
The revolutions of 1848 shocked the world. They started, though, in 1847 France, when rebellions against King Louis Philippe began in July. As these rebellions grew, a certain Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, in exile in the UK, began to look around for allies. His dream was to ride the rebellions happening in his homeland, return spectacularly to France and eventually gain control of the country. Along with a section of the French rebels, Napoleon agreed with some Piedmontese agents to support their cause in Italy, if Piedmont supported their eventual takeover.
As the French continued to rebel against their King, in January 1848 revolutions started in Italian cities all over Austria. King Charles Albert of Savoy, King of Piedmont, had a vague plan for a war against Austria dating from the agreements with Napoleon, but had to rush to seize the opportunity. The French rebels sent some volunteers and troops, but the bulk of the troops were to be Piedmontese. Charles Albert soon decided to draft a Constitution for his country, the Statuto Albertino, and slowly prepared for an invasion.
The situation in France worsened, and by February the revolution began in earnest. In Piedmont, an invasion of Lombardy was planned for March. Co-ordinated revolutions were also to happen in the other Italian cities to facilitate the Piedmontese advance. The new, fairly liberal Pope, Pius IX, also looked as though he would help. The well-timed, fiercely desperate revolts started in the Italian cities in the second week of March, and soon Piedmont declared war on the Austrian Empire. Troops marched east, finding little resistance as the revolts nearly cleared Austrian troops from the region. With the French troops also helping, and Papal support to the south, it looked as if the invasion would succeed.
The revolution in France had now succeeded and a Republic was hastily proclaimed. The Italian ally Louis Napoleon returned to France but was soon asked by the government to leave for a short while. He fled to Piedmont, where he co-ordinated the French troops in Italy and became somewhat of a popular supporter of the ‘Risorgimento’- the Italian cause. Other revolts in the other Italian states caused constitutions to be granted to many small countries. The stage was set for a large change in Italy.
The allied Italian troops reached the ‘Quadrilateral’ of Austrian forts near Venice and quickly prepared for a large battle. Then, Pope Pius changed his mind and withdrew his troops, fearing taking sides in a war between two catholic nations. This unprecedented betrayal lead to quick allied occupation of Papal Romagna in revenge and was instrumental in the downfall of the campaign later on.
Another factor in the failure of the campaign was that the French government soon demanded all their troops back for ‘consolidating control’ throughout the country, an excuse to put down rebellions. Napoleon could do nothing but watch as the allied force was reduced to only Piedmontese troops. Charles Albert knew that the army was now weak and overstreched, and after losing a battle at the Quadrilateral, he asked the Austrians for a truce. He felt truly ‘stabbed in the back’ by the Pope and by France and even though he always supported the Italian cause, Napoleon was soon expelled after the peace treaty.
The Treaty of Milan ended the ‘First war of Italian Unification’ and was actually quite favourable for Piedmont. Piedmont gained Lombardy west of the rivers Adige and Mincio, while most of the duchy of Modena, minus the city itself, was also annexed. Ravenna and North-East Romagna was combined with Veneto and annexed into Austria proper, while most of Romagna united with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Parma, Lucca, and Modena into the Kingdom of Tuscany under Austrian influenced Leopold II. This first step into unification left Piedmont stronger but exhausted in the North, a strengthened Austrian dominated Central Italy under Leopold, and a shamed Papal States further south, weakened by successful rebellions in Rome by Mazzini and Garibaldi, who will be important later on.
In the South, the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies lay weak, corrupted, with the people victorious after their winning of a constitution. But it would not last long, unless someone were to intervene and liberate the peasants. Charles Albert looked around, plotting for his next move, as British Malta silently looked north at the turmoil and planned…
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