Austria under the rule of Rudolph I

First of all: I'm new here. I just found this site last Thursday, March 12th, and since then, I've been fascinated with this site. I became a member yesterday, and here's my first thread.

As I was a younger kid, around 2002 or 2003, a friend of mine wanted to go to Austria later. Combinated with my fascination for history, I soon made up a weirdish future history with him as ruler of Austria from 2061 on, having wed the granddaughter of Prince Otto of Habsburg, and his dynasty staying on very long - I even made a family tree that reached into the 42nd Century, if not more. Anyway, I remained fascinated with Austria as time passed, and now, that country was my logical choice for an AH. After reading https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=103491, I decided to do a similar thread, but then with Austria. (Apologies if it offends you, Onkel Willie).

Anyway, my thread is going to be about the question: What if Rudolph, son of Emperor Franz Joseph, did indeed gain the throne of Austria before he could die?

Comments would be appreciated, but be kind, I'm new here after all.

Here we go:



Austria, 1867. After long days, the solution is finally reached in the disagreement between the two major powers in the Empire. Empress Elisabeth had already agreed with it and as soon as Franz Joseph, emperor of Austria, signed, the kingdom of Hungary would be an independent state within the borders of the new nation: Austria-Hungary.

Franz Joseph, however, was furious. He did not want the empire to split into two. It had been for so long, the Austrian bond with Hungary, starting in 1526, when Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria had inherited the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia. The mere thought of giving those countries freedom was like ending the empire.

Also, there was the undeniable fact that Franz Joseph didn’t have much prestige left in Austria, let alone Europe, let alone the world. The Prussians had defeated Austria last year, France had forced the Empire to give Lombardy to what would later become Italy in 1859, and even the weak Italians had forced him to give up the rich harbour of Venice. Another surrender wasn’t a thing that Franz Joseph could take.

The alternative, actual civil war, was not an option either. Franz Joseph knew very well that Austria couldn’t force the Hungarians to their knees – they had barely succeeded in ’49. No, Austria-Hungary was a state that had to be formed, unless they wanted to give up Hungary all together. For a moment, the Emperor considered simply agreeing, but he couldn’t allow himself to do that either. If only he didn’t have to do it himself…

What all went through the emperor’s brain that night is known only to him, but one thing was for certain: it had great repercussions. The next day, the emperor officially announced his immediate abdication from the Austrian throne in favour of his son Rudolph, only eight-and-a-half at the time. Franz Joseph’s wife, twenty-nine-year-old Elizabeth, was proclaimed regentess. That same day, Franz Joseph left for Britain. His reign was over, and he couldn’t care less about what was going to happen in Austria and Hungary.

In the meantime, Austria did care. On June 27, more than a month after Franz Joseph’s abdication in mid-May, Rudolph was crowned as emperor Rudolph I of Austria. Within just a week, he was brought to Hungary where the business was soon settled. On August seventh, two weeks before Rudolph’s ninth birthday, Rudolph became king of Hungary, officially uniting both countries in the double monarchy. The surrounding states soon accepted him, and Rudolph’s rule started over the empire of Austria-Hungary, under the regency led by Richard von Metternich, son of the original Fürst von Metternich that had been a major politician in the Napoleonic Wars and during the reigns of Franz I of Austria and Ferdinand I. But while he was a good regent, no body avoids problems. And soon, those would start to arise…

Hm, not sure a 8 1/2 year old on the throne would be a good idea? Especially in a time of crisis.

Can't wait to see where you are going with this

I know.

But the Ausgleich was an ideal way to get Rudolph of Austria onto the throne. Also, he does have Metternich as a regent.

I hope your insecurities about Rudolph's rule will be solved in the next chapter, which deals with Metternich's regency over Austria, and therefore reaches from 1867 to 1876. You'll learn how a different monarch in Austria can cause a whole different new Europe in just ten years...

My next chapter

Here's Chapter Two. It's longer than the first one. I hope you'll all enjoy it, and comment if something's wrong - just try to make it constructive criticism instead of flaming me.

Here you go:

Rudolph’s (or actually, Metternich’s) reign might start with a loyal Hungary, but the international position of Austria in Europe was anything but fine. The Empire of France wanted expansion, and Austria remembered the repercussions of that with the first Napoleonic Empire. Italy would like to get control over Southern Tirol, Prussia would prefer Austria and Sudetenland to be in their possession and unite the German states in one big German Empire, and Russia wanted to help her Slavic friend, the rebelling Ottoman state of Serbia, gain influence on the Balkans, remove Slovenia and Croatia and free them along with Serbia as a Slavic Kingdom. Short said, at all sides except for the border with Switzerland, Austria would be in trouble if war broke out.

The first problem the empress had to deal with, started a few hundred miles west of the country, in late 1868, after Metternich had been able to spend one year on helping both countries to unite together. The problem actually came from Spain, where, after long protests, queen Isabella II was finally put out of the land. The newly formed Spanish government was looking for one thing: a new king or queen to take Isabella’s place.

Monarchist Europe ’68 had many persons who wanted to take that place. Carlos, the Carlist pretender and the cousin of Isabella, hoped to take that place. Prince Amadeo of the young country of Italy also volunteered for the position: even Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was around as the Prussian candidate. As for France, they accepted anything but a Prussian. Leopold, thus, was out and unacceptable for the French, who didn’t want to be surrounded by Germans.

As for Austria, the regent knew that this position might be perfect for Karl Ludwig, the brother of Franz Joseph. Not wanting to immediately anger the Prussians - Austria didn't have that much of an army, that was proven in the mid-1870s at least - Metternich contacted Bavaria. Otto of Bavaria, controlling the army at the time in the name of his brother Ludwig II, accepted, but suggested to get Britain into the contract, too.

The British knew about the possible Prussian threat, as Prussia was a rising power in the centre of Europe, which had already defeated Austria. For these reasons, eventually, the British agreed to sign a treaty. The Treaty of Innsbruck was signed between the three countries in April of 1869, and Baden followed in June, to unite Southern Germany away from the powerful Prussians. Württemberg joined after long hesitation in October, and by then, the alliance had become more of an ‘Anti-Prussian’ alliance than a ‘pro-Habsburg Spain’ alliance.

But the original propose was still there and living. In July 1869, Karl Ludwig travelled to Spain, and volunteered as heir to the throne. At first, such a claim was considered blunt to the Spanish, but eventually, realizing that Britain supported the Austrians, and remembering how the Habsburgs established the colonial empire in the 16th Century and could possibly re-establish it now, Karl was accepted and was crowned on November twelfth, 1869, as king Carlos V of Spain. Britain, Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Austria immediately accepted him as king, Portugal did a few weeks later, Prussia eventually did in March of 1870, and after even more hesitation, Emperor Napoleon III of France realized the facts were against him and accepted king Carlos V in late September, being glad that at least, it wasn’t a Prussian.

