A healthy baby boy...

It all begins in 1859. Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht, Prince of Prussia, scion of the second Emperor of Germany, is born without complications. It is a normal birth with the baby prince in perfect health.

This is important because years down the line, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht, will become Kaiser Wilhelm the Second. That has yet to be realized, however, due to the young Prince being a baby. While the young prince is simply lying in his swaddling clothes, the ideal of what a European monarch should look like, perfectly normal.

As the young prince grows up, there is a noted intelligence about him that astonishes his parents as well as those around him. The young prince (hither noted to avoid confusion with his father, the elder Friedrich) teaches himself to read, becomes fascinated with the new innovations that are coming about in this time, and shows an active interest in applications of military as well as government for the people. By the time the Austro-Prussian War is ended (1867) and Chancellor Bismarck’s position is approved of by the people within that realm, it can be said that the young prince has promise in all the avenues that fortune can give.

Through out the 1870’s and 1880’s, the young prince becomes infatuated with the military, due to the defeat handed over to France in the Franco-Prussian War. Although it is looked down upon by his parents, the young prince takes a visit to the victorious battlefields that are now constituted in the German Empire, and safe from any threat to his person. The young prince also becomes a noted presence within his grandfather’s court, as well as the Chancellor’s (never seen together due to political purposes) quasi-allies, learning the ropes as it were, for this new entity.

In 1879, the Long Depression hits Europe, although its actual existence as a economic downturn can be debated later on in the future. As encouraged by his grandmother to the north (Queen Victoria), the young prince is not seen in the exact political circles that would give a tremendous boost to the National Liberal Party. However, he is ‘heard’ through the subtle “conversations” he has indirectly with the Chancellor on the ideas of socialism (although not set in such terms) as well as the future of the German Empire.

As a young boy, it should be observed, the young prince becomes interested in German Economic/Social/Government Philosophy, with the most noted of the writers being Hegel and Humboldt, although not exactly in its purest form due to the other influence hailing from his mother’s English background.

This bent to socialism does provide conflict with the Chancellor upon the matter of what to do with the effects of the Long Depression. The Chancellor is set on protectionist policies. The Chancellors one time ally, the National Liberal Party, is dependent on free trade. If the Chancellor blows one way, the National Liberal Party’s dominance will falter.

Thus it is in 1879, just at his twentieth birthday, that the young prince makes his first move as a political player. He puts forth the notion through his contacts that a compromise should be made. Although the effects of the Long Depression are quite evident, the principle of a just society (borrowed from his mother) should be implemented. Thus it is that the tariffs on key economic sectors should be implemented but the notion of free trade in other avenues retained.

The Chancellor doesn’t know what to do with this idea. As it were, the Chancellor doesn’t like the very nature of socialism; in fact he is quite direct in his rule. It is only through the control of those skilled and experienced that government can function. Yet what the young prince has “shown” through his “suggestion” is interesting to say the least.

Then there is the matter of the banning of the Social Democrat Party. The young prince did not make a move; rather he was more preoccupied by the Imperial Navy, and the possibility of the submarine. His parents did have a word with him. It was surprising that the parents didn’t make it a large issue.

The Chancellor looks upon this suggestion. The Socialists have begun to rise into power because of their repression, reads the note from the young prince, heavily disguised underneath the papers. I do note, dear Chancellor that we are at odds with each other, but perhaps this could be appealing to your eye. Why not let the Poles go on with their lives, enact social reform within the economic structure, but leave the power of the said sectors of the economy unto your devices? Surely in that we can reach a compromise.

Of course, at the moment that the Chancellor is reading this, the young prince has been accompanying British Ambassador, as required by his mother, a strong Anglophile to say the least. The British Ambassador is absolutely flabbergasted by the sharp pointed questions that the young prince has on a possible Anglo-Germanic Alliance. This tour was mainly about seeing the status of the Princess Royal in Prussia. Now it’s all about the technical aspects of a shared technical bond between the two nations, a possible sharing of power over imperialistic gains, and the matter of China.

The Chancellor, in a strange moment of opinion, agrees with the young prince’s compromise.

It is in 1880 that the policies are implemented. Most unfortunately, the National Liberal Party isn’t quite as strong as it would have liked. The conservative parties accept the compromise with many of the positions in the sectors going to them as a price in which they pay for the said legislation. Socialists see the compromise as a victory, somewhat, and suddenly become observant that it was mainly through the young prince’s move that their issues were granted.

Then the young prince takes an interest in Clauswitz, the Napoleonic Wars in Spain, and the execution of democratic ideals in the USA….

