A healthy baby boy...

[Wendell]

Originally Posted by G.Bone

Oops. Retcon that to Luderitz.

What do you think of the TL so far Wendell?

I quite like it so far. There is huge potential here, and you are writing effectively. I think I could guess where this is headed.

[G.Bone]

I've edited the previous post - so comment please!

Where do you think this TL is going? Just curious-
=========

German East Afrika is also experiencing some difficulty in 1888.

The main difficulty lies in the Sultan of Zanzibar. Even though the dispatches to his palace have been formally signed by the Crown Prince on giving him the nominative rights over his formal claim, the Sultan will not have it. He will not have it indeed, for this upstart of a prince dares to give rights to his lands, which has been supported over many a century.

Thus the first act of German aggression is recorded. It is also the first time that the Crown Prince shows his cards, instructing his generals to use the concepts of 'modern warfare' against the Sultan. As expected, the British help out, with the guns of theirs and German gunboats pointed at the palace. The Sultan has to agree, but secretly supports a revolt, which has been raging on with British support, and finally German troops showing just how effective a Maxim/Gatling gun can do on people.

The settlement of Dar-es-Salaam is going well. The Crown Prince is SEVERELY disappointed that his dearly beloved shipyards cannot be constructed nor his socialist program enacted. There is some 'grains' to be gained on this. The Crown Prince sends a VERY strong worded telegram to the colonial officials that those captured will not be harmed; instead they are to be treated as a laborer that will be given a house, land, and a position in the new Colonial Government.

In fact a failed attempt at this proved to be both a detriment and a blessing. Although the colonial governor at that time ended up fighting three more battles within that year, the instigator of the rebellion, a certain Abushiri ibn Salim al-Harthi did hear of the effective usage of Maxim guns within the latter campaigns of his war, and the strange conduct of a certain messenger with an Imperial message written out for him. Abushiri ibn Salim al-Harthi takes it, thinking that it is a letter of surrender to the small town that he is beseiging, and is abruptly surprised that it is so.

Meanwhile, one should point out the recent commissioner of the colony, followed by the first wave of immigrants from Eastern Europe (allowed to go through Egypt for the first time) is none other than Hermann von Wissmann, a young cadet impressed with the Crown Prince's push for total war and new tactics, and has made a name of himself as a "mercenary" for King Leopold of Belgium (another ally of the Crown Prince and thoughly impressed by the sharing of the "new maschine guns") through the exploration of his personal colony (again, not important). The tactics that he uses is not quite trench warfare but it is a pointed jab to that certain Professor W.T. Sherman, as well as a man called Nathan Bedford Forrest, and a strange Amerikaner by the name of Sheridan.

In fact the message to the instigator of this particular rebellion is not only restricted to him; it is in fact read out to all the available tribes within the colony. Within it, the Crown Prince outlines a heavily altered edition of his plans to the point that all non-Christian faiths are to be respected, the rights of the natives allowed, and inclusion within the newly created Schutztruppe (Colonial Force translateed). New guns, such as the Gewehr 88 rifle and the Maxim machine gun, would be open to them, as so long as they would not use it against German troops. Within the letter itself, the Crown Prince formally states that he is also open to educating the peoples to the point that they would be the equal of any Westerner, and would be free unto their own selves, although "guided" by the Germans.

The letter is...revolutionary for it's frankness.

Abushiri ibn Salim al-Harthi scratches his head, thinks about it, and throws it in the fire. The Crown Prince can go suck on a bone, he says in Arabic. It was all a trick.

Three days later, the Schutztruppe surprise the said leader by leading him into a trap. There are no bullets shot; simply fifteen Maxim guns pointed on his person, and many other people surrounding his convoy. The said leader has no other option to surrender, does, and is suddenly offered a position in the Colonial government as a General of the "Askari" Brigade.

[Wendell]

Originally Posted by G.Bone

I've edited the previous post - so comment please!

Where do you think this TL is going? Just curious-
=========

G

Maybe toward an eventual cold war?

[G.Bone]

Do you think this is implausible?

[Wendell]

Originally Posted by G.Bone

Do you think this is implausible?

This TL? No. My only concern is that we know not how much of the Kaiser's OTL personality and upbringing would be different. I like this TL so far, and I look forward to more.

[G.Bone]

No. My only concern is that we know not how much of the Kaiser's OTL personality and upbringing would be different

Could you clarify this? I seem to be amiss on it's meaning.

Do you get a clear image on the deviances in TTL's KW2?

[Midgard]

Finally got a chance to catch up on this, and it is great - a couple of anachronisms here and there (Rasputin didn't even arrive in St. Petersburg and thus in the Imperial inner circle until early 1900s), but nothing that impacts the story in a major way. Basically, it seems you are gearing up for Pax Germania - looks like Austria-Hungary is getting ready to become a sacrificial lamb to Russian ambitions. What is going on with the Ottomans? I would imagine the British and the French, not to mention the Russians, would want something there, and if Russia gets Constantinople, British and French gains will have to be truly massive in order to keep them happy. Also, speaking of Russia, who does Nicholas II marry? Is he still going to marry the German princess of OTL, or will he have a different marriage alliance? It is important for two reasons - first, the German Empress was one of the causes for disaffection in Russia in 1905 and afterwards, second, she was a carrier of haemophilia, which was passed on to Nicholas' son Alexei (and which made it that without specialized medical care, he was unlikely to live for long, and which also was the reason Rasputin got so much power due to him being able to control Alexei's disease). If you remove Alexandra (said German princess), the situation in Russia will be very, very different down the line - she is the key to many issues that resulted in the October Revolution of 1917, and its February 1917 predecessor.

[G.Bone]

Ah- the matters of marriage and the Tsar...

Tsar Alexander III is a very brutish man. He is only reacting to the constant attempts upon his life by supposed social revolutionaries, who are "a bunch of dissident lost brethern" by Friedrich Ebert, one of the leaders in the banned SDU, now "The Party"*, due to it's absorbed liberal elements. Fortunately, a great opening has been made in German Southwest Afrika and German East Afrika, which is currently another Siberia, in Tsar Alexander III's eyes.