In 1870, a new treaty was signed between the countries of Innsbruck excluding Britain, this time made up in München, on May twenty-first. The South-German Bond was created as opposed to the North-German Bond of 1867, which the new bond officially stepped out of, and Bavaria, Baden and Württemberg all promised to keep themselves independent of Prussia, while Austria-Hungary promised to give them help if something did happen to occur to them. The other non-Prussian countries were also asked to join, too, but they kept with Prussian hegemony, fearing the big country would attack.

Prussia itself, in the meantime, was distracted by some other thing, and that thing was the Empire of France. Ever since the victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Bismarck had been trying to get France to start a war with Prussia, so that the French could be defeated as they were old enemies of the Prussians, and so that Wilhelm I, king of Prussia, could be established as Emperor of Germany. But as the year 1870 passed, there was no thing to provoke the French with to start a war, and the Prussians didn’t want to start a war without a reason. Even the French-Spanish border was silent, and Napoleon III had apparently accepted that Carlos V ruled Spain, and didn’t seem to give the matter half as much of a thought as Francis I of France had when he had seen the Habsburgs rule both Austria and Spain. But that could be because of the fact that now, the Netherlands were divided in three very independent states, and Austria didn’t have any influence there. Short said, Bismarck waited and waited, but nothing happened in France to provoke a war, and by the time spring of 1871 arrived, the Prussians had to think of some other way to get France accept a possible empire of Germany under the supreme rule of the kingdom of Prussia.

In the meantime, Carlos V had started his rule over Spain – a country that was, as he found out, in deep political and financial trouble. The remains of the once so big Spanish empire in Latin America weren’t much more than the language and culture. The Philippines were also Spanish, and there were influences in the country beneath it, Morocco. The first country to be added as part of a Spanish colonial empire was therefore obvious. Over the next few years, Carlos V expanded the army budget, hoping to have the Spanish completely ready to easily defeat Morocco as early as 1875. Said deadline was reached, due to small Austrian support, as well as some British, as Britain didn’t want the country to end up in French hands – which they didn’t want with about any colony in Africa. Anyhow, Carlos V was in 1875 ready to attack Morocco, which indeed did happen.

In the meantime, Austria hadn’t sat without movement either, and, under the rule of Metternich, with suggestions from Elizabeth, who lived in Hungary at the time, it had undergone some drastic changes in it’s system. The Czech, Slovakian, Croatian, Romanian and Slovenian minorities had gained more freedom, while keeping Austria-Hungary intact. They now had a seat in the parliament of the empire, and would be able to decide at least some of the things that happened in their country. As a result, the minorities felt treated equal in Austria-Hungary, and remained loyal to the Austrian cause, something that would pay off as soon as the First World War would roll around. In 1872, Austria was asked to join a Prussian/Russian alliance, but firmly but politely refused to join, instead strengthening it’s ties with Britain and Spain, by starting the BAHS (Britain Austria Hungary Spain) alliance of early 1873. Other than that, Austria and the world remained peacefully living under the reign of their respective rulers.

Things happened slow the next few years, but a major boost happened in the year of 1875, in which several things happened after each other. First of all, Napoleon III became sick in April of the year, and died on May second. Rumours suggested poisoning by Prussian spies, but no one dared to actually say that out loud. The crowned heads of all countries paid their respects, except for the aforementioned country of Prussia, that was busy with completely other things. Supported by Russia, the Prussian chancellor Bismarck declared that Napoleon Eugene, the heir apparent of the deceased emperor, was not worthy of the crown, and that the French as a whole were not worth to be an empire. Seeing as someone had to take over that position, the chancellor officially declared on June first that from then on, king Wilhelm I of Prussia would be Emperor Wilhelm I of The United Empire of Greater Prussia, still Prussia for short, which wasn’t called Germany in fear that this would get the Southern German states angry, and the fact that Prussia made up for over 90 % of the remaining territories that weren’t in the alliance of 1869 anyway. Either way, the country wasn’t called Germany, and started a reign in peace. The Prussians weren’t ready for a war… yet.

In the meantime, Carlos V had reached his deadline, and the Spanish Navy attacked the lower part of Morocco, in the south, while the army crossed the Street of Gibraltar and moved into Morocco from the north. With the top secret weapon increasing the Moroccans didn’t stand a chance. Before France, that had aspirations towards the country as well, could react, the Spanish had taken over half the country. In May 1875, they practically ruled everything except some desperate mountain cities that would take a full year to conquer because the army wasn’t experienced enough in the territory. On July 2, 1876, a peace treaty was signed. Spain ruled over Morocco.

France, in the meantime, had no longer been able to stand this, and a revolution had broken out in the late spring of ’76, right against emperor Napoleon IV, on the day he’d ruled for one year – June fifth. The emperor tried to fight back, but it was no use. Eventually, the French got him out of their country, and, wanting stability in these uncertain times, Henri de Chambord was offered the crown. After some initial refusal, he decided that he should help France and was crowned on January seven, 1877.

But it wasn’t that far yet as some more important things happened in Austria. Finally, on August 21st 1876, Rudolph of Austria was accepted as emperor after turning eighteen. After some pressure, Metternich moved back into the shadows, and the teenage Emperor started his long and blissful reign. The young Emperor had a whole live ahead of him, but he couldn’t start easy. Barely half a year after he gained the throne, Rudolph I was faced with his first problem, which was starting north east of Austria, and soon would, if it wasn’t stopped, control all of the Balkan territories…

The idea of placing Rudolph on the throne is a good one, however honestly I think you would have been better off having him survive Mayerling and then have Franz Joseph abdicate of old age or die early (or a third alternative that I did a mini TL ago: Sissi is still assassinated, which caused FJ and Rudolph to reconcile, eventually resulting in Rudolph being Franz Joseph's Head of Government, and from both the position of the Habsburg Heir and Austrian HoG Rudolph is able to get reforms through, prevailing on this father's desire to see a continued Habsburg Monarchy).

Having Franz Joseph abdicate in 1867 causes all kinds of problems. While you seem to have little respect for him, I honestly believe that his force of will was one of the only reason Austria-Hungary survived after 1867. If the Hungarians realize they have the power to force Franz Joseph from the throne, then why would they bother to stay in the empire at all?

