"In the British Empire, the toast is cold,

The beer is warm, and the women are ugly."

What Really Happened: Any world-spanning superpower can be stretched too thin and can break. In fall of 1899, the British entered into a ruinous war against the Boer Republics in South Africa and nearly lost. Pieter Joubet planned to attack into Natal, take all the cities, and besiege Durban. His plan could have won that war, but he was thrown from his horse on 23 November 1899, lost faith in the offensive, and switched to a defensive, which cost the Boers the war after two and three quarters years.

While that war was still going on in the summer of 1900, the Chinese Righteous Fists rebelled against European occupation with the help of Imperial Troops. The Chinese laid siege to the Legation Quarter of Peking for three months, until an international force of German, French, Russian, Japanese, American, and British troops broke the siege under the leadership of powerful Germany.

What Might Have Happened: In November of 1899, Peiter Joubet isn't thrown from his horse, and the combined Boer armies of 45,000 men occupy Natal against 10,000 British troops. Mafeking and Kimberley are quickly silenced. Their dignitaries, including Cecil Rhodes, are taken into custody at Pretoria. By September 1899, the Boer troops have besieged Durban with three Long Toms pounding the city. This brings a whole new meaning to "the war will be over by Christmas"

After the first week of siege on December 13, Milner informs Joseph Chamberlain at the Colonial Office that Natal is lost, after Durban has been besieged for only one week. Chamberlain is driven up the walls by this news. He thought he could gain the Transvaal and its reef of gold without losing so much first. The troops en route to Durban return to Cape Town, to defend against the coming Boer attack. Milner and Chamberlain feel foolish for not listening to Buller, and holding Dundee, north of the Tugela.

Holding north of the Tugela has cost the British several battalions of Dublin and Royal Irish Fusiliers, as well as their commander, Penn Symons. The capture of Durban is a defeat somewhat larger than Majuba, a serious disgrace to the British Crown. The war must go on to regain Natal and then capture the Transvaal so that the rights of the Uitlanders may be protected. Now, however, Chamberlain will never become premier, neither will he be respected.

To this end, the War Office demands two things. First, the port of Lourenço-Marques in Portuguese East Africa must be fully blockaded by the Royal Navy. In OTL, a weak and limited armaments blockade was enacted. A company of Royal Marines is landed in the port to that end. Secondly, the natives of Zululand must be armed against the Boers. This plan was considered to politically dangerous in OTL, as it would enrage the Cape Afrikaners, but here there is reckless abandon, as victory is needed at any cost. In the Cape Colony, local levies and imperial troops are raised to a maximum, also arming blacks, bringing the Cape Afrikaners precipitously close to rebellion against British rule. DeBeers, Beit & Co. are jumping up and down and wailing at the top of their lungs for something to be done about the loose of their mines. They also object to the arming of blacks, as it will make them harder to employ in the Pax Milneria that will surely reign after the war. This move is backed by Kitchner of Khartoum and Redvers Buller for the natives "own protection" though really to add to the troops on the ground down there.

Others aren't so sure of the future. Back in Europe, Portugal is bellowing at the top of its lungs over the British blockade of Lourenço-Marques. Portugal is a nominal British ally, it’s oldest. However, the blockade and occupation have worn the alliance thin over of Portuguese territory to Germany. Further, the British government offers no reparations. Though a minor colonial power Portugal may be, she is getting some powerful friends. France and the declining Spain have joined ranks with Portugal declaring the blockade of Lourenço-Marques as a "foul, cowardly act" against the sovereignty of Portugal. The French see this as a chance to avenge the embarrassment of Fashoda, and quietly begin shipping weapons to the Boers by way of Madagascar.

While France, Portugal, and Spain rally around the Boers, the rest of Europe moves the other way. Germany under von Bülow begins to show open, though tempered, support for Great Britain as the new Chancellor is carefully gagging his mouthy king. A secret German-British Convention is signed on 1 December 1899 -

Great Britain and Germany agree jointly to oppose the intervention of any third Power in the Provinces of Mozambique, Angola and in Portuguese Timor, either by way of loan to Portugal on the security of the revenues of those provinces, or by way of acquisition of territory, by grant, cession, purchase, lease, or otherwise.