Right after the unofficial approval of the Reinsurance Treaty, Tsar Alexander III has his agents look through the gun designs that the young Crown Prince has sent him. They are actually quite sound. Although he does not approve of this treatise on "Total War" by some funny General by the name of William T. Sherman, there is this interesting clause within the packet that says the Crown Prince will address any "outlining" problem that the Tsar might have with a relative; after all, it was he who managed to "turn Rudolph" around.

Of course such a phrase is told by his Intelligence ministers and not the actual packet per say. The Crown Prince would not do such a thing. Instead, within the letter, there is is offer of assistance in anything that the Tsar might have, including building up his navy, which may or may not be out of date.

Tsar Alexander III passes the technical information to his top generals. He does have a working prototype of this new fangled Maxim gun shipped all the way from the Imperial Armory (Germany). His generals report that it's great - they tried it on the prisoners they've arrested. They've also had to report a massive ring of spies to be told by this wonderful gun, the bubbling little man hoping to save his family, ...and the guy was definitely killed afterwards.

These new fangled Maxim guns are wonderful!

There has been some cables sent to Berlin on this supposed peace after this unofficial approval of the treaty. Apparently the Austrian-Hungarians approve of this going over the head bit, after the Tsar personally requested the Ambassador's presence, and asked about this Treaty. Although there was some shock at the offerings, there has been a promise to take the Hungarians off of the Empire's hands, and that the Crown Prince of Rudolph has produced a healthy heir...

Tsar Alexander III looks over the dispatch. He has to stay true to his principles - a good Russian bride for his son. The Tsar was present in the demonstration of the Maxim gun on the second batch of the prisoners. He even tried it on a couple of stuffed dummies - Tsars are not supposed to get their hands dirty. Although the bit about the Russian bride for his son is not entirely out order, just watching the gun slice the hay and flesh provided something to think about.

Tsar Alexander III orders a book on the Crown Prince's family. Would one of those watered down Germans fit in? Certainly not, a voice inside his mind would say. The book is delivered and Tsar Alexander looks through it, gets dismayed, and has another book of other royal families delievered...

Why is it that all the monarchs in the world are either English, hiding, or single?

......Now reader let us part from Tsar Alexander III to focus on other regions in the world.......

One of the bad things on being the young Kaiser to be is that one becomes the head of state by their behavior. The British Prime Minister, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, has an issue with the supposed 'technical deal'. This issue is rather beneficial to the British Empire because it does not set any alarm bells within the Continent. In fact, the focus of the German Imperial Armed Forces have been on training rather than full fledged armament. Although the French Ambassador has pointed out to the Prime Minister that a militant Germany is a threat to the colonies in Africa, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil sees some advantage in the timber of the Ambassador's voice. France is frightened. But amusement set aside, there is a point to his concerns.

What about the other colonies? There has been some concern over the lands of Nambia that their precious shipyards are nothing but a source for armed build up. German East Africa is being ignored, silly little Crown Prince not building up his forces strong enough, with the main threat of Nambia being on the minds of the comissioners from South Africa. Then there is the matter of this whole 'sharing of the guns' with Russia.

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury summons the German Ambassador to his office at No.10 Downing Street. The German Ambassador sends a telegram to the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince sends a large packet to Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, outlining his concerns. Within the packet there is an offer of Syria and Palestine. Of course the Porte rules that...and that would be stomping on the excuse of the Splendid Isolationism on it's hide.

There is also the concern of the Porte and Italy, more specifically the German point of view of it....

*Again, a placeholder name...

[G.Bone]

It is 1888. Kaiser Freidrich II has been diagnosed with throat cancer. It can be cured. It most certainly can be cured.

The problem is, of course, the Crown Prince. It is the understatement of the year that the Crown Prince has been acting as the Kaiser. It is the understatement of the century that the Crown Prince is not like Bismarck; in fact he is the mirror image armed with bayonets as fingernails reaching for an unseen goal that the French think is their own country.

Some of the British politicians think it is after their Empire.

The Crown Prince does not show his cards, and if he does, it is only half of it. The one man that has been privy to the half hand is the Chancellor, who has trouble with the domestic issue, specifically "The Party", as well as the balance of power on the Continent. There are movements within the Conservative parties that the Crown Prince has sacrificed a larger Empire to get an assurance from the Brits on not breathing down their neck. There are movements within the navy that cruisers cannot possibly be the backbone of the High Navy. The Brits are their enemy and so what if the Crown Prince is linked up with Queen Victoria; the rest of the family has been shown to be Angophilists anyway.

The problem is that Kaiser Friedrich III has a mind of his own. He cannot tolerate the Chancellor. He cannot tolerate this growing seperation in his family - with his son turning his back on what the family consider a duty towards their roots of England. Everytime he tries to get a grasp on what is being done about his empire, it seems that his son has already been there, done that, and he's treated little more than a figurehead. It's bad enough just finding out that a "Reinsurance Treaty" has been properly signed when the doctor had finished up a preliminary surgery for his throat, flanked by a placid Austria-Hungary, as well as an observer from Italy present. Then he comes upon the news that diplomats from the Kingdom of Italy have already met up with his son about this supposed 'technical deal' that the Brits have.

This simply cannot be done!

Kaiser Friedrich III summons the Chancellor to his room, where he angrily writes on paper (the actual surgery is some weeks away), that the Chancellor should limit his 'undue' influence upon his sons.

The Chancellor replies that he had nothing to do with his sons; in fact he was completely surprised that the "Reinsurance Treaty" had been signed in the first place. There is some motion of the arms, shouting, and it is only after a couple of hours before the two suddenly realize that they are both in the wrong; they have been played as the Americans would say. It helps that the Chancellor has known about this all along - with another message to the Crown Prince sent - the Chancellor simply sitting in his office - followed by an angry pounding of the desk.