--
Heinrich –

You should really take a gander in our Grandmother’s lands. Although it would be bad form – Mother again – it would be good to hear of them. Sadly, duties as the elder restrict me from exploring such as you. Could you do it for me? I would be most happy if you could visit South Africa upon the matter of our 'cousins’ [FN1]. Their policies …are interesting.

Also; could you get me an Italian version of the Prince?

Your Brother, Friedrich.

[FN1] - Poland

Part the Second

It is 1885.

The young prince is 26 years old. Although the Crown Prince has been educated at the University of Bonn with top honors in History, many professors at that institution state that he can be Kaiser any time he wished. Many regard the Crown Prince as the better heir to the Empire than his father, who has been experiencing medical problems as of late.

What has been the main focus of the young prince is the matter of the network of Continental Powers. In his first summer of his junior year, the young prince was spotted in Poland, talking to the native leaders there. In the summer of his senior year, the young prince was spotted taking a tour of Southern Germany, Bohemia, and Austria, managing to have a nice chat with Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, as well as other royal members of various families scattered throughout Austria/Germany.

The main focus, however, is the sudden ‘accord’ that the young prince has managed to gain in Russia and Britain. Although this is highly in opposition to the Chancellor’s own personal position, the effects of his ‘charming personality’ cannot be denied. One key action that the young prince has made is convincing Queen Victoria to “lay off” Germany and to suggest a firm friendship with the two navies.

This matter is quite sensitive just to encapsulate in one sentence. This accord has been a major policy in the young prince’s growing aspirations towards the realm that he may or may not inherit. In the famous conversation he had with the Ambassador that one evening five years ago, the young prince put it to the Ambassador that all matters of the submarines could be assigned to Germany while the advantage of the capital ships could be given unto England. The Ambassador, at the time, was quite unprepared for this, and was surprised by the scope of the young prince’s technical knowledge of the British fleet, although limited for national security, of course.

This obsession is shared by his brother, Prince Heinrich, known better as the Sailor King. For many years now, the two brothers have been thicker than peas, as the saying goes, although the elder is more diverse in his thinking than the former. The elder is noted for the application of the navy. The young is in the Royal Naval Academy. The danger, as shared by many within England, is on the elder, who has managed to be successful in his suggestion that there should be a bond between the two navies.

The Young Prince’s position within Queen Victoria’s circle is not welcomed by many, to say the least. As The Telegraph tells in its March 4th, 1885 edition;

…The matter of which our dearly beloved friends to the south is mainly invested in the person of the young prince Freidrich, sometimes called ‘Freddy’ by our beloved Royal Family. He is confident, strong, and wise. He is too confident. He is too strong. He is a danger.

It would be far more welcome if he were to be born with an ailment; at least that would bespeak of plain aggression that the threat Germany has on the Continent. This prince is crafty as Shakespeare might place it in the Scottish play; we know naught his plans. The sheer suggestion of an Anglo-Germanic Alliance is laughable. If truly his suggestions of kindness are to be believed, then we would be victims and not the strong power that we are in the modern day!

Good work, keep on writing!

NICE

Please keep writing--I like it!

G.Bone said:

...What has been the main focus of the young prince is the matter of the network of Continental Powers. In his first summer of his junior year, the young prince was spotted in Poland, talking to the native leaders there. In the summer ...

Click to expand...

One quibble: wasn't Poland a chunk of Czarist Russia in 1885?

Er...yes. I meant the German controlled portion of Poland, namely the coastal part.

------------
There is the matter of the colonies.

As noted from the excerption from The Telegraph’s opinion, not many citizens of British origin were fond of the young prince’s influence over his grandmother. An exact negotiation with the Royal Navy and the Imperial Navy has not been reached. It is a thorn in the young prince’s side that he does not have total support from the populace at hand. Thus, the young prince takes a vacation with his sister, the Princess Sophia, the more beloved relative.

The matter is of course, about submarines. The Royal Navy has been tinkering with some models, but is pushed down for more capital ships. The rule of thumb is destroyers, massive descendents of the ships of the line, and quite possibly the reason why the dreams of the German Empire have been stillborn for so long (apart from the Chancellor of course).

The young prince does attend the vacation but is constantly diverged in various libraries and military institutions. It is noted that he visits the grave of the noted crackpot Marx, meets up with his collaborator Engle, and the two have a debate on what the ideal state means. Engle, after having this brilliant discussion, notes in his diary... We may have a chance yet!