If a division occurred of Portuguese territory, it was to be on equal lines between Germany and Britain, as follows

To Britain - Mozambique south of the Zambezi, and that part of the province on its left bank above the confluence of the Shiré River. Angola between a line drawn along the 8th parallel south, and one drawn east-west 5 miles north of the town of Egido.

To Germany - the remainder of Mozambique and Angola, plus East Timor."

Belgium also backs Britain as best a neutral nation can, hoping that Great Britain will forget the atrocious Etat Independant d’ Congo if she lends her support to Great Britain, to receive possible crumbs at the peace settlement. Victoria is pleased.

The number of visits between the Isle of Wight and Neu Palais increase, and strong talk of an Anglo-German Entente begins to reach new heights in the eyes of Joseph Chamberlain. Holland, meanwhile, is neutral, while leaning towards their Boer relatives.

The situation in Europe gets worse and worse, when the French complete a "treaty of friendship" with Abyssinia, supplying with all sorts of modern weaponry. The second part of the agreement is that the Abyssinians will assist the French in "the event of the destabilization of the British protectorates upon our borders," namely the Sudan. France also cedes rights of access to a port in the Protectorate of Djibouti. The French still have the agony of Fashoda on their minds, and are ready to take Great Britain out. To that end, the French quietly ask the Russians to perform minor mobilizations in Central Asia, but the Russians are less interested in attracting British ire, and so keep quiet.

Italy writhes in public agony, as the French are aiding the army that disgraced them, Italy seeks assurances from Great Britain that the Abyssinians will not expand and threaten Italian interests in the area.

This all cumulates in the fall of the Salisbury government in the last week of November, elections just before Christmas. The new government is a Liberal one under Lord Spencer, which is much more interested in making peace with the Boers, as the Liberal party feels that the whole war was a hoax. The party, however, is on shaky ground. The Liberal Imperialists, Grey, Haldane, Asquith have broken with the party, and support the war against the Boers. Of those, Asquith is the most supportive of the war for the fact that Margot, Henry’s wife, is close friends with Milner, who is determined to conquer the Transvaal. He has returned to London in distress, and they constantly have long talks, and she reveals to him the plans of the Spencer government. Milner is distressed, and asks that she pressure her husband to continue the war for "the sake of the coloreds and the Uitlanders", but public opinion will not allow, neither will the press.

On December 28, 1899 the Boers and the British sign the Treaty of Genevé. The terms are as follows.

I. Thus the hostilities between both nations are abolished, and neither nation shall demand indemnity.

II. The terms of the Convention of London are hereby discontinued and shall never be followed again.

III. Her Majesty’s Government hereby recognizes control by the Boers of Bechuanaland and Natal.

IV. Her Majesty’s Government recognizes the free and sovereign government of the Republic of South Africa (Das Zud Afrikaan Republik) consisting of the aforementioned territories, as well as the two nations of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, the formal border between the Cape Colony and this nation shall be the Orange River

V. All Uitlanders must reside within the boundaries of the ZAR for nine years until they are enfranchised, which will include all men over the age of 21.

Throughout the Continent and especially in France, the victory of the Boers is received with much fanfare and joy, to the irritation of the British, showing that they really have no friends in Europe. The rightist newspaper, La Figaro, and Clemenceau revive talk of the French claim to Egypt and the Nile. With the embarrassment of Fashoda still warm, and the great defeat of Britain by the Boers, the French may want to take a second try.

Nothing much happens during the coming winter. In Europe, all talks between any powers noticeably cool. No one wants to be Britain’s friend, as she is getting weaker, and everyone is going to want a piece of the coming action. In Africa, the French build up Abyssinia and use that to pass weaponry to the remaining Mahdidsts in the southern Sudan. No one takes particular notice when the French Foreign Legion lands in Djibouti and heads for Abyssinia’s northern borders on the Russian-made railways.

Of course, troop movements such as these should have sparked some interest, but there is something much more important going on. By late December, the European headlines are howling about the murder of missionaries in China.

This kind of event has been building for years. As the Middle Kingdom watched the West gobble up territory throughout the end of the 19^th century, may people became disaffected. The old ways were being poisoned, culture corrupted. The rail lines offended the spirits of the earth. The telegraph lines strung up along by those rail lines whistled, and mocked the spirits of the air. Though much of the Imperial court was disaffected, it was able to continue to live in luxury, while the peasantry were displaced by the European building projects, and were increasingly enraged.