Kasier Friedrich III cannot do this for he must not use his voice, because of the surgery, etc, etc, etc.

Yet he cannot shake the feeling that somehow his upbringing of his elder son and heir went wrong. He can skip him...but that would be bad form, especially with these rumors that he's hearing that his army has mutated into something...different. They have new weapons that, in the papers that he reads, are being used to mow down dissidents in Russia. He can definitely skip him....but Prince Heinrich is at sea now, on the Hohenzollern, visiting the Afrikan colonies. The Crown Prince is in some rooms in the same palace, no doubt, planning his next move.

Kaiser Friedrich III does trust this doctor that his wife has recommended, a certain Morell Mackenzie*, although the doctors that his son has sent are equally as trustworthy. Kaiser Friedrich III has been clapped into silence because of his throat. Dr. Bremann has been in silent argument with Dr. Mackenzie, their eyes flashing telegraph messages of war, all kept silent so that the Kaiser can get his rest. Then there is the presence of the new guard that his son has sent, carrying those new rifles, and something about him so utterly different.

IF he comes out, he will have his throat. He will rule. The question is on if he has any loyalty left. The seperation of the family would be fact if he stepped down. He does not have any more sons to use. His daughters are all English. The Kaiser has this doubt that none of his family, except the two cunning sons, will be accounted for as "German". He has hard enough time just holding onto a discussion in "German"; all the courtiers talk about is how "The Party" is becoming a rival for the Conservative Factions, gone silent for his health, and the Kaiser simply cannot have it! The Kaiser simply cannot have it, but he has been in the Army, and he isn't a baby.

The Kaiser loathes the Chancellor. He mulls over this as a glass of water is set forth on his table. He loathes him with every fiber, and that he has stolen the throne, but that is his son, _his son_, and he has a duty of a German Kaiser to fufill.

The Kaiser sends forth for the Chancellor.
--
*came in late for the preceedings, having a talk to with the Crown Prince, etc, etc, the man is a beast, etc, etc, I must focus on the Kaiser to make him Healthy![FN8]

[FN8] It should be evident by now that KF3 is still living and the major butterflies are flapping.

[G.Bone]

Now let us focus on this strange alliance between mice and men, robots and androids, and things that will never come in the diction of 1888...

The German Navy at this time is stuck between development and innovation. They do have a large amount of cruisers under construction. There has been many a ship converted to help out the 'immigration' process to the colonies, although the journey will be taking some time with the negotiation on a shorter route, specifically through Egypt, and on British ships, of course.

The main thing is that in the 'technical' treaty, the Germans did swear that they would not build any battleships that would threaten the national security of the British Empire. In exchange, the British would allow the Germans to bulk up their colonies, and ship the development elsewhere. Many within the current government have pointed out that this venture has gone nowhere due to problems of settlement, let us all laugh at the foolish prince, blah blah blah...

What does perk up the spies in what will become the MI5/6 is the plans that have been shooting their way. Lately there have been developments on the cruisers that would make them not so much battlecruisers as what Elizabethian pirate ships did to the Spanish Armada, only adapted to 1888 naval standards. There has also been some plans showing that the first submarine will be launching soon, doubling as a cruiser, but having the difficulty of how to last underwater without sinking. There has been some rumor that these plans are not the exact plans that have been breeding out of the Naval Headquarters of Germany. Of course these concerns sort of go out the window with the NEW and NEAT LOOKING GUNS OMG OMG CAN I HAVE ONE! type behavior that the Army now has.

Then there is the German Army. They do have the conventional army. However, what they have and what they don't have standing is two different things. The German Army has been rebooted in a way that the concept of total war would be introduced. Artillery guns have been shaped for quick movement. There has been a push on making the cartridges for the bolt action rifles a wee bit fuller with 7 bullets instead of 5. The entire Polish coastline has been revamped with machine gun testing fields situated in cities such as Danzig, locks that would provide faster loading, and the convienent utilization of the Jews within the financial departments of the said plants.

What is even more disturbing is this push for metal wagons. The proto-MI5/6 have learned that they are now called "Panzerkampfwagons" but they haven't really gotten past the speed factor. The Crown Prince is at every meeting in developing these hideous creatures, at every plant that would implement the actual application fo these devices, and even helping out the workers, who have now this strange thing called worker's comp. The Empire is changing, for the better it seems, and fastly outpacing what the British Empire can come up with. Although the British Empire is concerned with this tactic, they cannot quarrel because every step that they make, a copy of it is sent to Military Headquarters (London), the prose accompanying it honest and true, and frank oppertunities opened for British officials to accompany, "borrow", and use.

The very practice of "Splendid Isolationism" is a joke really. Everything has been tilting towards the Germans and their little development plans. They have even offered their spoils to the Bulgarians, the Greeks, and the Italians. There has even been efforts with the pro-German lobby in England on having imported goods (such as iron) be shifted from South America to the colonies (not that Germany has done this already). There has even been word that the Kaiser yet to be has offered a place within the Reinsurance Treaty for Britain, promising complete support to the people, and so on down the line. Queen Victoria has become that more active now that her favorite grandson has become quite the charmer. Everything is so deadly and as the joke states in the Intel circles, woe to the country that dares to ire the Crown Prince.

Nothing can touch the Crown Prince it seems.

Of course there is his earnstwhile allies within the Reichstag that have ulterior motives. Every since that dastardly German was allowed to flee to London, his brand of socialism has been openly embraced in the Empire, along with the modifications he wrote when meeting the Crown Prince. The socialism is not simply just for the people and not against the buisiness; it is advocating the usage of business and the people for a better world. If the Yanks could state it in their own words, it would be political transcendentalism, with the focus on education and military service as key steps towards "Heaven". It is a dagger at the Chancellor's throat that the former Social Democrats pretend to not use their party label. It is insulting to the Chancellor that they have obeyed his ban. It is a continued threat to British National Security that their 'retconning' of previous policies to something of what the Crown Prince emminates with his disarming charm. They do not have the charm; what they do have is fire in their eyes that the Empire has a place in it's sun if only it could focus on the right of the individual, the right of the commons, and the wholesale goose step stomp of Europe as one union, one nation, and so on down the list.