The young prince is noted to have submarines on the brain. He has met up with the leading designers of such inventions. The problem is that while some of the Royal Navy admirals agree with his proposal, others state that they would like finer details. The young prince is seen in libraries, reading up on the Anglo-Dutch wars, and the late Napoleon.

So – what will but done about his precious submarines? The young prince is surrounded by advisors from the military thinking that they (too) have an opportunity in the young prince. He looks at the etched drawings of Cold Harbor, that amusing little war that the Americans had when he was all but 3/4/5 years old, with the noted innovation of this thing called a machine gun. The young prince drops by noted scientists who have come with variations on such a weapon. He sends cables over to the Military Headquarters on several notes on British arms being involved in the German Army. It will probably be suppressed by the Chancellor, not wanting to disturb the network of pseudo-allies that the Empire has. There has been arguments that he and the Chancellor has through notes (again, indirectly) on if a war could be instigated with Russia and the ramifications thereof.

It is of no matter. The young prince did send a dispatch to the Russian Ambassador on procuring information about the Napoleonic times. It is very fascinating on how the Russians catapulted the French into the gutter. While the young prince was quite young, just the pointed tactics that the Prussian Army did upon the French was profound to his young mind. The young prince draws a picture of a possible war with France and Russia. With his cousin (several degrees apart) weak, there is a distinct possibility that a revolution could come about (Engle would be right in those areas), and England – which would never be fought against. His sister, Princess Sophia, has constantly pointed that a vacation is not studying old books – enjoy England, Britain, the glory of civilization, and so on. The young prince takes a tour of Oxford, Cambridge, and even to the US Embassy, quizzing the Ambassador on how the Indians (Native Americans, the young prince associates with them to deviate from India) could best several generals, and be so swiftly rounded up. The young prince takes care to coat his questions else –their- attention is caused as England.

---
It is 1887.

The young prince is 28 years old. His family is growing apart. His father has been crowned Kaiser Friedrich III although he could have died so many years ago. His mother is completely daft. The one thing that started it all was his travels and the discarding of the middle man.

The initial thing was of his visiting of Russia. It was the power behind the throne, really. He met his cousins, the man in the big brown beard, and that contemptible monk that seems to be on the edge every second of the hour. The power behind the throne, which shall remain nameless for security reasons, did agree to an exchange of technologies. The Poles looked at him with curiosity when he visited Danzig and random farms in the countryside. He even took part in a Polish Catholic ritual. It was not expected but he learned just as he did in Austria.

The young prince’s shining achievement was with Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria. It was quite evident that his counterpart was quite taken up with this woman who could rival Sophia in her Anglophile attitudes. The only problem was that she was destructive. Upon one hunting trip in Bavaria (taking sight of that noted castle which rivaled any conception that the follies in England could do), the young prince took his counterpart to the side and outlined his ideas of an Empire that was not quite militant but not quite dead. The talk took three hours, almost to the point that the young prince grabbed his rifle and shot a rabbit that darted in front of him. He took the rabbit and shook it in front of Crown Prince Rudolph on the signs of weakness.

Nether the less, the Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria learned his lesson.

Just to hide that incident, the young prince visited Emperor Franz Josef. The main incident was Poland. The young prince went to a Polish whore in disguise, talked to her in the middle of the night, and came back suddenly aware of what Bismarck said about the chances of the Empire as a solid entity. He even managed to get one of the noted leaders of the ill-fated late rebellion in the U.S. to come to the Empire, talk to him about his experiences, and even one of the aides of the famous General Grant, who may or may not be President, since the young prince’s mind is altered with that singular experience with that Polish whore.

The young prince even gave her a state pension. The ideals of socialism are not to improve society as to balance the two sides of life; the poor and the rich. It is the duty of the rich to help out the poor. The middle class serves as a balance; even though Marx dictated that it would be destroyed (along with all the other classes), there is a lesson to be learned from Rome; that is, only reforms along Marius merged with the late originator of the very title Kaiser, can an Empire rise.

It helps that the young prince is tethered in Berlin. Kaiser Friedrich III is ill, diagnosed with some viral infection that makes him cough up blood. The young prince had his grandmother send her household doctor. The young prince devours any books that would help his father. Although he is not the perfect son, he sees the logic on Bismarck’s comment that weakness breeds sin. It also helps that the young prince had a bitter argument with his mother on ‘stirring the pot’ with his push for the Anglo-Germanic Alliance.

The young prince has been to Austria-Hungary, Russia, Britain, Poland, and Norway. It’s nice up there for sailing. Then the young prince was tempted by…_it_.