Further, Sissi as regent, really? Come on the woman couldn't even stand to be in the country most of the time, let alone Vienna for more then a month. Further, she is by no means her Aunt/Mother-in-Law. Sissi was weak kneed, had fainting spells and almost never ate because she wanted attention, and was a staunch Magyarophile. So assuming this does happen, Sissi would likely refuse to spend time in Vienna, preferring her Hungarian Estate, and rule from there. I can't imagine the Austrian Court and Government would be terribly willing to be run by a spoiled Bavarian Princess who won't even leave Hungary because she dislikes Vienna so much. Plus, and this is probably the most important issue against Sissi, she has absolute no prior training to run a nation-state. Franz Joseph was raised knowing that he would one day rule, Sissi was not. So if Sissi does become Regent likely what you've done is swapped the Austrians and the Hungarians. The Maygars may now be loyal to the Monarchy, but the Austrians will run screaming for German unification, and without Franz Joseph, Bismarck will likely be happy to oblige them.

There also the problem of Archduchess Sophie is still alive in 1867, she won't die until 1872. While she is not longer the force at the court she once was, she would still never allow her son to abdicate, so her (and I quote) "apathetic" Niece can run the country.

If you insist upon using this PoD at least have someone competent (unfortunately Maximilian is already in Mexico about to be killed so that rules him out); Archduke Karl Ludwig (who you've called Karl Leopold), Richard Metternich, Archduke Rainer, or Friedrich von Beust are some options.

ImperialVienna said:

If you insist upon using this PoD at least have someone competent (unfortunately Maximilian is already in Mexico about to be killed so that rules him out); Archduke Karl Ludwig (who you've called Karl Leopold), Richard Metternich, Archduke Rainer, or Friedrich von Beust are some options.

Click to expand...

Stupid, stupid, stupid! I was so certain that it was Karl Leopold that I didn't even bother to check if it was true. I really should've done my research better, but I was anxious to get this story up. I'm glad you at least support my basic idea of Rudolph I of Austria.

Let's see, another regent... Karl Ludwig is ruled out so he can still go to Spain and I don't have to change too much. Hmm... according to the German Wikipedia, Metternich Junior tried to pull France into the German-Austrian war, so he wouldn't be as soon to be Germany's ally later... hey, this might actually work out the same! Thanks!

EmmettMcFly55 said:

Stupid, stupid, stupid! I was so certain that it was Karl Leopold that I didn't even bother to check if it was true. I really should've done my research better, but I was anxious to get this story up. I'm glad you at least support my basic idea of Rudolph I of Austria.

Let's see, another regent... Karl Ludwig is ruled out so he can still go to Spain and I don't have to change too much. Hmm... according to the German Wikipedia, Metternich Junior tried to pull France into the German-Austrian war, so he wouldn't be as soon to be Germany's ally later... hey, this might actually work out the same! Thanks!

Click to expand...

No problem..

Oh dear God I May have just triggered a second Age of Metternich...

*drools*

Well, while Metternich might keep his influence in the late '70s, Rudolph would start ruling more on his own in the early '80s, and slowly decreasing Metternich's influence. As Wilhelm II 'fires' Bismarck in 1890, Rudolph does the same with Metternich, thereby ruling completely on his own and destroying what is left of Metternich's influence. By that time, Austria would be firmly on the side of the future Allies.

What do you think, if I have Austria be one of the countries that is victorious in the World War, should I have German Silesia go to Austria-Hungary? It was originally Austrian before 1740, after all...

Also, I'm considering two scenario's for the World War's. If you could tell me what you consider best, it would be nice.

1. The Allies win. The Central Powers get a harsh treatment, but not too harsh. They build up again later, Hitler and Mussolini might come to power, and World War II is again them fighting against the Allies, which have remained mostly the same.

2. The Allies win. The Central Powers are completely humiliated and lose so much territory and money that they can't fight back anymore, if they wanted to, and become vassal states of the Allies. World War II is about the allies fighting against each other, although I don't have determined yet which side would have which nations. The Austrian side would win, though, and Emperor Franz II (grandson of Rudolph, and son of Karl Friedrich who was killed in Franz Ferdinand's place as the start of WWI) is the most powerful Austrian monarch of all time.

Well first, even with Rudolph on the throne, by the end of WWI, the Empire will probably have to be refederated into a Federal Monarchy, rather then a Dual Monarchy, because honestly the Dual Monarchy just cannot survive long term since AH has so many large ethnic groups.

As for Austrian territorial gains, that really depends on Metternich and the Rudolph's foreign policy. I could see Austria seeking the return of Silesia, however it think it's more likely they would want Barvaria and Wurttemburg (assuming Germany's going to be carved up anyway), just because in the realm of German culture they have more in common then they do with Silesia, since at this point it is basically part of the core of Prussian Territories. Or perhaps a Second Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation

In case you haven't noticed that yet in Chapter Two, Bavaria is independent from Germany. I'm thinking of Baden and Württemberg allying with Germany later, so France would, after WWI, capture not only Alsace-Lorraine, but annex Baden as well. Württemberg would go to Bavaria.

I should probably make a map to get the state of Europe as of 1876 (and at the beginning of WWI) clear, but I don't have experience making maps except for doing that with Paint. Well, in the previous post, I hope that I made my points clear.

So, the Empire of Prussia exists of no more than the Kingdom of Prussia itself and the other North-German states (like Mecklenburg, Saxony, Oldenburg, and so on)

If you support a complete defeat and crushing of Prussia after WWI, thus leaving WWII for the Allies to fight out together, I could have Austria, besides Silesia, annexate parts of Thüringen, which Bavaria could take a piece of as well, and parts of Saxony... heck, maybe they'd go as far as capturing Berlin and adding it to the 'Greater Austrian Reich', however that seems a little too north to my ideas. Well, I'll see how things will go.

How, if possible, do you think Austria can gain control over Tunesia? It might be a little late to jump in front of the French, who are supposed to take it in 1881, but maybe they could conquer some territory in the west of Africa, which might be dangerous to French Western-Africa, and the Austrians are willing to generously give it up in turn for Tunesia, which might help establish good relationships between France and Austria, and would help the Austrians be able to attack Italy from two sides once WWI breaks out.

Hoping that someone will reply...

Russian influence over Eastern Europe had increased all during the Nineteenth Century. Russia’s power had been re-established after Napoleon’s inability to take over the immense country, and especially after the Crimean War, Russia wanted to free her Slavic neighbours in the Balkan’s, that were currently under Ottoman reign, like Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria. The Empire was too weak to be able to stand up to the Russian power, so the Russians could easily take over those territories and force the Ottoman forces, that currently occupied half of the Balkan’s and had a reasonable influence on the South-Eastern part of Europe, to possibly leave Europe all together, leaving Russia as main power down in those territories. All it took to trigger that giant Russian influence, was a war.