In the past years, a movement had begun to gain sway, called the Righteous Harmony Fists. They were holistic, practiced martial arts, and practiced prayers and drank potions that were said to give them immunity to bullets. They preach a message of hatred and violence against Europeans, the missionaries, and the Chinese Christians. The last group is especially hated, as they have surrendered their identity to fill their bellies, and are thus dubbed "Rice Christians".

This is exactly the type of millenarian belief system to take over the peasantry. As Europeans seem to be gaining more power and the Dragon Throne can do nothing to stop it, mysticism seems to be a good answer.

The greatest tensions have been building in recent years because of the Sino-Japanese War (1895-1896). Britain took Weihaiwei in Shantung province as "recompense" for other concessions granted in the aftermath of the Sino-Japanese War. Port Arthur’s cession to Russia, after Japan had been forced to return it to China by joint pressure from Germany, France and Russia, particularly rankled in Tokyo. This is why Japan turned towards Britain as an ally, as she did not take part in this putting on of pressure.

The Righteous Harmony Fists have stayed an outsider group up until this point, at the fringe of Chinese society amongst the peasantry. But, as the Dowager Empress feels her grip on power slipping, she also sees the defeat of Britain by a small force of 40,000 Boers. What of a country that has 40 million? Can that nation not defeat the combined powers of Europe? Surely, China is strong enough, as it has the Mandate of Heaven.

The Righteous Harmony Fists begin to receive quiet, but real support from the Dragon Throne. They have become more emboldened, and have started to kill European workers and missionaries in outlying provinces. This, the Imperial Court and organs declare, is the act of bandits. Accordingly, the Army is being deployed to keep order. Europeans are relieved, for the moment.

However, the Imperial Army is actually training the Righteous Harmony Fists with the newest and best tactics from Europe, as well as the best weapons. Plenty of Krupp artillery, Henry-Martins, and Cruisots are unloaded. New ones are bought in Europe and shipped to China. Practice strengthens the Righteous Harmony Fists, and the attacks on the Europeans repeat, and even gain intensity. The activity is increasingly savage for two years of famine and drought throughout northern China.

The dark clouds of crisis go almost unnoticed in TATL, as they did in the original one. The Legation Quarter in Peking is preparing for a pony race, and most people are enjoying the spring, before the city begins to stink. All is happy and good, and there are preparations in the British and American Legations to celebrate Queen Victoria’s eighty-first birthday.

Everything seems to be going right until just short of Victoria’s birthday, on May 22. Without much notice initially, a riot begins near a Belgian train station, the riot turns into a mob led by the Righteous Harmony Fists against the Europeans. The ties, the telegraph poles, and the station are destroyed. The crew and some civilians are murdered, their heads paraded on pikes.

The news does not reach the legation quarter until the late afternoon on the 24. Claude MacDonald, the British Minister to the Imperial Chinese Court, receives a coded telegram from Shanghai, and chooses not to tell the guests at the party. Later, after the ball on the tennis courts, MacDonald consults with his American counterpart, who has likewise received information of the riot. Both American and British civilians were murdered along with the Belgians. Not a happy situation. The following morning, both make an official protest to the Fung Li, a council meant to deal with the European powers. Their protests lodged promptly after the offices open at 10, both diplomats return to their legations somewhat satisfied with the response.

Their counterparts in other legations have not yet informed them, but a quiet trickle of reports of Chinese riots and murders of Europeans has started to reach the legations. A small bit of anti-European activity has given rise to fear amongst the men, and their women are either sent into the hinterland estates of Great Britain and America, or on riverboats to the harbors and Japan. Still, Sir Claude is sure that nothing will come of this, as it is part of the habitual spring riots that have gripped China every year since he has taken his post and he calms his American counterpart for about a week. No other diplomats compare notes but the French and the Russians, both of whom have less territory in China proper, and have less fear and haven’t had quite so many difficulties as the others.

The anti-European riots spread across China, and more murders and assassinations are reported every day "awful sights: women and children hacked to pieces, men trussed up like fowls, with noses and ears cut off and eyes gouged out.