This is good so far

_It_ refers to aristocratic love.[FN2]

The young prince had nothing against women. He had nothing against men either. It was just that the young prince never thought he would be in such a situation.

Thus was the reason why the young prince threw himself into work. It was on that particular cruise in Norway that it was done. The Chancellor did remark in his journal (situated especially for information rather than personal affairs)…It seems that our good prince has learned the error of loose lips.

Kaiser Friedrich III is ill, as anyone can attest. Ever since he had given into political pressures, his “maleness” has gone out of him. It has been increasing as of late, ever since his health has gone down. This, as many in the Princess Royal’s court attest, was from the discovery that the (much hated) Chancellor had been seen with the young prince. Of course that was preceded by the whole affair of the Polish whore.

The Polish whore, as one could simply allay on the Polish people, was not simply a whore; she was a daughter of a noble family gone wrong. Poland, as a note of curiosity for those interested in German politics, has a history of being invaded. At the year of 1887, Poland is still divided between Russian and the (newly created) German Empire. A lion’s share of it is controlled by Russia, namely the interior. The German Empire controls the coast. It is not hard to cross from the German Empire to Russia. However, with the allowance of Poland to be Polish came with a cost, and that is a stronger Conservative faction within the Reichstag.

There is an axiom spouted in the UK; If Muhammad could not come to the mountain, then the Mountain came to Muhammad. Although such a phrase is grammatically incorrect, it describes the situation in the Reichstag well. The Conservative Party has become more authoritarian in its cause as a reaction to the growing socialist cause (as “encouraged” by the young prince no less). The Conservative Party has done well with the key economic programs that it was given to. It has done so well that the Chancellor has to focus on the Continent as well as the Empire itself. A thousand times the Chancellor has sworn upon the Bible that the young/crown prince had never convinced him to do a “half-ass” (as borrowed from the young prince himself who had borrowed it from the US Ambassador) job.

The whole affair was thus – in having the young prince becoming a confident sort of man – a reaction has been done by those that see him as a threat. That reaction is to spread lies about his apparent “German attitudes”. Those that are doing this conniving plot are none other than a select group of fanatical Conservatives that seek to implement a “German” Kaiser on the throne, rather than a monarch that is either run by English interests (i.e. the Princess Royal) or English soaked (i.e. Princess Sophia & her siblings).

The whole affair was him going to the Polish whore’s house rather than the reverse. In response to the publication, the Crown Prince assented to an open argument with his detractors. The argument was not in press but rather than the Reichstag. In a sudden move that one could only attribute to the late (and much forgotten) Italian politician/exile/writer on a farm, Machiavelli, the socialist/liberal members of the Reichstag (which were one party anyway since the latter had disintegrated in ’81) did a vote of approval for the Crown Prince and managed to shut down the argument all together by pointing out the Crown Prince’s recent activities as of late.
---
[FN2] homosexuals

It is 1883.

The Crown Prince has not yet become the primary mover and shaker in German government. He’s actually coming back from a very long discussion with Emperor Franz Josef on the matter of a united German “Reich”, just to allow the unity of the German peoples to be shown. It was a very long meeting. Although the elderly Emperor is grateful for what the Crown Prince has done to his counterpart in Austria, he cannot give further thought for this united German “Reich”. He has problems with the Hungarians as well as his wife, who is somewhat of a vexing problem.

One of the bad things of being a charismatic man is that his name gets bandied around with one singular success. The Crown Prince was single. He got to meet Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria along with the Empress. If one could actually publish the Crown Prince’s notebook of various designs and notes, a singular line on page 18 would read…Ye Gads what a woman.

But such terminology would not be used by a Prussian noble, especially a Crown Prince, and only used when the Crown Prince was really tired. It is said that by this time, the Crown Prince is very skilled at languages; however, to cement his political hold in the Realm, the language he writes in his notebook is German. After the Crown Prince takes a break, he goes fishing in the mountain lakes, and is said to have actually fallen asleep whilst being briefed on the current news of the day.

Even though it is 1883 and not 1887, there is a matter of to whom the Crown Prince will marry. For two years now, the Crown Prince has a relationship with Auguste Viktoria, daughter of the Duke of Schlewlsig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. It was one of those random duchies that have grown big since the war. The two mainly agree with art theory and the new school of technique that is increasing in the galleries of Paris. However, with all the traveling, this relationship hasn’t really gone anywhere, and it is becoming to look as if the Crown Prince will become the Kaiser prematurely, if his father continues the course that he is in now.