As the mid-1870s arrived, that war was on the verge of breaking out, and Russia did nothing to stop it. Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire in April of 1876, sick of the Ottomans, whose power had ceased to be in their territories nine years ago, not granting their independence. Russia initially remained neutral, and contacted Austria-Hungary, granting them Bosnia-Hercegovina in a possible war, while Austria didn’t have to do anything. Young Emperor Rudolph refused – he knew that supporting Russia might get him in trouble with his new ally, Britain, and also, he didn’t want a Slavic Empire threatening his minorities, so if war broke out, he wanted to be against Russia. Anyway, the Serbians were eventually defeated, and they had to sign a peace treaty in December, not ready to fight the Ottoman troops alone yet.

The Russians weren’t giving in though. They contacted Germany afterwards, promising them some parts of Poland in order for German support on the Russian side if war broke out, while they didn’t have to do anything but remain neutral. Bismarck readily agreed, and Russia declared war on the Turks for not accepting a ridiculous Russian proposal, in April of 1877.

The Turkish weren’t on a very good side in this war, and things went from bad to worse in the next months. Romania allowed the Russian troops to pass through. The Ottomans were, naturally, furious, as Romania was officially part of the Empire, and started firing at Romanian forts along the Danube river. To that, Romania responded with a declaration of independence. After centuries of Ottoman occupation, the Romanians were finally independent… or at least, they stated that as a fact. The Turkish weren’t about to let that one pass, but did nothing for a moment, allowing larger and larger amounts of Russian troops to enter Romania and start crossing the Danube river into the heart of the Ottoman empire. Around that time, the Empire finally realized something big was going on, and sent some troops to keep the city of Plevna in Ottoman hands. Unfortunately, though, Russia was determined to conquer the city, and started a huge battle that would last for almost the entire year. Finally, in December, the Turkish forces had to give up the city, and, after surrendering, the remaining forces that hadn’t been killed in the enormous battle moved their forces back through Bulgaria. In the meantime, though, the Russians had moved on as well, and were fighting for Shipka Pass, in the centre of Bulgaria, and eventually conquered the territory around the same time Plevna surrendered. Serbia also declared war on the Ottomans, backed up by Russian money and manpower, and things were starting to go from bad to worse for the Turkish army.

Around this time, Britain, along with Austria, tried to stop the Russians. As the last month of 1877 and the first month of 1878 passed, a truce was finally accepted, but the Russians, who were currently in Southern Bulgaria and could almost see Constantinople, didn’t stop their offensives, and entered the territories to the north of Greece, pushing east towards the capital of the Ottoman Empire. For a moment, the continuation of the Turkish Empire was getting insecure, and the Turkish asked for peace – which they got. But not under conditions they would’ve wanted.

Serbia, Romania and Montenegro all became independent of the Ottomans, decreasing the Turkish influence on the Balkans largely. Bulgaria, which had been still an Ottoman state up until now, without as much independence as the other countries had, now became a giant independent nation that occupied Macedonia and large part of what would around now be Northern-Greece. Territories in the Caucasus also had to be given to Russia. All together, it was a terrifying peace for Ottoman Turkey, one that it, and the Great Powers, couldn’t take to be reality.

The Great Powers forced Russia to give up it’s influence, and in the Treaty of Berlin, signed in the summer of 1878, made Bulgaria give up it’s territory in the later country of Greece, but kept the Russian territories in the Caucasus intact, and Bismarck insisted on granting Bulgaria the territory of Macedonia. The British eventually managed to keep that territory restricted to Eastern Macedonia, while the western half stayed Ottoman territory, but Bismarck had tried to keep his promise to Alexander II, and the Russian-Prussian alliance would only strengthen from that point on. Rudolph I of Austria, who was also invited at the treaty, in which the British insisted that Bosnia-Hercegobina would be occupied by Austrian forces (they were hoping to have some more power of their allies on the Balkans, in case war would break out), noticed the Prussian kindness to Russia and knew that Bismarck and Russia were forces the Austrian/British alliance would have to deal with sooner or later somehow. Once the Austrian had returned home, he immediately contacted Britain, but didn’t decrease the strength of the weak Prussian-Austrian friendship… not yet, at least. His hopes were still there, to be granted by the Prussian crown prince Friedrich, who, while suffering from a lung problem due smoking, still might become a help in liberalizing Prussia, and making the country break loose from the Prussian/Russian alliance. It wouldn’t take that long for Friedrich to take the throne and Bismarck to be fired – the current emperor, Wilhelm I, was eighty-one after all.

As Rudolph thought these things, other rumours were going on, too. As 1878 eventually passed, and everything remained quiet in the new balance of Europe, Austria sought for something else… colonies. And that goal would bring it into Africa, and into it’s first real contact… positive or negative… with the French Kingdom.

No replies? Ah, well.

Enjoy...

Over the years leading up to the late 1870s and the Treaty of Berlin, things had been pretty much quiet in Africa, as, except for Turkish territories in the north and some English influence in the south, as well as Portuguese colonies in the south-western and south-eastern coast (Angola and Mozambique, respectively) it was entirely ruled by the natives themselves, and still mostly what it had been in the past centuries – an uncivilized continent. In 1830, the French had managed to grab Algeria from the Turkish, weakening the Turkish grip on Morocco, which they would have caught sooner or later if not for the quick Spanish conquering of the territory a few years earlier, which brought the southern parts of Morocco also under civilization, which the Turkish had never either been able to or cared for to do. Anyway, there had been recent activity in Africa, and the fact that most of Europe’s major countries had colonies in Africa (France, Britain, Spain, even Portugal) made Austria, and especially it’s monarch, Rudolph I, decide that, if they wanted to make a wise decision and gain some more ground and manpower in case war would break out, which it would, sooner or later, they’d better do the same.

The closest piece of unoccupied African territory was soon found as being the Ottoman province of Tunisia. Tunisia had a long history of politicians that had been replaced by their main ‘servant’. Currently, the Ottoman sultan had little to no power left on the terrain, and it theoretically was an easy pick for Austria, as it didn’t mean war with a major European nation (especially considering the major defeat against Russia the year before, the Turkish couldn’t really fight back anyway). The dey, the ruler of Tunisia, wouldn’t be that much of an opponent either. No, the real problem was the Kingdom of France.