There are many deviances on where this Party's agenda can focus on. Fredrick Ebert, the new rival for the post of the Chancellor, never stating it or desiring it, is the main spokesman of this strange new Party. It is very obvious on where his speeches come from. The Prince is doing a Queen Victoria, a little puppet, and the alarm bells are ringing in every Intelligence agency on the continent that the Prince is warmongering.

He is tipping the boat as he is trying to save the boat.

But these concerns are drowning in mamsey with the affairs of the Empire coming first - this serial killer in the East End, what to do with India, what to do with Australia, the matter of France as a subject to English interests, the matter of the Boers, and so on.

There is even this telegram with Prince Heinrich arriving in Nambia and personally helping out with the shipyards - another of the Crown Prince's ploy to rule the world! Does anyone see this? Is it only the Intel agencythat aren't as dumb as everyone thinks they are? France could be our ally! We can get so much from them instead of an India or any other subject nation!

[schrammy]

verry good stuff i like it verry much
sounds to me like our young emperor to be is transforming the german empire into a strange kind of hybrid goverment.

it would be political transcendentalism, with the focus on education and military service as key steps towards "Heaven".

kind of reminds me a little of starship troopers just with an emperor as head of state, well kind of any way.

[G.Bone]

It is the Fall of 1888. The surgery went well! This is, in the language of a certain colonial servent yet to be born, double plus good! Most unfortunately, this means that he will get his voice back.

Kasier Friedrich III has used it well- against his eldest son.

There is no point in bothering the fact that Kaiser Friedrich III is Kaiser; everyone knows that it is the Crown Price. After all, the only oppertunity in which the Crown Prince can be countered with...has left the country! There is always Prince Sigismund and Prince Waldemar to lean to. They have been brought up by their mother (well..more of the latter) with good English morals.

Morals that do not fit in this state that has been shaped by the Crown Prince.

It should be mentioned here that even with Fortune having the Crown Prince healthy, it was not fated for the other two sons, who were quickly taken up by their mother, and sent to England to "avoid the Chancellor's touch". They came back at age 20/16, just to show that they were part of the family. There were many discussions back then on the reasoning of them sent to England. It did not help that the eldest son had captured the spotlight back then, becoming impassionate with military matters, and thus the conflict in the family began.

It also should be mentioned, here, that had Fortune been cruel, these two sons would have never been born. It most certainly feels that way - both of them have English manners and German is a second language to them. Here is another clue on why the Crown Prince has become popular in the German Empire. It does not help that Princess Sophia and Princess Margarete are also in the same English mold.

There was much conflict over the state of the Kaiser's health. This was evident by the courtier's whispers, which became spelled out truths when the Kaiser got his voice back. It was even more shocking to know that the split had become an impassable divide when the Kaiser and the Kaiserin had an argument on what to do with Prince Heinrich, the third of the lot, now imprisoned in some hell-hole of Nambia.

But this is all regurgitated klatsch. The real fact lay in the papers, the princesses, and the two *other* sons that came to wish him well. Imagine to the Kaiser's shock that the two English Princes - Sigismund and Waldemar - are seeing the wisdom of their elder brother. Sigismund came in the fatigues of the Landwehr - a new body of the New Army - a Captain of the ranks. Sigismund is 24, unable to wash the English accent out of his German, still acting as his mother, but tolerable. Waldemar is 20, English complete, in the dregs of a civil servant. The Kaiser has summoned both of them to tell him the real truth of the matter, showing that famous command voice he used at Königgrätz, and having the only two sons that he did have (nicht vergessen) come to him.

Oh - how backwards the Kaiser was!

Kaiser Friedrich III knows that he has been duped; he just wants to know the full scope of the monster(s) that nicht seinen Söhne. Then imagine to his shock that these two English boys, the pride of his Kaiserin, come to allay his fears of the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince knows what he is doing. In fact, the civil service has never been better! Prince Waldemar goes on;

-The Poles are not revolting
-The Jewish menfolk are volunteering to help out
-The Conservatives are happy being the reiche Lords that they are
-Colonial expansion is increasing and, barring from the usual colonial kriegs that would be happening in any Empire, everything is rosy.

Prince Waldemarl says this all in English.

As anyone would guess, there was argument, pointing out of obvious things, and so on down the line...etc, etc, etcetra....

Meanwhile, in a small dinky town, Alois Hiedler is the proud son of Otto Hiedler [FN9], and passionate about his other job. In fact, Alois has found a new calling - the newly formed Schutztruppe. There are some plans on having future offspring enlisting in this new body. If this is what Prince Heinrich is, this popular sort of guy, the average ...Hans...(Amerikaners would call it Joe for some reason), imagine what the Crown Prince would be!

Meanwhile in another part of the world, Georgi Plekhanov migrates from Russia to Germany, seeing that the push for socialism will be needed to be retconned. Marxism at this time has definitely taken a strange turn. Those socialists within Russia have just now gotten the new editions of Marxist's work. Although they do worship Das Kapital as a masterpiece, this idea of Nietszche and the other "New Socialists" with "The Party" have been advocating - the "Uberprince" - the "uberstaat" - has some merits to it. Even though Russia is in turmoil, best place to be at, the Russians have guns. Germany has guns. The gun factories are open to anyone who is interested as well as The Party's own push on a set given agenda.

Thus a small migration of Russian intelligensia commences. The goal of Socialist Russia is still preserved through Paine-esque tracts that appear at underground printing shops within Russia. There is the conflict between the intelligensia that it doesn't make any sense on migrating to the very entity that made Russia inhospitable, but having a socialist Crown Prince, sort of erases that opposition. Thus the tracts continue, being of a more...Transcendent-esque bent, not totally abandoning the roots of Communism, but a "new" Communistic theory taking the European revolutionary scene by storm.