She’s really into art. The Crown Prince has managed to procure her some Italian paintings although it’s in the manor that he’s staying at. The Crown Prince is simply lying there in the boat in the lake with his aide simply rowing. The Crown Prince picks up his well worn edition of Machiavelli’s masterpiece, notes jotted in the pages, and very beaten up. His aide says something to the effect that if he really was into Machiavelli, then he should have been a Chancellor. The Prince simply stares at his aide. Lately his aide has become…brazen in his attitudes. Although he’s a good friend, and aristocratic, the man is just to feminine for his tastes.

Two weeks later, Auguste Viktoria gets the painting. She likes it. The two simply linger on in the room, located in one of the many manors that the Royal Family holds. She is dressed in the high fashions that Princess Sophia likes. He is back from his trip and his “vacation” at the Admiralty, pushing for a development of the colonies by the military as to not irate the neighbor upstairs, which has been giving them territory on the destroyers but not the submarines. There is a suggestion that the two should get married at the end of the year, just to make it proper, and there is something hanging in the air. The Crown Prince informs her of his intention to hold the Empire together and the sudden action that he has taken in asking for a direct meeting with the Chancellor. Their eyes connect. A week later the two are married, not for love, not for convenience, but simply for companionship, and stability in this politically charged Empire.

This is great so far, mate! I like his interpretation of the Communist Manifesto. Will the Kaiser be more likely to keep Bismarck on as Chancellor?

Incredible please do continue,
I like the Idea of a sane Kaiser in making ( not that the other one wasnt)

Love the idea keep it up .

It is 1885.

There is some commentary that the Crown Prince isn’t socialist; he’s libertarian. Such labels are hard to come by and, frankly, are without meaning. The strange thing is that he’s got a correspondence with Engles (now that the young prince has the name correctly) and has personally financed the funeral expenses of his said collaborator. Then the money comes in on him translating this book called “Das Kapital” (and other pieces) into something that the young prince can read (spoken in a dry tone) and have.

Of course that does not bode well for the Conservatives. The Chancellor, by this time, is growing concerned about his protégé that he never had. The balance of power is still there. It’s just that he’s got the support of the Poles, the South, Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria, and the Socialists. The Chancellor hates Socialists but he also hates what they have become. In the five years that they have been officially banned, they have been active…and streamlined.

They have absorbed the National Liberal Party.

It can be said that the Crown Prince knows Machiavelli by memory now. He’s often said to have quoted an entire chapter with his eyes closed, reciting it in Italian, German, and English. He can also do this to Clausewitz (damn English spelling!), Xenophon, Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Strategikon, and various quotes from a funny general by the name of William Tecumseh Sherman.

In fact, William Tecumseh Sherman has been personally retained by the young crown prince as a personal advisor of sorts to the Prussian Military Academy on the theories of total war. The Crown Prince has repeatedly avowed that he is not ‘upsetting the boat’; simply interested in the past military successes of other militaries. It is very disturbing by now that he’s got the loyalty of the military and has been personally involved in the settlement of the various colonies that Germany has in Africa upon their approach to the natives…Which is going differently than what private investors had thought…or even the fanatical “German idealists” are spouting.

The Crown Prince has also been busy making nice to France. These visits are, again, for an ‘academic’ purpose in researching their colonial approach towards the Africans. The Crown Prince is interested in the Africans! In no sentence at all does the Crown Prince is offensive, rude, and all those ugly words that the French public love to throw at him. He even manages to get into discussion with a farmer on the virtues of the Hundred’s Year War – which was the main topic at hand for his supposed “project” – and to help his wife see that French museum that everyone has been talking about.

Initially the Crown Prince’s offer was refused. Why would the French be so pliant to German will? Then the Crown Prince offered to send his wife, who was all right, and was an art major. She was approved. The initial intelligence put the Crown Prince visiting Poland of all places, somewhere talking to the Russians, who then informed the Minister of Intelligence that the Crown Prince was NOT in Poland but rather his brother, taking a tour of the coastal cities in his summer off.

Then the Crown Prince was seen in Algeria [FN3] of all places. Further intelligence showed that he, in fact, WAS in Algeria, posing as a merchant. Then he appeared in Paris as a scholar, begging the pardon of (his) Crown Princess, and disappearing again…

[FN3] May or may not be true...

Seriously, the Crown Prince was in Brighton all the time negotiating that futile deal of his!

The Prussian military at this point has been reformed for another war. The general shape of the Army is the Prussian ideal but with certain ‘suggestions’ that one should be more aware of other concepts that would be…less than honorable. Many gunsmiths (for a lack of a better term) have been brought over to Germany on ‘technical exploration’ – with a noted Hiram Maxim in tow, with half of his ‘technical aspects’ freely passed on to the British military on the uses of it on an elevated platform.