In the first week of June, however, the German ambassador Klemens von Kettler visits Sir Claude, and they compare notes. Terrified by the German notes from Kiaochow and the Shangtung Peninsula, the three diplomats British, German, and American become convinced that the legations are endangered. On 3 June Sir Claude telegraphs the British ships stationed at Taku on the mouth of the Pei-ho, 110 miles away, that they are in "imminent and terrible danger" and 339 sailors and marines put to shore and head for Peking. The Japanese Chancellor Sugiyama leaves Peking and gets a message onto a screw sloop to Kyoto that he is in immediate danger, and that help is needed on 6 June.

On his return, Boxers bar his way, as the Righteous Harmony Fists are known in Japan and the West. He gives them a nod, and his driver attempts to continue, but both are dragged from the carriage, his heart gouged out, his eyes destroyed, he is decapitated, and his body taken to Peking.

Finally, that night, riots break throughout Peking, and the greatest symbol of European power and exclusivism, the Grandstand and the Peking Race Course, are burnt to the ground. One dozen Chinese Christians are roasted in the embers.

On the morning of the seventh, the Corps Diplomatique appears before the Fung Li, escorted by Marines, expressing their distress and making demands that the Boxers be controlled. The response is noncommittal and vague, stating that the Boxers are not a threat. Upset, the diplomats return to their quarter, upset. The streets of Peking are churning with angry Chinese.

Once the Legation quarter is reached, in view of last night’s actions, the sailors and marines build a barricade against the Chinese rioters. Soon, the streets clear, and all becomes eerily quiet. One final, harried message comes from all legations to their home countries: WE ARE IN GRAVE DANGE< and the line was clipped.

At one o’clock, Baron von Kettler sets out on a sedan chair to the Chinese Foreign Office. In the streets of Peking, at approximately one ten, a Chinese Imperial soldier, not a Boxer, stepped out of an alleyway, leveled his rifle, and fired at Kettler’s head. The siege of the Legations had begun.

A young American engineer, Herbert Hoover, is dispatched to the French Cathedral on a bicycle. He gives them an explicit message "It is no longer safer here. If you wish to seek sanctuary with our soldiers with the legation quarter, it would be best to only bring Europeans along. If you wish to stay we shall give you what we can." The bishop of Peking carefully considers, and decides to stay, with over 1500 Chinese Christians within his walls.

Hoover returns to the legation quarter, and 117 Austrian and Italian soldiers are sent to defend the fortress-like cathedral. In the legations, about 330 soldiers remain to defend, but most are not in good shape, with four twelve-pound cannons, three machine guns, and about 2000 rounds of ammunition. There are ample stores of rice, wheat, as well as over 10 sweet water wells, four on the British legation alone, and 150 ponies for meat. There are however, in addition to the soldiers there are 3000 civilians, as well as Chinese Catholics, Methodists, and their missionaries. On the whole, not a bad situation, that is, until the bullets start firing.

The Chinese mount guns on the Tartar Wall on the East flank of the quarter, as well as on buildings around it. In the first week shells and bullets pour in. The defenders are careful to not waste ammunition, as they have a desperate situation, but do snipe the gun crews on the Tartar Wall during the 6^th day of the siege, giving some reprieve to those inside, though those guns will come back up again and again, until it proves to be a fatal post.

Though the situation is more desperate at the Cathedral, it is besieged by Boxers, whose training is weaker, and whose aim is worse. The 117 soldiers hold the day through insane acts of bravery. The Chinese bullets and shells, rather than doing any harm to the people inside chip away at the wonderful marble façade on the cathedral, while a handful of Chinese converts slip outside into the courtyard and strip the trees and vegetation for food.

Around the world, troop ships containing a total of 25,000 troops are converging on the Yellow Sea. However, Vice Admiral Seymour knows that this is not fast enough, and he evacuates his ships, dismounts their guns, and heads from Tientsin with British, French Indochinese, and Japanese troops. He reaches with 30 miles of Peking before he is halted and defeated by the Chinese Imperial Army. Two of his assistants, John Jellicoe and David Beatty are mortally wounded and die on the British Snipe after four days of the expeditionary force’s retreat to Tientsin and to the boats. Both men are given burials at sea.