Beginning with the colonization of the Algerian coast in 1830, the French had been moderately interested in more than just the coast, they wanted it all – and Tunisia with it. Under the Second Empire, Napoleon III had been wanting expansion , but thanks to distraction (war along with Sardinia against Austria in 1859, the crisis in Mexico, the tensions in Spain and Prussia) by the time he got around to it, he died and got succeeded by his young son, Napoleon IV, who had had enough trouble in keeping the French mainland and Algeria under his control (in which he failed, by the way), let alone being concerned about conquering once another colony and cause of concern in Tunisia. And with Henry V, the legitimist king of France, things were just the same. But would Henry accept the idea that another European nation was taking over in the territories that France, for some time now, had considered the country as one that belonged to them, wasn’t theirs yet, but would always be there to conquer… until now? The chances of that were very small. And therefore, Metternich, along with his emperor, Rudolph, sent out an embassy to the French king in December 1879, in order to address the ‘Tunisian matter’.

Henry V was surprisingly allowing on the matter. Knowing that the French troops were still recovering from a bloody civil war that had raged for a short but destructive time two years earlier and a humiliating Prussian defeat nine years ago, he knew that, even if they recruited all of the men they could find, the French didn’t stand much of a chance against the Austrian army, which might be weak but was slowly but steadily gaining in strength, thanks to some adjustments made by the emperor. He allowed the Austrians to colonize Tunisia, the French even gave up a few parts of Algeria in the east, but the Austrians were not to go west a line of 6,5 degrees East, or south a line of 30 degrees North. The 6,5 degrees line was to be drawn southwards up until the country later known as Nigeria, and therefore made it impossible for Austria to conquer anything west of it without provoking war. The terms weren’t that nice, but Rudolph knew they could’ve been worse, and while repairing, the Austrian army wasn’t in such a nice condition either. A war between Austria and France would most likely destroy both armies, and would allow Prussia to annex Austria, Bohemia, and Alsace-Lorraine undisturbed. No, the conditions were all right to both rulers, and on January 13th, 1880, they met in Nice to sign them. This would establish a slowly growing friendship between the two countries, which Britain naturally opposed. Not wanting to get into a war, though, and seeing as war with Austria and France would give the British trouble at this early stage in development into the nation it would eventually be in the early years of the Twentieth Century, the two countries remained friends, and Rudolph was in the ironic position of having a friendship with two countries that hated each other. Luckily for Austria, and especially ex-Emperor Franz Joseph, who was after all living in Britain at the moment, this wouldn’t have serious consequences. Or at least, not right away.

A few months after the treaty with France had been signed, Austria got into action. Slowly but steadily, the two countries grew to be semi-friends, the Tunisian dey not immediately noticing that Austria was grabbing it away from Turkey. Over the space of almost three years, the Austrians distanced Tunisia from the Ottomans, until the point that the dey practically ruled alone, however he was a loyal friend to Austria. This was the moment the Austrians had been waiting for.

On December 27th, 1882, Austrian troops stationed in Sfax, one of the major cities of Tunisia, declared war on Tunisia, on the false grounds of a supposed Tunisian attack on Malta, which, after all, belonged to England, which was Austria’s ally. The armies occupied Sfax the same day, and then spread south- and northwards, easily taking the cities that they passed. Barely 70 miles south of Tunis, the capital, the ‘north’ army met a rapidly established Tunisian army on January ninth, and defeated it with ease. Tunis was reached after a few days, and finally conquered after more than two weeks of determined Austrian attacks, on January 31. The dey agreed to sign a peace treaty on February 21, in which he would recognize a new Austrian protectorate over Tunisia, and the fact that the country of Austria-Hungary was his legal heir. This contract would be made true in 1902, when dey Ali Muddat ibn al-Hussein died. By then, Tunisia would be official Austrian property.

Europe was shocked, and, most important, Prussia was shocked. For a long time, Bismarck had considered the Austrians a weak country, ever since the defeat in 1866. But upon the start of the rule of Rudolph I, or in fact the rule of Metternich Junior, the Austrians had made a come-back. Right now, they were working themselves back into the top of the countries that dominated the world. Their quick actions in Tunisia were evidence of that. Yet, none of the major states paid more than a little attention to this incident as meaning that Austria was a rival. Tunisia was just an African country, and the Ottomans were still humiliated from 1878. Every land could’ve done this, and therefore, Austria wasn’t paid attention to as much by the Prussians and Russians as they should’ve done. That would turn out to be an unintelligent move in the end.

Either way, it had been no more than six months since the peace declaration when Henry V, king of France, suddenly died, childless. Immediately, pretenders stood up to claim the throne at all sides of Europe. The French government, too frightened by the strong monarchist support to declare the republic, and not wanting another civil war, appointed Philippe, the 45-year-old count of Paris, who had once been heir to Louis-Philippe (and for some Orleanists he ruled for a very short time in early 1848 as king of France) as their new king, Philippe ‘Philips’ VII. Everyone, down to the vague Jacobite pretenders, agreed, except for the Carlists. Since the main line had died out, the line descending down from Philip V, king of Spain, was closer related than the line of the duke of Orleans, who was related to the main line somewhat less close than the former. Since the true male line had not gained the throne in 1833, the Carlist branch were the true successors to Henry V. Jean, cousin of Isabella, the last Bourbon queen of France, was proclaimed Jean III of France and Navarre, and, seeing as some south-western cities soon accepted him, the latter title had potential of becoming a reality.

For a moment, France seemed to be on the verge of civil war. Then Metternich, following in his father’s footsteps as the man whose treaties ruled Europe, declared that Austria would accept no other as French king but Philips VII, and that the Austrian armies would join the French armies in order to defeat Jean if the Carlists didn’t immediately give in and leave France.

The wiser option was taken, realizing that Austria wouldn’t lie about their war declaration. ; ‘Jean III’ fled the country, moving through Europe before finally settling in Britain in late 1884, where he would have some nice conversations with the Austrian ex-emperor, Franz Joseph I.

In the meantime, Rudolph decided to take matters into his own hands a little more, and finally marry. As Metternich advised him and he himself found a right choice, he contacted the British government in December 1883, asking for the hand of the crown prince’s oldest daughter Louise, almost 17 years old. The British weren’t sure initially if marrying the young princess was such a good idea, but finally, they agreed. The couple married on Louise’s birthday in 1884, and after some initial troubles, Louise gave birth to a healthy daughter named Elizabeth Marie nineteen months later, on September 2, 1885. On June fifth, 1887, the long awaited successor was born, who was called Karl Georg Friedrich von Habsburg, referring with his middle name to the brother of Louise, and with his other middle name to Friedrich, Crown Prince of Germany. In March 1889, prince Wilhelm Ferdinand Edward followed. The 'Russian triplets' Marie, Theresia and Victoria were born in June 1890, whose names will be farther explained later. Finally, in January 1892, prince Joseph Heinrich Leopold was born as youngest son to the emperor. The Habsburg main dynasty was now ensured to continue to rule over Austria, and a possible succession for Karl Ludwig's dynasty was farther away than ever.