Of course it also helps that a good majority of these radical leaders have formal invitations by the Crown Prince himself, who counts Friedrich Ebert, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Georg Brandes, Richard Wagner, Wilhelm Liebknecht, August Bebel, Thomas Hardy, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde ("My little amusing playwright"), Horatio Kitchener, Robert Baldwin Ross, and other interesting literary/political figures at this time as his personal friends.

It should also be mentioned that Georgi Plekhanov sends a letter to a good friend (protege to be more honest) Vladimir Illich Ulyanov. The Good Kaiser (as he is often mentioned in many letters of many authors) would like to meet him. The Good Kaiser is awfully sad that he could not save his brother, but, would like to offer him a position in government as a compensation, something to do with guns.

The very reputation of the Crown Prince has, indeed, increased very quickly.

But back to the subject at hand -

Kaiser Friedrich III stares at the sons that he has lost. He has got his voice back. He might as well be dead.
==
[FN9] Dead in childbirth IOTL

[G.Bone]

Ah...Nambia.

One can think of the glory days of Nambia. The only real reason why Nambia is so- great - is that it has ports. The rest of it is deserts. That would be the northern part, the noted Skeleton Desert, and the occasional skeleton. Remarked in his log, Captain Heinrich of Prussia notes;

God help us all if the sands intrude!

But I remiss. Elsewhere in the colony, there is growing effort on NOT converting the African tribes. Even though they have established the Schutztruppe in that colony, there is no demonstration of what a certain Maxim mobile gun can do. Rather, it is focusing on trying to help bring the Crown Prince's dream come true, which is...experiencing difficulties.

Both the Nama Tribe and the Herero are a ..wee bit backward. The Nama Tribe are more ...communal orientated. The Herero are more pastral. The two are fairly nomadic. The good thing is that they do have markets. Windhoek is a great market place! The bad thing is that there are a LOT of people coming into Nambia. That may be a good thing...and a bad thing.

When Prince Heinrich...I mean Captain Heinrich of Prussia...arrives at Nambia, much of the colonial structure is a mess. His brother's policies ....have found some supporters within the Nama, since they are communal, and are relatively glad that they are accepted as equals. The Herero are a different story - pastoral would be the term if it ever gotten around to it - and somehow finding a common ground with their fellow tribesmen. The problem is, of course, that the Nama pick up a lot of things from the Crown Prince's failed attempt at "Equal Oppertunity Government". THEN there is the Hungarians, the Jews, the Polish, and the other people that signed up for a GREAT ADVENTURE, only to be surprised with the same BLOODY THING WE LEFT IN THE FIRST PLACE!

There has been some good things - namely the missionaries. The missionaries - namely the Roman Catholic/Protestant folk - have been allowed to spread the Word of God. So that's what they do - they establish schools, translation areas so that the problems can be addressed, and a local printing press. The tactic is not relatively new.

But back to the Europeans - those whom have settled in are doing the grand old thing - making little Hungarys, little Germany, and little Jewish Towns. The Jews tend to stick with their own little areas. The Hungarians are in a low amount, as well as the Austrians, but not the Poles. Although they were loathe to depart from Poland - they have been given middle management positions. It's....It's...not the greatest system that the Crown Prince would have liked.

It is at this point that Prince Heinrich of Prussia begins to sort of "tidy" things up. He is the commanding officer of the the Imperial Yacht. Prince Heinrich may or may not be the best commanding officer; but he does know a whole strew of officers that were in the area. He is not a political animal but he is rather ...charming. He is the average Hans on the farm. On one of his trips he meets up with this man named Alois, Alois Heydlter, if he got the name correct.

(Which he doesn't)

This will take some time...

[Midgard]

It's an interesting world you've got there... I take it Hitler of OTL is a completely different person, and Lenin is in Germany - can I see him as a Chancellor at some point? That would be the ultimate irony, given that OTL German money financed the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia. So, if Russia goes Communist, it will be orchestrated by Wilhelm, and much better so than in OTL, so better socialism-communism instead? What about France, given that they are probably rather worried, and would want to take action (but can't if Germans and British are allies, and Russia is kind of in the German camp)...

[G.Bone]

It is 1889/1890. For many in the Empire, this one year is known as the Emporer's War. It is not a physical war; rather it is a political war between Kaiser Friedrich III and his son, the Crown Prince. Many remark that Kaiser Friedrich III is out of touch with what his son has become. It is a long and hard battle for the father to gain control. Mind you that Kaiser Friedrich III has strong liberal beliefs as instilled by his wife, falling back on his previous command of the army, and constantly fighting an internal battle on whether or not he should be British or German.

The Emporer's War begins with the dismissal of Chancellor Bismarck when the Kaiser regains control in November of 1889. The Kaiser gives the Chancellor a salary from the Treasury on his service and promotes him to Grand Prince. The Chancellor, who has experienced health problems, takes it as it is, and welcomes the offer of the Conservative factions as their "advisor".

In his place is Count Leo von Caprivi, a noted man from the Admiralty, an ardent supporter of the battleship models, and supporter of the "Liberal wing" of the Social Democrats. In exchange for gaining this exalted post, the Social Democrats are restored as a party. Ironically there is nothing left of the SD; nearly all of them have been indoctrined in "The Party" and the increasing dynmaics of a new philosophy, new philsophical-political theories, and a wealthy patron that has been there when Das Kapital was published.

The National Liberal Party is restored. Efforts on making the Brits their earnst while allies are doubled, with the Princess Royal formally requesting an audience with her ...now "active" mother...on signing a treaty over East Africa. The treaty is signed of course, but the structure that it is built upon is entirely the Crown Prince's agenda, mutilated to serve liberal goals. A small island near Denmark is exchanged for Zanzibar. There is noted hesitation in the wings.