By the end of June both were in horrible shape. The cannonades in the legations only have 14 shells left, people are down to a cupful of rice and a quarter pound of pony meat every day. If they knew that those 25,000 troops were being marshaled in Tienstin, their spirits would be up, but the Legations are cut off from the world, but for Herbert Hoover and his bicycle, which link the Legation Quarter and the cathedral. However, one night, he is sent out, and does not return. Fear sets in that the Cathedral has fallen, and Sir Claude, in command, tries to keep it as secret as possible. No fear spreads, though the tension is so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

On the 27th, when twelve Chinese Krupps open up on the legation quarter, everyone becomes terrified and unnerved. The last shells cannot be used, and so civilians must lie flat under mattresses and tables in their rooms, while soldiers sit behind the barricades. The stench of rotting flesh is so overwhelming that most have taken up to smoking to cover it. Though, through all this, there is fresh bread to eat, and some clean water to drink.

The delay in liberation is the fault of the great armies gathered at Tientsin. There is no central commander, and each detachment, from the green Indochinese French, to Russian Cossacks, to Sikhs, to Pomeranian grenadiers want to go at Peking in a different way. So, after much argument, the German General von Schlieffen is confirmed as commander. He takes a few weeks to arrive, and thus the delay. But by the first week of August, he is leading the troops to Peking.

It is too late to save the legations or the cathedral, however. On the night of the third, the cathedral fell to the Boxers and a few Imperial troops, and the nuns were raped and murdered, the men and converts cut like beef for the market. The following day, on the fourth, the heads of the Bishop and Hebert Hoover are paraded around the barricade, eyes gouged out, the heads on sticks. Due to immense pressure, the streets around the legations begin to collapse. The Japanese and Austrian Legations receive direct hits, and light on fire.

The Austrians try to save their papers, and both Sir Claude and the Russian ambassador offer him ₤500 pounds to take a look, but the legations and the papers are abandoned to new defenses, barricades build with rubble and furniture from the Hôtel d’Paris. Very quietly, Sir Claude is informed that the siege is nearing the end.

The troops are valiantly able to hold out until the sixth. That night, however, a total of seventeen Krupps open fire, along with a barrage of bullets from Mausers in the hands of the Chinese army. European dead in the fighting are over 100, and the defenses collapse somewhere around 11 PM. Boxers and Imperial Chinese pour in, and a massacre ensues. On the seventh, the Dowager Empress proclaims victory, and her forces are deployed in the remaining forty-five miles to attack the International Expeditionary Force.

Though the combined Chinese Imperial Army and the Boxers do slow the IEF, they cannot stop it. One week later, on July 18^th, the IEF has pushed aside all opposition, and reaches the gates of the city. The Russians, under General Linevitch still sullen over being passed over for command, attack the city walls, and a large part of the Ukrainian detachment is destroyed, while the Cossacks remain in the wings. Krupp and Cruisots from within the city rain shells on the attacking forces, but are quickly silenced by the great naval guns. The IEF guns shell the Tartar Wall, and the British Sikhs enter the Legation Quarter through the sluice gate, covered in muck, to find themselves confronted by Boxers. The narrow passage makes a deathtrap, and almost a hundred are murdered. Schlieffen is furious with both the British and the Russians, and finally coordinates an attack on the city that will give the most glory to Japan and Germany.

The city falls to the Allied armies late on the 19^th, just three days after the Daily Telegraph publishes an account of "THE PEKING MASSACRE". Massive services are planned at Westminster with the Queen in attendance starting on the 22^nd. All of Britain’s high society turns out; the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, Fisher, Chamberlain, Selborne, the Asquiths, and the recently returned former governor-general of South Africa, Milner. The Tsar, Tsarina, the Kaiser and the Kaiserin, Kronprinz Franz-Ferdinand, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, and the President and Prime Minister of France also attend.

The next five or six days see a string of military parades, balls, receptions, levées. On the last day, the 28^th a memorial service is held, until bodies can be returned to Britain. The strain of the last year is far too much for the old woman. Already frail and in a bath chair, she doesn’t eat or drink for long periods of time, and is greatly weakened. She retreats to the Isle of Wight for the rest of the year, receiving ministers only occasionally in only the greatest emergency.

Despite Victoria’s reservations about the Prince of Wales and the Fast Set, he soon takes over all monarchical functions, either governmental or otherwise. Little snubs start passing between Nue Palais in Postdam and Marlborough House. Victoria tries to control these when the Prince of Wales is on the Isle, but never off. She cannot protect her favorite grandson from the cruelty of her son, and is greatly upset, as she knows that they are not only destroying the family, they are eroding the prestige of the aristocracy in Europe.