In the meantime, Wilhelm I died in March of 1888. For a moment, the liberal countries in Europe, and especially the liberal Austrian Emperor Rudolph I, got some hope as Crown Prince Friedrich became Emperor Friedrich III of Prussia. But that hope wasn’t for long. In June, he died, from lung cancer, after only 99 days. With his successor, Emperor Wilhelm II, being the man he was, the hopes were up again. Rudolph permanently turned his saddened eyes away from the north in order to look for allies. In the next years, the ties with France, Spain and Britain would only increase, and the main allies that would fight the First Great War were finally established. Now, it was just a matter of when.

Good update.

Honestly I'm not sure what good it would accomplish to enter the race for africa? Austria still had a lot of problems at home. It might be a nice PR coup but the money could have been used to reform the country. Reforms it desperately needed. I'd love to read your ideas about that.

You need to standard names, either use German versions or English versions but don't mix the two. For example in English it would be Rudolph I, the German version would be Rudolf I, similarly, and more importantly, the Crown Prince cannot be Charles Georg Friedrich, its either Karl Georg Friedrich or Charles George Fredrick. PS by the way, the fact that Habsburg family names seem to have been thrown to the wind makes me cry.

Friedrich is a Habsburg name, from the 15th Century, and Karl is a traditional one as well. There will be more familiar names later on (Prince Leopold Joseph, Franz II, Ferdinand II, prince Maximilian, the present-day crown prince Rudolph, an Baltian line of 'Joseph's', who are going to be closely related to the Habsburgs, and so the list goes on). My mistake about the language of the names, though. I'll correct it right away.

The Tunisian colony is more of a second front in Italy in the First Great War, and I admit that right now, Austria wouldn't really need it. Let's just say that Rudolph guessed that they would need some influence in Africa later on.

Next chapter. Chapter Six will bring the Great War, or if it doesn't, Chapter Seven will.







While Rudolph produced legal heirs, other European monarchs didn’t do nothing either. The new emperor of Prussia, Wilhelm II, was a man that dreamed of Prussia uniting all of the German territories, including the French province of Alsace-Lorraine. German nationalism was growing rapidly now, to eventually reach it’s peak in the latter years of the first decade of the Twentieth Century. The only countries not loyal to Wilhelm were Bavaria, Wurttemberg and Baden, and the emperor knew that diplomacy might help with the latter two, but that Bavaria, being the closest to Austria and it’s royal house related to the Habsburgs, would protest with all it’s might. No, something else had to be done for that – war.

One obstacle for war was Otto von Bismarck, the man that had dominated Prussian foreign policies for over twenty-five years now. Wilhelm had slowly developed a hatred against the man in the past decade, for not keeping Bavaria within the North-German Union in the late sixties. Now, it was for him time to act upon Bismarck’s annoying presence. As the year of 1888 passed by, Wilhelm restricted Bismarck’s limits. The latter protested, but he remained mostly silent, until there was a disagreement about the focus on the navy in March 1889. Bismarck was fired by Wilhelm II, who had dreamed to do that for a long time. The next Prussian ministers wouldn’t be as dominant, and Wilhelm II now controlled Prussia all together. But it wasn’t enough. While the North-German states were controlled by Prussia, the Southern ones weren’t. Austria and Bavaria were the main opponents, and Wilhelm wished them to be under his power. That dream, though, wouldn’t come true overnight.

Over the past years, thanks to the Prussian help on the Russian case in 1878, a solid Prussian-Russian friendship had been established between Czar Alexander III and Emperor Wilhelm I, which later was held high in honour by Wilhelm II, who hoped to keep Russia as a valuable ally in the future war that would no doubt bring Austria-Hungary, Britain and France allied against him. The friendship was soon solidified, as Alexander III visited Prussia in September and October 1888, Wilhelm visited Moscow in June 1890, and, after some years of keeping peace in Russia, Alexander again visited Prussia in 1894, which ended up being prolonged due to a smallish threat that was discovered in Alexander’s health. Luckily, the matter was soon cured by the best Prussian doctors, and Alexander III remained eternally grateful to Wilhelm in the following years. As a Russian writer later wrote: ‘We don’t know what would’ve happened if Czar Alexander had died from that threat, but it wouldn’t have been good. Luckily, the Czar was otherwise in good health, or else the best doctors of Prussia couldn’t have done anything that helped. I can’t imagine a Russia in which Alexander had not survived past 1894.’

Either way, Austria was looking concerned at the advancing power of the Prussian/Russian alliance. After once more disagreeing, Rudolph had fired Metternich in 1891, and thereby established himself as the sole ruler of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. This meant more power, but also more insecurities. The now 33-year-old Emperor found himself facing a huge alliance in the north. If he wanted to win a war which would eventually break out anyway, he’d have to have solid support from Britain and France, and he would have to help Bavaria establish a solid northern border that could keep the Prussian armies away from it. While he ordered the Austrian army to modernise, and help the Bavarians, an Anglo-Austrian alliance was founded in 1893, it being even more solid than the previous one. A similar alliance with France followed the next year. With friendship thereby established, Rudolph focused on the centre of the Austrian monarchy. As everyone knew, the Habsburg rule wasn’t solid. Even with some smallish reforms to the Dual Monarchy, Austria-Hungary couldn’t last. Over the next few years, the Austrian lands were reformed, to be ready by the turn of the Century. Before that, though, something else was to happen in the Austrian Royal Family, and specifically, in Spain.

Over the past few years, Carlos V, king of Spain, had mostly left the reign over his country to his oldest son and heir, Francis Ferdinand, the prince of Asturias. Now, after a visit to Jerusalem from which he caught typhoid, he finally died on May 19, 1896. Almost immediately, Carlist claimant Carlos VII, son of the deceased Juan, tried to take the throne, but he horribly failed to do so, as the small Carlist army that barely could be called an army was defeated before it could get more than fifty miles into Spain. Francis Ferdinand was the new ruler, and, realizing his second name was more common in Spanish history, he took that. On June 25th, he was crowned as king Ferdinand III of Spain, the legal successor to Carlos V. Ferdinand immediately went to work, trying to get a new organisation within Spain and Morocco. The Portuguese, though, were eying Spain’s increase in power with some fear, and decided to establish themselves against Spain. A treaty with Prussia and Russia was signed in late 1897.