Then there is the efforts on placating France. The developments in the Imperial Armory is halted by Imperial Order. The first formal visit by a German Kaiser is recorded, although the Kaiser was a general in some battle, he speaks as an Englishman. French armament in the colonies can be halted in the measurement of peace, stability, and the order of the peasents. In comparison to his son, the mannerisms that the Kaiser has is very...English, not at all devious as three knives at a lost merchant in a dark alley, a gentlemen's gentleman.

There are efforts on reconstituting the National Liberal Party. The Party's dissident factions welcome this. The Conservative faction also welcome this. This is the time to get favors in, for Leo von Caprivi is the stooge for the newly active "wise" Kaiser, trying to regain the stability of a liberal Europe, one for the people, and one for the greater community.

Yet, at the very same time, the very supporters that the Crown Prince has summoned, are QUITE active at this time. For every piece of legislation that passes in the Reichstag, The Party stops it cold, smothering it with their own attempts at preserving the status quo, and even making it not so much socialist but in that strange hybrid of ways that would make a transcendentalist proud. These are active intellgentsia - scholars, philosophers, immigrants from Russia that know a thing or two about revolution - and nearly all of the representatives from the south and middle of the Empire mobilize against the "upstart" Kaiser.

If the Armories do not produce guns, there is no advantage, and if there is no advantage, then the Empire might as well surrender it's territory to the French.

Members of The Party quickly move to capitalize on the armories that were producing in the meantime. There is some mention of a "Greater Commune", utilizing the same deal that gave the Conservatives their money bags, and soon all of the Crown Prince's supporters are in control of the said factories. It does not help the elder Kaiser that the Poles are also effected by the Crown Price, for it was that experience with the Polish whore that gave Rump Poland it's freedom to breathe, exist as a vassal state, and become co-partners in this Greater Reich.

One of it's late members that donated a bulk of their ideas, a certain Swiss philosopher by the name of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche kicks the bucket because of a struggle between a pro-Kaiser Friedrich III's supporters and members of The Party in Koln. He is given a state funeral even though he was never elected. The Party quickly manipulates the funeral in a passionate speech that drives much of the city into The Party's hands, arguing not that they are open rebels in the late rebellion of the USA, but reformers of a greater Reich that Kaiser Friedrich III has smoothered in his pansy English ways. In fact, they accuse Kaiser Friedrich III of not being German, whipped as the English would say, a tool for his pansy wife that spends too much time in England.

The Conservatives, for a very long time, have been amused by this shattering of the Liberals. While they do control the key economic sectors of the empire, they do not have a hold on the Army, rather, they have a hold on the Navy. They can pull out the muscle anytime they want. The only thing that is holding them back is that much of their policy of pro-business is sort of...being manipulated by The Party (which never found a correct name to call themselves) wholesale. The ex-Chancellor now has to contend with not only the Continent going down the tube but the Empire as well.

The Kaiser cannot believe this. He cannot believe that his move to the liberal movement has been countered by this Marxist (a byword for extreme socialism; communism isn't exaclty the greatest term for it) Party that is stopping his legislation cold. His sons do not talk to him. There is a fight within the Navy on countering The Party's lock on the people. The only thing is that nearly all of their cool and wicked looking guns are from the Armories, which are in control of The Party, and have stop producing.

The Kaiser takes a visit to Emporer Franz Josef of Austria on some wisdom that he can impart. The cover story is that Austria-Hungary needs to be tied in with the Empire upon the matters of economic "brotherhood". Emporer Franz Josef has a problem with the Hungarians. Even though his second son has been dispatched to deal with the problem, his answer is the military, and pamphlets of The Party's mixed philosophy of the Uberstaat has found their ways into Hungarian patriots. There is a very strong rumor that it will be only time until the Austrian-Hungarian Empire falls apart.

Emporer Franz Josef has a problem with Italy as well. The Crown Prince has done his disappearing acts. His wife is in Italy, looking at the paintings, and even seen talking with one of the important cardinals of the Holy See on that funny Italian painter that did the roof of some church. He is seen talking with Franz Ferdinand, talking with Crown Prince Rudolf, and even with Alexander III upon the matters of his son, who has not learned the lesson of what it means to be the Iron Tsar.

Both Emporers sign a treaty in which both nations will come to their aide if any rebellions come out. This treaty is not commented by the Russians, whom sign an extension of the Reinsurance Treaty, which is passed on to the Italians, the Greeks, the Bulgarians, and some of the Hungarians, in which a "Central Brotherhood" is founded upon the dismemberment of one of their "enemies", a vague term that can be applied to almost ...any of the moribund empires....such as Austria-Hungary or France.

The Crown Prince has disappeared. The Kaiser, upon his return, formally requests his Chancellor to ban the term Socialists, and stipulates that "the German character should not be privy to outside threats; this is not the German character; the German character should be one with the Empire and proud of it; not to reduce us to the levels of the Americans". This opinion is then reinforced by efforts by the newly constituted Social Democratic Union (NLB in wolf's clothing) on reforming the Reichstag on running along the lines of Parliment.

In 1890, the Crown Prince, Prince Waldemarl, and Prince Sigismund appear at a mass rally in Danzig for The Party's support. Prince Sigismund has been busy in the past year, absconing himself from his father's stance, and insinuating himself in the diplomatic core. He is often seen at Westminister, Berlin, and Moscow upon the matters of a universal standard in the fleet. Prince Waldemarl is often seen in Rump Poland, helping the immigration from Russian Poland to German Poland, and often nicknamed the "Polish Prince".

Poland has been given equal status as a Hungary, although detailed in what they can and cannot do, the foundations of which stemming from the Compromise of 1871, and forming the nucleus of the The Party's leadership. In fact, the joke is that Poland is a one Party state; all other parties are simply driven out. Even the beggars on the street are Party members.

The Crown Prince has been busy in the past year. As noted in the previous annuals, he has been hobnobbing with the Russians, Italians, and the other Balkan states that are too numerous to account in this singular sentence. He has also been sighted in Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, and Holland as well. Branch offices of the Imperial Armories have been founded those three countries. The noted Panzerkampfwagons are being manufactured there, in Holland (Kingdom of the Netherlands as I stand corrected), with half of those made turned over to the Dutch. The Belgians also have it as well, a more sleek design called the Leopold Tiger in honor of it's patron, and have dispatched a couple to the Congo.