Between her cancer, her worry, and the general state of world affairs, Victoria is eaten away to nothingness by the beginning of September, gathering the royalty of Europe to her. The Kaiser leaves Berlin and gets on the next mail boat, while a mishmash of various nobles from various countries arrive, but for the Tsar and Tsarina.

Instead of the childish behavior of past months, the Kaiser has grown considerably, and realizes that if he cannot see his grandmother before his death, he will respect it. The entire time he is there, he wears his British Naval Uniform, while the Prince of Wales is wearing his Prussian Grenadier uniform.

When Victoria finally passes on 4 October, in the arms of Wilhelm II. It brings Europe even deeper into grief for the loose of such a great woman. Even Delcassé recognizes the great lose at the death of his one-time nemesis.

Wilhelm is brought deeper into the British branch of the family and revives talks of an Entente, with fairly lose articles, rather the specific ones that Bülow had previously demanded of Chamberlain. The Kaiserin and von Bülow are greatly dismayed, and a German Baron is instantly dispatched to throw cold water on Wilhelm’s hope and idea of an Entente.

However, due to minor delays, the Anglophobe is kept in Belgium for several days, while Wilhelm extends his stay in Britain to the end of October, accompanied by Eckardstein, who is in great favor of the Anglo-German Entente. The idea gets hotter and hotter as events get more risky in China.

The end of the Boxer Rebellion saw the Russians capturing the Dowager Empress in Mongolia as she fled the fall of Peking. Paraded back across the countryside to Peking, she is brought before the European diplomats to arrange a settlement, as occupation zones of Peking are set up.

As in OTL, the Dowager Empress sees this as the end of her empire, to be chopped up like a pig for market. More of the European diplomats, unlike OTL, are actually determined to do this, beyond Russia and Germany.

But, while the Dowager Empress was being pursued across the steppe of Mongolia, the tensions in Peking grew. All the Europeans were looting the city like good little capitalists, but the sectors were increasingly divided. The Russians fired on British, German, Japanese, and even French troops straying near their sector. One French solider from North Africa even received a bayonet to the buttocks.

The Russians hold the Dowager Empress as a trump of sorts, but the other nations together demand her presence at negotiations. So, the Russians acquiesce to the pressure of Europe, and give over the Dowager Empress.

The negotiations are pretty uneven. The French, the Russians, and the Germans want to dismember the Manchu Empire, while America shouts "open door", with Japanese and British support, as both need the Chinese free as a bulwark against the Russians to the north and the French to the south, with Britain and Japan in the center.

Great Britain is in a European minority, though in global politics it is on even ground. With due pressure applied to the Germans, with the vague hint of more naval bases, the Germans join ranks against France and Russia, along with Italy and Austria, whose votes count for nothing.

France, now alarmed at her position, uses Russian bridges and French rails in East Africa to transport their men to the southern part of the Sudan, and thence to Khartoum. Just after their arrival, their presence is revealed to Great Britain and the world.

The French offer to withdraw on the condition that China be partitioned, which Britain cannot agree to. So, Great Britain is in a tight spot. Instead of giving in, Fisher sends Beresford, the C-in-C of the Mediterranean Fleet, up the Nile in screw sloops and gunboats, with marines and sailors to flush out the French.

The French refuse to budge for a few days, but the British don't leave, either, and so, the British surround Khartoum, with the French inside. Unlike Fashoda, the French have plenty of provisions and munitions that were brought in with them on trains before their existence became public.

In Europe, this has caused a fervor. The Unionist papers are demanding that the French leave, and Chamberlain goes about the nation saying that "Imperial Preference would prevent any such breach in the Empire's walls", The Daily-Telegraph, usually howling at Fisher's Admiralty as not doing enough to defend against Germany, now abuses the French. The liberal newspapers call the conservatives warmongers, and try to tread the thin path between war and peace, though everyone loves the idea of Lord Beresford taking care of the French invaders.

In Paris, everyone who has a ratty newspaper has something to say on the topic, it is more consuming than the Dreyfus Affair, Fashoda, or even the Boulangerist coup. The left, Jaurés's Socialists and Gene-Paul's communists call for the workers to refuse this blatant act of imperialism and help feed the striking coal- and iron- miners in the south, to gain rights for all labor. The Monarchists and the Republicans are jockeying for position, one claiming that this the birth of a greater French Republic, the other claiming a rebirth of the Napoleonic Empire, selling the enthronement of the Orleanists.