As a period of peace looked like it was about to break out, it was disrupted by the actions of French soldiers in Africa, who had marched up to Fashoda, which was located to the south of English Egypt. For a moment, the alliance seemed like it was about to be destroyed. Prussia and Russia begged for war – it was exactly what they needed, after all – and Spain begged against it, making Portugal automatically join the Axis’ side. Rudolph, though, did something else. He efficiently made up a treaty which he knew would please both France and Britain, and presented it to both countries. Within months, the treaty was signed, the war threat was over, and both countries were honestly glad this had happened. The bond with Austria got stronger, and would soon show that as, two years after the Fashoda crisis, France and Britain finally ended their centuries-long state of rivalry. The next year, in 1901, the French-Austrian-British-Bavarian-Spanish Entente was formed.

Austria, in the meantime, had gone through some important reforms. Finally, on the first of January, 1900, the Federal Austria-Hungarian Empire was established, still known as Austria to most, which saw a centralized ministry in Vienna, with 100 men from all over the Empire – 25 from Austria, 20 from Central Hungary, 5 from Slovenia, 5 from Croatia including Dalmatia, 5 from the occupied Bosnian provinces, 5 from Transylvania, 5 from Slovakia, 5 from Galicia, 5 from Istria, and 20 from Bohemia. On top of them all was the Emperor. In intern cases, the ministry in the separate ‘under-countries’ would do justice – when it was about foreign relations, the main ministry would handle the case along with Rudolph I himself. 51 men had to accept a law in order for it to go to the Emperor, who then would decide if he accepted it or not. In that way, the half constitutional half absolute monarchy of Austria was established.

In the meantime, some troubles were breaking out in the east of Russia. Japan attacked in 1904, and defeated Russia in one year. Many European monarchies were shocked, and Rudolph I, along with Edward VII of England and Philips VIII of France, who had succeeded Philips II in 1894, immediately acted. In 1906, the Austrian-French-Anglo-Japanese bond was founded, soon merging with the previous alliance of 1901 to include Spain and Bavaria.

And so, the latter half of the first decade of the twentieth Century had began. Just six more years separated Europe 1906 from the first Great War…

The map below is a map of the world in 1912, prior to the Great War. Not many territorial changes will happen from 1906 to 1912, but you'll find that part out when you'll get to it. Anyway, this shouldn't be too far away from the current year. Enjoy, and remember that I do not hold much knowledge about the world outside Europe and that the borders will most likely differ a little from how I drew them. Oh, and ignore the small green part next to Ottoman Palestine. That was my mistake. Also, the African brown territories are supposed to be Prussian, and, in this TL, the Prussians never got around to conquering Cameroen or German East Africa. As of 1912, they're planning to do that, though, if they win the war, but they'll be stopped from doing that by the humiliating defeat they'll suffer.

Oh, and Baden and Wurttemberg are Prussian-brown for a good reason. We'll see that in the next chapter.

I've got an idea.

Do you think, that after the Second Great War of this TL, when Britain and France are defeated, Robert I of Bavaria could have any chance at their thrones? I've got plans with most of France, but the east could certainly become the 'French Kingdom of Burgundy' with Robert I at the head. After all, the Jacobites still shared in their old titles from the Hundred Year's War, so Robert I, descending from Charles I Stuart, was according to the Jacobites 'Robert I, King of Bavaria, England, Scotland, Ireland and France'.

Maybe he could become King of England, East-France and Scotland among with Bavaria, and the Windsors could keep Ireland (the revolt was crushed in this TL) and rule from there, or from India, which was still kept by the dynasty.

What do you think?

No replies...

Well, here's the new chapter.

Explaining of the titles:

Along with the reforms in 1900, Rudolph made his sons get titles based on the English princes. The crown prince became the Prince of Vienna, the second son the Duke of Boedapest, the third son became the Duke of Innsbruck, the fourth became the Duke of Sarajevo (later Belgrado, after WWI) and so the list can go on for a long time, but I haven't expanded on that yet. The sons of the crown prince are called the Duke of Prague (the oldest), Count of Bratislava (second) and Count of Ljubljana respectively.

Hope that clarifies something.

The Great War started in, of course, the Balkans. Austrian troops had been eying that territory most suspiciously for a long time, and even the liberal emperor, Rudolph, wanted Austrian hegemony over the kingdom of Serbia, which was becoming a larger and larger threat to Bosnia, and the Austrian territories of Slovenia and Croatia. The treaty of 1900 had pushed some power into those states, making them loyal supporters of the Austrian crown. Therefore, it wouldn’t be too easy for Serbia to make those areas go to her in peace time. Also, there were new elements playing along in the Austrian Royal Family, especially concerning the conservative Crown Prince Karl, who had reached majority in June 1905, and was now pushing for a political career. Especially that was why Karl was married off so early in May 1906 already, to the 16-year-old daughter of the new Danish king, Frederick VIII. Princess Dagmar was converted into Catholicism and styled as the new ‘Princess of Vienna’, the first of them. The next year, the marriage led to Frederick joining the alliance against Germany, determined to grab Schleswig-Holstein, and maybe some more. Frederick’s son, King Haakon VII of Norway, also joined the alliance. Finally, after promises of his second grandson Wilhelm marrying one of the Austrian princesses and reigning over the Baltic states, Oskar II of Sweden agreed to join, too, in March 1907, just nine months before his death. The marriage between princess Marie, just 17, and Wilhelm was made in August of the same year, strengthening the Austrian ties with the Scandinavian states. And it would need those ties. In Baden, Friedrich I had died and his successor was either too frightened by Prussia or too willing for a higher title to accept Austrian friendship for any longer. Baden broke free of the alliance in January 1908, and Württemberg followed in May. Baden was promised to be a kingdom and expand into France with Alsace-Lorraine, and Württemberg would double it’s size with parts of Bavaria, if the war was won in favour of Prussia. Eagerly, both nations accepted the Prussian proposal, wishing for expansion and glory, and wanting to help the Prussians – after all, they were German countries too, so they should help their homeland to become the major leading state in Europe. On the first of July, the two nations were annexed into the Empire of Greater Prussia. Forty-nine years after the initial alliance was sighed, two small but nice allies in South-Germany were gone for Austria.