But back to the rally-

The Crown Prince breaks one of this noted commandments there. A noted vague columnist that is actually banned in Russia, a certain Lenin and Volganin (the name is never quite written correctly), is present. The Crown Prince gets up on the stage, makes a few cracks at not getting used to the zaltys that appear on every rifle stock, the engines of his precious submarines not quite making it past the harbor, and gets on to the main meat of his philosophy.

The speech is momentous. The Crown Prince begins with a note to Marx and Engle, the foundations of The Party's agenda, and starts telling a story of an alternate Empire, an Empire that is not ready for war, and quite possibly driven to autocratic power. While he tells this story, several fictional elements of his alternate Empire, that autocratic Commonwealth of the Nobles, the Fanatic Jew haters, begin to bleed away in favor of his own philosophy. Through the guise of this fiction, he starts telling the crowd of his own beliefs; that the Reich will not be autocratic, simply a state in which all men are granted the liberties of life, that the European State can come about to all Daughters of Eve and Sons of Adam, no matter what color or ethnicity, and that the Empire is simply a transistory stage into something higher, some noble, and far beyond anything that one can achieve as mortal men. There is hope far from the bad, far from the depression, and that if achieved, the Uberstaat will come to those that want it, and all that will be golden.

There is thunderous applause. Many members of The Party send off words of the speech to their brethern in Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, the Balkan States, France, England, the Nordic countries, the Low Countries, and Ireland. The noted absence of Russia is for political reasons; the Crown Prince does not want to rock the boat there. In fact, many of the tracts towards Russia have stopped on purpose, as illustrated in Lenin's last column, stating that the "golden mean of Marx's word is naught of the Empire but of the Uberstaat; go west young man, west is the promise, and west is where we can live".

It is an understatement that Kaiser Friedrich III is pissed off. It is a lie that his mother, the Princess Royal, is equally pisssed. Kaiser Friedrich III formally institutes a ban on the Crown Prince becoming the Crown Prince and places the throne on his daughter, Princess Sophie/Sophia. The declaration is quickly stopped by his Chancellor who realizes the ramifications of this act; already the Conservative members within that brotherhood of pro-business entity have tilted towards The Party in return for key positions within their machine of various branch offices in the Crown Prince's network.

The Kaiser cannot do anything. If he were to cut off his sons from the royal tree, he would risk the immediate wrath of his faltering faction in the Reichstag. If he were to make Princess Sophie/Sophia the Emporer, the German Empire would indeed collapse. Count Leo von Caprivi points out that the royal repimand of the other monarchs could in fact be better than what the Kaiser could do. The Kaiser bids his time.

The effect of the Crown Prince's speech is dynamic to say the least. Emporer Franz Josef formally bans any attempt that The Party has in decreasing his power within his faltering Empire. Tsar Alexander III congratulates the Crown Prince for being so dynamic, slaps his son in stating that he should be akin to the Crown Prince, but hints that the Crown Prince should have toned down his rhetoric on the "Uberstaat". Queen Victoria does the same thing, the current Prime Minister not so much, but the English people see in him a new leader of sorts of a Greater Empire, an Empire of Hope, and quite possibly something to allieviate the problems of India/South Africa/Ireland/etc. The other South American nations are on the hedge. The current President of the USA, Grover Cleveland, is very interested in this upstart Prince, and sends telegrams on a summit.

...and the colonies, specifically the African tribes that live there, are also listening...

Which also mean the Boers, who are secretly crossing the border from South Africa to Nambia, who may or may not be in agreement to the Prince's statement of philosophy, but are in the Prince's pocket from the newly established Luger Factory that issues out the new Gewer '89, specially adapted for the Schutztruppe, and a virtual godsend to the Boers who suspect that the British will conquer them, now that gold/diamonds have been found on the Rand.

Meanwhile, across several oceans and continents, German arms have found their way to the Hawaiian Kingdom, specifically their army. It is a very small matter that the current Queen is being subject to the pressure of American tycoons. There is a takeover, the Queen imprisoned, and a certain man by the name of Roger Wilcox planning on a coup de tat against the American occupiers.

Also in the same sphere, German New Guinea, as stipulated by the treaty (buried somewhere in the many boring technical details), has been handed over to the British Empire, namely Australia, who pick up the messages from this dynamic Prince, and think it is time to form a Commonwealth.

They are not alone, for his words manage to get themselves into China, Japan, Burma, India, Tibet, Ethiopia, German East Africa, and quite possibly elements of the Ottomon Empire that have not quite agreed with the push by the French to militarize their nations along French lines, almost subjecting them to vassalship, and here is this strange Prince making sense. Hmmm...what to choose....Germany or France?

[Max Sinister]

Here my 2 cents:

- He's very competent - almost too much to be believable.
- He's got many interesting friends - but they're as heterogenous as a group could be. Many people would find this character very strange.
- If anybody knows that he likes Machiavelli, they have a reason to mistrust him.
- The Social Democrats and the National Liberals coming together? Now that doesn't make any sense - their politics were diametrically opposed...

[G.Bone]

He's very competent - almost too much to be believable.

Which is why the domination of The Party will come into play later on...

I am also planning on some assassination attempt in the future...

- He's got many interesting friends - but they're as heterogenous as a group could be. Many people would find this character very strange.

And yet so cunning because he's got his grandmother "alive", which is good, and that he seems to be quite the opposite of what one would expect from a German Prince.

- If anybody knows that he likes Machiavelli, they have a reason to mistrust him.

Ah - but the difference is that he does not worship Machiavelli; he reads other books as well. Although many people mistrust him, he does get the support of the people, which is key, and that he's a wee bit like Bismarck, although more successfull.

- The Social Democrats and the National Liberals coming together? Now that doesn't make any sense - their politics were diametrically opposed...