Tensions get ratcheted up to an unbearable point, and the King and Queen of Great Britain offer to make a personal visit. They prepare to leave for France on Albert and Victoria, but the government intervenes and warns them of the risks of visiting a nation so virulently set against Britain. The King and Queen ignore this warning and the requests that they take a guard with them to Paris.

The negotiations start out in good faith for the British, but in bad for the French, especially Delcassé, who cannot yield on either issue, for his government will surely fall. At the same time, Delcassé badly wants an overall rapprochement with Britain, so that it can line more of its energies against Germany. Delcassé had hoped for an Anglo-French Entente before he left office, but feels that that has slipped from his grasp.

He does the best he can with Edward, which isn't much. He renounces French claims to parts of Egypt, though not the Suez Canal, or parts of the Nile River. The British are forced for the moment to accept French presence in the south of Egypt, though this cannot last.

The newspapers in Paris open a barrage on this agreement, led by Georges Clemeanceau, a nationalist demagogue

Edward is pleased to have the French and Germans at arms length, though he strongly detests his nephew and the threat emanating from Germany, and also wants to create an Anglo-German Entente. He tours the Riviera, where he meets with Lord Salisbury and King Leopold II of Belgium, discussing his plans for the future of Europe and China. Leopold, it is found, wants a large chunk of China, and has already informed the French government of his stance. Salisbury, the once brilliant mind that defused the Crisis of the Russo-Turkish war at the Berlin Conference, cannot see, can hardly stay awake, and often cannot remember his sovereign is present.

Somewhat disappointed, Edward VII and Alexandra return northwards, only stopping in Normandy before they plan to get onto Albert and Victoria back across the Channel. Their stop, however, is fatal. A young French latheworker and anarchist, finds his way to the royal pair, and fires six shots from four feet away. Two hit Edward VII in the stomach and lung, while one hits Alexandra in the throat.

With only a few hours to live, both return to Great Britain and Charing Cross Hospital, where they are seen to by the best doctors, trying desperately to save them. They are able to extract the bullet from Alexandra’s throat, and she survives, while Edward VII drowns in his own blood as his lungs are filled.

The nation, still in deep mourning for the loss of Queen Victoria, go even deeper into their sadness. All newspapers demand that the outrage against them be recompensed with war on France, or the surrender and evacuation of all French troops from Egypt and a permanent denunciation of their claim to the country and the Suez Canal. War fever spreads across Great Britain like wildfire. Though the assassination was not an official government act, it was seen as an attack on Great Britain. Unlike the anarchist who assassinated Elizabeth, Queen of Austria-Hungary in 1898, this assassin was a citizen of nation the King and Queen were in, and was not kept on a leash by the government, and therefore the government takes some of the blame in the eyes of the British public. With tensions already high between Great Britain and France, they are ratcheted up beyond control at this point, making war nearly inescapable.

Delcassé is frightened and surprised, but also upset. He knew that Edward VII was his best chance for an Anglo-French Entente, and now that has gone away. His government falls, due to pressure from Clemenceau and Jaurés. The new government is deeply conservative, and quickly puts down the strikes in the mines in the south, and outlaws the communist party lead by Jean-Paul. It also refuses British demands of withdrawal from Egypt, and demands that the Manchu Empire be partitioned.

The British government hurriedly enthrones Arthur George Edward Ernest Albert as George V. He will be remembered as the King-Admiral, for his interest and talent in the military. The nation of Great Britain will stay in great mourning until the end of war with France.

This is going to be the sort of war the Britain can do well at, something like the Crimean War, and decidedly unlike British involvement in OTL’s WWI. The first days of the war go badly for Britain in China. France launches a series of strikes from Indochina into the south and is able to capture Canton and the Pearl River, Chinese possessions, as the jumping off point for the capture of Hong Kong and Kawloon; this operation is favored over a strike against Singapore, Penang and Labuan, due to the limit of French resources in the Indies. Great Britain, however, is able to evict the French troops under Baratier from the Upper Nile, using bombardment from gunships to destroy artillery and a mixture of the British Garrison and the Khedive’s men. They proceed to try and snip off the railways ties south into Abyssinia, but leave that to the Khedivate, primarily, with the regular troops heading back to Egypt to fend off any further attacks.

