Europe, December 25 1840.
The Napoleonic Wars ended with the defeat of Napoleon and his allies, including the Ottoman Empire. The French Emperor committed suicide on the way to Elba, shooting himself in the head with a pistol. His young son, Napoleon Francois, was acclaimed as Emperor of the French, while Maria Louise of Austria was made Regent Plenipotentiary. The Alliance reneged on their promise to the French Bourbons, who went into exile in Spain and the Two Sicilies, never to achieve power again. France remained an Empire, but under the diplomatic influence, and
de facto control, of Austria.
The negotiations at Vienna lasted throughout late 1814 and into the spring of 1815. Finally, a settlement was reached which re-established the Holy Roman Empire, with Emperor Franz of Austria taking the title, in exchange for him dropping the Austrian Imperial style in exchange for a royal one. The new Empire was streamlined greatly, and broad territorial changes were made. Prussia annexed Saxony in exchange for allowing Russia to possess Poland, while the Netherlands occupied the Rhineland and Westphalia, forming a potent new state on the border of France. All of Prussia, Austria, and Austrian-influenced Italy were placed under the titular authority of the new HRE. The Reichstag was redefined, with no theocratic entities, and all 48 member states given a vote in the unicameral body.
No special Electors; no voice unheard.
Though Britain and Russia disagreed with this new arrangement, they were outvoted by the German and Italian states, and France and Spain. Much Austria's chagrin, however, Switzerland retained her unity and independence as a sovereign federal state, free from Imperial entanglements.
The last issue settled was the Ottoman Empire. First, the Levant, a territory occupied by Egyptian, British, Sardinian, and German forces, was partitioned. Britain and Sardinia received parts of Phoenicia and Palestine, Egypt was given the Sinai and Gaza, Russia was given parts of Northern Phoenicia, and Austria was given Southern Palestine, and it was integrated into his crown as the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Russia occupied Moldavia as an autonomous state, while Austria annexed the Adriatic Coast of the Ottoman Empire. As a counterweight, a sliver of land occupied by Albanian rebels was sanctioned with independence, as the Principality of Albania.
The Concert of Europe lasted and was maintained for many years, with a cold peace keeping war at bay. The only major dissonance was the 1821-1831 Greek War of Independence, which ended with a broken but independent Greece. The Kingdom of the Hellenes was established with Leopold of Saxe-Coburg as Leo VII, centred in Morea with its capital on a rebuilt Mycenae. The Hellenic Republic, centred on Athens, became a democratic state and a hotbed of radical activity. Finally, the Aegean Federation was founded by the Republic of Delos, the Republic of Crete, the Republic of Rhodes, the Dodecanese Republic, and the Republic of Smyrna as constituent states in a federal republic based on the American system.
In late 1834, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Austria died, creating a crisis in Germany. His mentally incompetent son ascended to the Austrian throne by right of heredity, but lost the Imperial Election. Instead, King Ludwig I of Bavaria was elected Emperor, based on his more unionist leanings and competence of mind. He was crowned Louis V, Holy Roman Emperor.
The Austrian Chancellor Clement von Metternich saw this as a potential disruption of Austrian hegemony, and publicly called the election a sham, and prodded King Ferdinand into declaring war on Bavaria and claiming the Imperial Crown.
The 1834-1837 War of the Imperial Succession was a chaotic civil war throughout the Empire that saw the downfall of Bavarian sovereignty and the re-establishment of Austrian hegemony, though at a painful cost.
Bavaria was made a dependent state to Austria, tied into "perpetual alliance", and Ludwig was forced to surrender the Imperial Crown to Ferdinand of Austria, crowned as Ferdinand IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Metternich became the
de facto ruler through Ferdinand.
However, conflict rose again, this time in the Netherlands. In 1839, after years of small riots, the Catholics from Flanders, Wallonia, the Rhineland, and Westphalia joined in a rebellion for their religious liberty, long constricted by the staunchly Calvinist Dutch monarchs. As Christmas of 1840 draws to a close, the Belgian of Liberation continues.