In the meantime, prince Karl had become even more nationalistic due to his wife, who fervently supported the Danish identity, and, with the new alliance to Austria, also wished Austrian expansion. Karl and Dagmar made up a plan for a victory over a war with The Empire of Greater Prussia, and the contents of it were in one word horrifying. They wanted to destroy the German nationalism by cutting Prussia up into pieces, giving parts of it to the Netherlands, Belgium, France, the Polish minority in East-Prussia, Denmark, Bavaria and of course giving most of it, making up for all of Eastern Germany except for East-Prussia, Pomerania and Mecklenburg, to Austria-Hungary as the provinces of Saxony, Silesia and Brandenburg, annexing Berlin into the Austrian Empire. Also, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia would become Austrian, and Constantinople would become an Austrian city-state, like Danzig would as well. The plans of Karl basically included that, except for Mecklenburg, the Austrians would have an Empire that stretched from the sea in Scandinavia to the Bosporus. Later, he even included Mecklenburg. The ideas of Karl came down to one thing – Austria was to rule the world. And Karl, prince of Habsburg and Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, was going to make it do that, even if his father, Emperor Rudolph, didn’t agree with it. And since political control in the Federal Empire was, as long as he didn’t rule on his own yet, the only way to achieve that himself, Karl started urging for a career into politics – exactly the opposite of what his liberal father wanted.

Slowly but steadily, Karl progressed and was elected as an Austrian representative in April 1908. The almost twenty-one-year-old soon managed to control the Austrians, and over the next year, he worked his way into the top of the politics, eyed suspiciously by his father, Rudolph, and by the other European monarchs. Finally, in October 1909, at an election just three weeks after the birth of a healthy son, Leopold Joseph Wilhelm Christian Friedrich Karl Franz Ernest Maria, the duke of Prague, Karl was elected prime minister of the Federal Empire, his term starting on January first. The first thing he did was an action the previous prime ministers and Rudolph himself had refused to do for a long time – annex Bosnia into the Austrian Empire. On January 10, the action became official as Rudolph signed it, realizing that avoiding war, something he wanted the most, was no longer easy anymore. But things went different. Serbia uttered some small protest, but didn’t go into war. 1910 started shaky, but it wasn’t time for the First Great War… not yet.

In the meantime, the Royal Family steadily expanded. Maria Josepha was born on January 2, 1911. A son followed on April 12th, 1912: Franz Maximilian Ludwig Joseph Maria Karl Leopold, the duke of Bratislava. In January, 1910, the so-called ‘Royal Picture’ had been taken, showing four male generations: Archduke Franz-Joseph, Emperor Rudolph, Crown Prince Karl, and Prince Leopold. This would become a habit throughout the years, to photograph four male generations of Habsburgs in the January month of the first ‘round’ year (ones on 5 were counted as well) and would be repeated in 1935, and later in 1995. Little did they know that by the end of the decade, three of the four in the picture would be buried in graves…

Anyway, Europe, late 1900s/early 1910s, was beginning to gain it’s last members in the alliances. Ethiopia, one of the last independent African countries, declared it’s support to the Entente in 1908, after Austrian promises of Italian Eritrea being given to the Ethiopians. Ottoman Turkey, which had been hesitant to join the alliance that included it’s arch rival Russia, finally accepted the Prussian offer which included major Ottoman expansion on the Balkans. Sure, Serbia and Bulgaria were allies, but Romania wasn’t, although it would become that in 1910 as it was still hoping for Transsylvania, and Greece was a firm member of the Entente. Also, if Turkey was willing to join, the Russians offered to give them states in the Caucasus in trade for accepting that Russia would annex Austrian Galicia and some more eastern Austrian territories like Slovakia. So, Turkey accepted, and soon thereafter, in late 1911, Italy, that had been somewhat of an alley earlier on, was firmly put on the Prussian side as it was offered pieces of land in Austria-Hungary, and in order to get some stability, the Ottomans even offered them to cede some land. That was accepted by the land-hungry and nationalistic Italians, and instead of accepting ‘some’ land, they demanded a protectorate Ottoman Libya. Threatened with Italy joining the Entente and directly attacking Ottoman Albania otherwise, the weak Empire had no choice but accept. On January 1, 1912, Libya was proclaimed a land that belonged to the Italian crown.

As 1912 started, the alliances had finally been established, except for an Entente ally in the far West that wouldn’t show it’s potential until later on. All Europe except for the peace-willing Austrian Emperor Rudolph but including the nationalist Karl waited for, was something to trigger the chain reaction, and some people claimed Karl wanted something to happen for a War to be triggered on purpose, something the Americans might have learned later on, as they did exactly that in the 1960s with the start of the Somalian War.

Karl would get it’s triggering, but it wasn’t exactly what he suspected. As 1912 was coming to an end, Karl and his wife Dagmar were visiting Belgrado on Rudolph’s order, hoping to establish some better relations between the two countries, as the emperor was still hoping to avoid a World War. Karl hated the job, but he lived through it, and finally, on November 23, the last day was made up of a trip through the city, before the Prince and Princess of Vienna would enter the plane again and go back to Austria-Hungary. But something else happened to intercept that.

At 2 PM in the afternoon, a young man suddenly jumped in front of the royal car. Shouting “Long live Serbia, and long lives the Greater Slavic State!” he fired at the couple. Karl and Dagmar were killed immediately, and as the man fled, he threw a grenade at the car, which promptly exploded. He was arrested within minutes, but it was too late. The royal couple was no more.

As the news reached Rudolph I, he was more enraged than he’d ever been. After distancing himself for five days, he wanted nothing else but revenge, revenge for his oldest and dearest son, so rudely taken away from him. A furious emperor sent a declaration of war towards Serbia that very day, proclaiming that the Serbian Kingdom itself had been responsible and had to be killed in order to pay for Karl’s and Dagmar’s lives. Spain joined in the war against Serbia the next day.

A chain reaction started. Russia, angered, called Rudolph unreasonable, and proclaimed itself ‘Protector of the Serbs’. On November 30, it declared war as well. Prussia followed two days later. France, which was allied with Austria-Hungary, realized this was the war they’d been waiting for, and if they waited any longer, Austria would collapse under the two great super powers of Prussia and Russia. They declared war on December 5, Britain following on the sixth. The Ottoman Empire, also theoretically protecting the Serbs, declared war on the eighth, and Bulgaria followed on the ninth. Portugal, not having anything to do with the conflict but hatred against Spain, declared war on the Entente on December 10. Italy finally decided for war on the eleventh, and far-away-Japan finally followed on December 15. It was time. The First Great War had began.

Ouch. Austria is encircled. I'm not sure they'd declare war under such cirumstances. Goo story though, I'm looking forward to your next update