Many in the French Ministry of Intelligence do not like the Crown Prince and think that his plan has been ratified. They have even sent a coded telegram to the Chancellor (indirectly) on his continued persecution of their Empire. The Chancellor holds this telegram in his hand, staring at the words, and wondering why they sent it in the first place.

It could be a joke.

Yes, it indeed was a joke.

The Chancellor picks up another piece of intelligence. It seems that with the Crown Prince meeting up with his counterpart, the stability of their southern neighbor is given, although for the German part instead of the other. Hungary is still fighting for rights that it has been removed, the Chancellor notes on some random paper, and the Italians are being quarrelsome as ever. The balance needs to be maintained in the Continent and the prince’s travels makes it even worse, half of Europe admiring the man, and the other, convinced that he should have an accident one of these days.

The thing is that the Chancellor is definitely worried for the young Kaiser to be. The balance has been maintained. The only thing is on the military and this colonial acquisition that has been filtered through the back alleys. He has to be kind to the pseudo-Social Democrats, even though they are not that party anymore (and neither is the National Liberal Party), for they are his go-between with the young prince and becoming far more powerful than his tastes.

What’s even more alarming is that the Austrians are becoming more popular. Somehow he has shored up the Crown Prince of Austria to become less…emotional. That much is true. Yet the topic is of what to be done about the second in line. Franz Ferdinand has been dispatched to Hungary to appease the masses. Prince Heinrich has becoming the face of his elder brother, if not for the navy, then just the military at large.

It comes back to the military. France has been shoring up their colonies in fear of Germany. England has allowed Germany to use the facilities in their (minor) colonies in exchange for trade/influence in the misbegotten small motes along the African coasts. It is an eternal regret that the Empire even has colonies. The Kaiser yet to be has made it his mission to make these colonies not so much of the Congo but of a ‘civilized manner’. There has been calls within government on why of the initiatives to migrate to places such as East Africa, why are the natives treated in a way that they would be the Poles, and why is it that the Kaiser to be has not properly bumped his father off. He is already the Kaiser all but in name…

It is 1887. The colonies are doing well, thanks to the young prince's hands-on policy within this expansion. Whether it was true of his small "escapade" in Algeria, what the young prince has put forth in the circles that he travels is that society can only travel in dynamic oppositions - with these oppositions only broken through either revolution or social reform. In this case, the treatment of the Africans can be correctly pacified through occupational oppertunities, such as the building of a naval yard, or perhaps something akin to the Colonial Service that the United Kingdom has.

The trouble is that many think this is "un-German".

In other news, a certain Austrian official by the name of Alois Hidler takes up on the offer that the young prince has towards the small minute colonies in Africa. Ever since the young prince initiated his friendship with Prince Ruldoph of Austria, there has been subtle promises made to the public on possible avenues of fortune in Africa. Alois Hidler hasn't really been successful in his job, since one of his rivals got him sacked some time ago, and he's got problems with women. Thus, Alois Hilder takes his (last) wife, Klara Plozl, and their large brood of children, on that ship, casting their fortunes in this strange colony called German South West Africa. [FN4]

There is also the matter of anti-semeticism. It's a popular tool used in various villages. Yet it has been countered through the growing distribution of Marx's adapted works, which promotes an additional clause on a person such as the Crown Prince. Of course this is simply icing on the cake, since many of the Crown Prince's supporters already 'support' his agenda on restrained liberalism with a dash of selected rule by those educated/serving the people.

The Crown Prince makes it a point through the purchase of a Polish portrait of a long dead king that hangs in his room and another one of a rabbi in his study.

Then there is the matter of his father. There has been bitter arguments as of late on whether or not the Crown Prince has betrayed his paternal loyalties. His sisters refuse to talk to him on the account that he is too "shifty to be English". His brother, Prince Heinrich, idealizes his elder brother, although not making him an idol, but seeing the "wisdom of his ways". This is quickly illustrated in the sudden acquisition that the Crown Prince wrestles away from the Royal Navy on an 'exchanging of technologies', making the unofficial bond between the two nations official.

France is not happy with this. Russia would respond but is secretly being armed by the said gunsmiths on their own 'civil' problem. The adapted works of Marx has been leaking into the wrong hands, it seems, manipulated to become not so much authoritarian as so much democratic socialists. It should be noted at this point that Alexander III, who is busily grooming his son, Nicolas II to be his successor.