However, at sea, the story is less pleasant. The French torpedo boats have reached Malta quite quickly, and a target practice turns quite real when the French ships, powered by turbine engines, out speed the British ones, and make a mess of the Grand Harbor, sinking Roxbourgh, Renown, and Majestic among others. Jackie Fisher and Percy Scott do manage to survive and return to Malta. The British Channel Fleet quickly defeats the French battle cruisers and establishes dominance over the Channel, bombarding Brest and Calais.

Despite these victories, there’s a sensation in Great Britain that the French will begin a cross-channel invasion from beneath the waves. French of all stripes are condemned and fired from their jobs, and later interred in concentration camps under the suggestion of Lord Marshall Kitchner.

In the War Offices, under Haldane, plans are drawn up to invade Indochina by sea, as well as those for a British Expeditionary Force under Lord Roberts to land somewhere in Normandy or Brittany, to establish a beachhead much like in the Crimean War. British war resources are marshaled, and a blockade of the French ports ensues, while the battles in the Mediterranean prove in the short term, but that they have cost the British a large number of regular ships for the handful of French torpedo boats downed.

Just after New Years Day, all seems to be going well in the way for Britain against France, and victory may be in sight of the British within the next three months, though the BEF has yet to land, or anything else to happen, though Germany has given over Heglioland to the Royal Navy for temporary use to help blockade French ports, even boycotting French goods.

But, defeat is grabbed from the jaws of victory. On January 5, 1901 at 8:16 GMT, the Russians declare war on the nation of Great Britain, while the Austrians formally annex Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bulgaria declares independence; the entire Black Sea Fleet is steaming for the Dardanelles.

Though this seems to some Britons as a shot from the blue, it has been building for quite some time. In China, no treaty had yet been reached, and so the Russian Foreign Minister got the Empress to ink the surrender of Manchuria, Chi-li, and Sinkiang. This, of course, irritated the Japanese, who were being ousted from positions there, as well as loosing access to Chinese mineral wealth. All European mines but French had been confiscated, and things were getting worse. The Russians in Peking started to fire on the British and the Japanese, not killing any until late, when the north was tightly in Russian hands.

The Japanese have mobilized their army and their navy against Russian aggression, and join the war against Russia on 8 January, after the Japanese Prime Minister spoke with the British ambassador. They are not opportunistic; it is just that ‘the common interests of HM Government and the Chrysanthemum Throne are threatened by unwarranted acts of aggression, as is the survival of the Manchu Empire.’

That gets us to the opening of 1901. Let’s see how much the world has changed since November 1899. The Boer Republics are enlarged greatly, and have their own seaports, and are also fairly friendly towards France. They’ve also gained total independence from Great Britain, which is a huge leap forwards.

France has developed Abyssinia, as she did in OTL, but at a more breakneck pace. Menelik II may end up presiding over a very nice chunk of real estate as long as he stays out of the war, which he is able to do with the current articles in effect.

The Liberals have returned to power six years earlier than in OTL. The party is somewhat stronger, somewhat weaker. Lord Rosebury is still close enough to matter, but also too far from the rank-and-file of the party to matter. Lord Spencer is stronger than Campbell-Bannerman in OTL, and the three Liberal Imperialists who forced Campbell-Bannerman into the House of Lords have joined without that proviso. The army is obviously going to be reformed at the end of this conflict, no matter how it ends. A showdown with the House of Lords is as imminent as in OTL, though not as important as there is no People’s Budget and the Irish Nationalists don’t have nearly as much power yet.

The Manchu Empire has gone kaput, held together for the moment by foreign troops who are most interested in carving it up like a Christmas goose.

Edward VII is dead; his encirclement of Germany postponed by the war with France, and now Russia, and will likely not be completed in the next generation by the Georgians.

Great Britain and Japan are at war with France and Russia. Germany and her allies have been able to stay out for the moment, but may intervene soon due to Russian actions in the Dardanelles or the Austrian actions against the Turks, as well as their interests in China. However, a war on this scale with reset the global order no matter what. I’d bet on Great Britain and Japan to win, as Russia is weak and so is France, fresh from Fashoda. Though they are by no means out, as none of their territory is invaded, and they hold more now than they did six months ago.