I am mostly basing my research on wikipedia; sadly all the other information that I could find on these two parties is severely limited and my German is only at High School level. Because of this divide, I have written that (unaltered) Social Democrats don't necessarily get ALL of the National Liberals. It does take some time for that to happen and it doesn't really succeed either. But it does help that the Crown Price is socialist and worms his way within the party structure on his methods/ideas, and thus "The Party" comes about.

Check the previous installment on the fate of the National Liberals - I will have to put it into more detail later on.

[Max Sinister]

Well, the Social Democrats were what their name said - a left party, still heavily influenced by Marx, although not really Marxist, or revolutionary, anymore. Pro equality, high taxes for the rich, at least some expropriation (the Social Democrats never ruled without other partners in Germany, hard to tell what they'd have done if they were strong enough to rule alone), against military, for international understanding and peace, against colonies and at least critical of the monarchy. The rightists in Germany (Conservatives, National Liberals) hated and despised them.
OTOH, the National Liberals were very nationalist, supported Bismarck and the monarchy, wanted colonies and a strong military, and were against higher taxes and equality. Pretty much the opposite. Only thing they had in common: They didn't want higher customs - the NLs because they were liberal economically, and the SDs because that meant higher prices for food (for the poor people).

[G.Bone]

Well, the Social Democrats were what their name said - a left party, still heavily influenced by Marx, although not really Marxist, or revolutionary, anymore. Pro equality, high taxes for the rich, at least some expropriation (the Social Democrats never ruled without other partners in Germany, hard to tell what they'd have done if they were strong enough to rule alone), Well, the Social Democrats were what their name said - a left party, still heavily influenced by Marx, although not really Marxist, or revolutionary, anymore. Pro equality, high taxes for the rich, at least some expropriation (the Social Democrats never ruled without other partners in Germany, hard to tell what they'd have done if they were strong enough to rule alone), against military, for international understanding and peace, against colonies and at least critical of the monarchy. The rightists in Germany (Conservatives, National Liberals) hated and despised them.

OTOH, the National Liberals were very nationalist, supported Bismarck and the monarchy, wanted colonies and a strong military, and were against higher taxes and equality. Pretty much the opposite. Only thing they had in common: They didn't want higher customs - the NLs because they were liberal economically, and the SDs because that meant higher prices for food (for the poor people).

Ah. Is there any other websites I could find further information on them?

I was reading wikipedia and on the article it said that the NL's disintergrated when Bismarck defected to the Conservatives and imposed the Kulturekampf, which has been avoided in TTL due to the "Compromise" that the Crown Prince provided.

I guess with this information a whole thread of what I wrote in ITTL sort of unravels on itself. Let me proccess this...

pro equality, high taxes for the rich, at least some expropriation

which goes along with what the Prince wants, although diversified riches instead of lumped under one lump sum

a left party, still heavily influenced by Marx, although not really Marxist, or revolutionary, anymore.

Marx is later influenced by TTL's Prince in becoming less open to interpretation of OTL's Communism and towards a sort of "social/economic" transcendentalistism, based on Hegel, which the Prince knows a thing or two about

against military, for international understanding and peace, against colonies and at least critical of the monarchy

The first clause is qjunked away with the Crown Prince, again, being involved. The second is "saved" by the Crown Prince in promising not the rock the boat, except when it comes to France, which aligns with Bismarck's original policy in OTL.
The third bit is sort of met with the limitation on the colonies and promotion to social reform, although that's meeting up with some trouble...
The last bit is perhaps the reason why the Crown Prince got involved with them in the first place.

OTOH, the National Liberals were very nationalist, supported Bismarck and the monarchy, wanted colonies and a strong military, and were against higher taxes and equality. Pretty much the opposite. Only thing they had in common: They didn't want higher customs - the NLs because they were liberal economically, and the SDs because that meant higher prices for food (for the poor people)

One of the key POD's is that the NL does not fall apart as compared to OTL. For a good portion of the first sentence, the Prince actually does this because he's been tutored in philosophy and miltarism (etc). This is the reason why the Prince in TTL gets involved in the development of ...military arms. The high customs are cut down due to the Compromise, thus the push for the poor (as in the latest installment), and really getting the support by pushing for social reforms that Bismarck put in OTL to counter the Social Democrats (thereby defanging their political power even though they were in power in the first place), only more extended.

What do you think of the latest installment?

Opinions on the aftermath of the Prince's speech?

[Max Sinister]

Originally Posted by G.Bone

Ah. Is there any other websites I could find further information on them?

I was reading wikipedia and on the article it said that the NL's disintergrated when Bismarck defected to the Conservatives and imposed the Kulturekampf, which has been avoided in TTL due to the "Compromise" that the Crown Prince provided.

The National Liberals at that time lost votes maybe, and the support of Bismarck (or was it the other way round?), but they didn't disintegrate. They stayed an important German party until WW1 (and continued afterwards as the DVP of Stresemann).
I don't know good sources for you, sorry... I tend to read German history books, but they won't help you much, I guess...

Originally Posted by G.Bone

which goes along with what the Prince wants, although diversified riches instead of lumped under one lump sum



Marx is later influenced by TTL's Prince in becoming less open to interpretation of OTL's Communism and towards a sort of "social/economic" transcendentalistism, based on Hegel, which the Prince knows a thing or two about

Prince or not, most of the rich people in Germany won't like that. I can see them rather give up the monarchy than their money. Remember, before WW1 taxes were very low in Germany.
And Marx died in 1883 and was very sick during the last decade of his life. I can't see much contact happen between them. And besides, communicating with Communists would be like dealing with Satanists today. It's simply unthinkable. The prince might've been disinherited for that.
In your TL everything works too simple. People of completely different persuasions come to an understanding as if it was nothing important.

Originally Posted by G.Bone

What do you think of the latest installment?

Opinions on the aftermath of the Prince's speech?

Er, Caprivi a supporter of the Social Democrats? I dunno...