It is also at this point, dear reader, that all what I have been mentioning as the "Regent behind the throne" was little more than a code that the Chancellor and the young prince shared upon the matter of Russia.

Of course that gets us into Russia......

[FN4] Replace the 'd' with a 't'

Very nice update, but it raises some (rather interesting) questions.

Succession is a very large subject in the halls of the Reichstag. It is accepted that the crown prince will be the Kaiser. Who else is as strong as the crown prince besides Prince Heinrich? If the two actually become co-Kaisers (if at all possible), the two could actually run the Empire on their own, since they are that close.

But the problem is on the crown prince being Bismarck's equal if not contemporary. His parents don't like him. His mother openly pines for the UK. On one level it is accepted. On the other....it's hard to really state on if she really is the Empress or just the Princess Royal.

Yet that is a problem that seems to be minute compared to what is happening in Russia.

Tsar Alexander III is pro-Germanic, too much it seems for a Russian Tsar. The matter is on what to do with the populace. Once upon a time, a Tsar was actually reformist. Then, in 1866, the first attempt is made on a Tsar. This is soon followed by another attempt in 1879, and finally in 1881, which was successfull. Thus the coming of Tsar Alexander III in 1881, who was an autocrat by all definition of the term, and far surpassing the allegations that the Chancellor had in the German Empire.

In 1878, the Treaty of San Stefano is signed. Constantinople, it seems, is forever lost to the Russians. There is nothing that the young 19 year old young prince can do at that point, who is still growing, and just showing promise that he will fufill later on.

Now it is 1888. The young prince is 29 years old. He is the Kaiser all but in name. The difficulty lies in Russia, which has adopted a "one nation one culture" policy in order to counter any rebellion. A socialist orientated Crown Prince of the German Empire is not welcome in any light.

Then the Crown Prince begins to offer guns. He begins to send technical details, offering to take the "undesirables" off of Russia's hand, as well as the offer of Constantinople under Russian rule. These notes do not criticize Alexander III. In fact, the notes sent to the Tsar is strictly orientated towards the military as well as political "gifts" if the Tsar should happen to swing a certain way...

In the dispatch, the Crown Prince takes it upon himself to formally apologize for the failure of the Three Emporer's League. He was not paying attention. He was preoccupied with other matters of the state. It is strange that he would state such a belief for the young prince had been present at the meeting through the oft mentioning on how the Crown Prince Rudoph had changed for the better, thereby perserving Emperor Franz Josef's alliance towards the young Germanic Empire, which led to the noted twitching of the Chancellor's mustache.

Thus it is that the offer of the Reinsurance Treaty [FN5] comes about, with the noted exception of Austria Hungary (placated with the repeated offers of dumping Hungarians in the African colonies, job oppertunities, etc) within the letter of the dispatch. The crown prince is actually taking over the Chancellor's position in this case! This is unprecendented!

Meanwhile, in 1888, the first naval shipyard is made in Windhoek. While the harbor is partially devoted for the cargo shipping between the various European colonies, there is the noting of the shipyards being of an experimental type sort of thing. A small treaty with Argentina and Brazil is made on supplying metal, various technical advisors are sent from Britain to show their "support" for the deal, and imperialism for the Germanic Empire (or so Queen Victoria says so, she who is Queen, etc, etc) is forever stillborn. [FN6]

Back to the subject at hand, a responding message is sent to Berlin that Tsar Alexander III will think about this. The message is rolling in his brain as one would say. If the Americans could say anything about this (which they won't because they have their hands full with their 'colonies' in South America), they would say that the Crown Prince has balls. Of course this does not help the French any bit seeing that many of the Prussian commanders are actually paying attention to the American technical advisor, a certain William T. Sherman, who personally chewed out a certain Erich Ludendorff, who had the audacity of cursing the general in his face when arguing on the merits of the old general's space at his academy. It also helps that the certain Erich Ludendorff was personally "requested" by the young Kaiser to be on upsetting his favorite general, subjecting the poor man on the theories of total war, as well as the entire Art of War read in Latin, German, Dutch, oh, and English. [FN7]

It is said that the poor man was read to in the "Rabbi" room.

But back to the subject at hand, it takes about a week until the Chancellor hears word about what the Crown Prince has done. The Chancellor personally visits the Emporer Franz Josef, who is utterly aghast at what he has heard through his intelligence agents. Then again, he cannot really criticize on what the Crown Prince has done, since he has shaped up from that certain hunting expedition, made peace with his own wife, Stephanie of Belgium, and somehow produced another heir, named (not ironically) Friedrich (followed by a bunch of other names that is not important to this story). The Hasburg Family is peaceful, ignoring of course the Empress, who is a subject all together.

The Chancellor suddenly sees the light.

Three days after he arrives in Berlin, Tsar Alexander III agrees with the Crown Prince. The Reinsurance Treaty will be signed. The Crown Prince is truly Machiavelli's Prince.

Even though he's German.

[FN5] Brought some years before OTL
[FN6] Or so they think.
[FN7] I couldn't find the history behind the translations of the said piece but I'm basically guessing that they DO have it by now and it was only a matter of time before the Crown Prince found out about it.

Parties & Dispatches

Protectorates of the Empire

1. German East Africa
2. German South-West Africa
3. Togoland
4. Kamerun
5. German New Guinea & dependencies

German Political Parties

1. The Centre Party
2. The Christian Democratic Party
3. The South German Catholic Party
4. The National Liberal Party (defunct)
5. The Sociaist Democratic Party (banned)
6. The "New Liberals" (most of the SDP and the NLP)*

*placeholder name

World Leaders (Leading Powers)

1. German Empire: Kaiser Freidrich III, Chancellor Bismarck
2. USA: Grover Cleveland
3. The British Empire: Queen Victoria, PM Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
4. The Empire of all the Russias: Tsar Alexander III
5. France: Pierre Emmanuel Tirard, Jules Grévy
6. Austria-Hungary: Emporer Franz Josef, Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria
7. The Porte: Abdul Hamid II
8. Italy: Umberto I of Italy

==
Friedrich-

I could not find the book that you requested. I did stop over by Africa. They seem to have fertile coastlines. Perhaps a port could be established there. India was very nice. I did find this book - The Art of War- perhaps it is up to your tastes. It is in Latin though.

Your Brother,
Heinrich

Windhoek is an inland city...

Oops. Retcon that to Luderitz.

What do you think of the TL so far Wendell?
====
Let us fast forward to 1888.

The 'technical' deal in which the young Kaiser to be struck with the UK was not so much 'technical' as 'diplomatic'. In exchange for limiting German expansion beyond it's present colonies, the UK would provide Germany with economic infastructure for it's colonies as well as the "freedom" to build massive shipyards. These shipyards, of course, would provide free supplies to British ships without any hassle.

It should be noted that it is from the deal that a good chunk of immigrants that would have come to the USA are diverged to the two colonies in Southern Africa. Kamerun and Togoland are, as stipulated in the 'technical deal', simply shipping ports for the convoys going to Southwest Afrika and East Afrika. German New Guinea has also been restricted, mainly do to it being the Pacific, and somewhere in the 'technical' deal, there is some mention that it would be turned over to the Brits anyway, which makes a good number of the Imperialistic ministers happy.

There was also a curious thing in having Walvis Bay "co-shared" by British/German rule...

But back to the technical aspects of the colony of Southwest Afrika. In the slow modification of the previous plans for the colony, the Crown Prince did dictate to the planners that the native African tribes there would be treated with peace, and paid in return for land. This approach is somewhat accepted by the Nama Tribe, who have been employed as workers for the new colonial settlements within Southwest Afrika, given the rights of any average German Imperial subject, ...and then there was the Herero, which made the Crown Prince's plans even more...futile.

Yet the very ideals that propelled the plan continued to push the drive to make Southwest Afrika and East Afrika a part of a dream-like German Empire. Windhoek was founded and soon increased in density as the many waves of immigrants from the Germanic Realms arrived. Although it could not serve as a shipyards, it did help in opening other economic avenues, and a place where the first group of Russian Jews found peace.

Walvis Bay is a tricky subject. Although it had been "shared" with the Brits on it's ownership, by no means were the colonial officials expecting a massive arrival of immigrants from Russia/Germany to arrive. This ended up being a difficult thing to navigate around, for these officials were not as "easily seduced by German words". Thus, new settlements were founded to avoid such conflicts, giving birth to such places as Wilhelmsburg[FN7], Luderitz Bay, and Husbamon [FN8].

The shipyards are not what the British Imperial officials expected either. They are a rudementary lot, mostly resembling college campuses, with a series of piers. An effort on uniting the colony by railroad is currently being forged. A certain man by the name of Alois Hiedler is learning the joys on becoming the first customs agent in Husbamon, moonlighting secretly at the new military academy that is currently laying the hull of what will be a submarine, although more resembling a gunboat to the naked eye.

Of course then there are the problems with the natives....
-------
[FN7] OTL's Swakopmund
[FN8] Husbamon is OTL's Husbmund, although larger than OTL at this time