Grey Wolf
Donor
Quite a vivid alternate history dream, set in the Grand Duchy of Salonika, a French client successor state from the Napoleonic period, which also owned Trebizond. It was 1875 and I was the 3rd Grand Duke of Salonika, the grandson of the first, although in the dream there is no name given to any of them.
Russia owns Constantinople, whilst France owns Smyrna. Hungary is an independent kingdom under a Davout, Illyria is French, Janina has retained its independence but is hellenised, and the rest of Greece is French. Russia has protectorates over a slew of Eastern Balkan states - Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania, and owns directly the Bulgarian lands (on the basis that Bulgarians are Russian), together with Eastern Thrace and Constantinople as well as the province across the Sea of Marmara and the Northern shore of Anatolia as far East as the border with Trebizond.
The Grand Duchy of Salonika is basically Thessaly, Southern Macedonia, Salonika and Western Thrace, and its ruling family descended from one of the 14 new Marshals that Napoleon created for the entry into Constantinople in 1812 from amongst his generals, one of whom was Eugene de Beauharnais, but the general whose line now rules Salonika was someone who in OTL never rose above the rank of general.
France has Western and central Anatolia and its lands link up with Egypt, its ally, whose Northern border goes beyond Antioch and Aleppo. Mesopotamia is independent under its Mameluke rulers, and sees much Franco-Russian rivalry for influence. Greater Armenia, encompassing Erzerum and Erzincan, is independent as a Russian protectorate as are Greater Georgia and Greater Armenia. Cyprus is French.
That's the map that I saw in my head as the dream went on - I don't know for sure about anywhere else in the world, but there were some clues later.
The Grand Duchy of Salonika is hellenised French, or maybe frenchified hellenes, a merger of the two cultures. Its two halves are distinct. Salonika has an assembly that is vocal and difficult, even though the Grand Duke can appoint the First Minister and the cabinet, but he needs assembly approval for the budget etc.
Trebizond is more oligarchial, and is ruled by a Grand Quartermaster as the agent of the Grand Duke, and the merchant assembly which is much less of a problem to deal with.
Three routes link the two halves: 1) the initial sea lane, the original way of passage from Salonika through the Dardanelles, across the Sea of Marmara, through the Bosphorus and along the Northern coast of Anatolia to Trebizond; 2) the Grand European Railway from Paris to India, but this runs through Russian-owned Constantinople and for Trebizond one would then take the branch line along the Southern coast of the Black Sea, which is also Russian owned; 3) is to take ship from Salonika to Smyrna in French Anatolia, and then the branch line to join the GER as it goes through central Anatolia, including Ankara, before then taking the branch line to Trebizond.
The first scene occurs briefly in Salonika's assembly with the leader of the Opposition deriding the Grand Duke's Intelligence Chief as "a French tool" and the First Minister defending him by pointing out that he is not French but a Fleming, to which the Opposition leader snaps that Flanders is a part of France. As a note the Intelligence Chief had a name something like Duran, Durande, Durante etc
Grand Ducal revenues are quite good, not least because the Grand Ducal family owns large estates, confiscated from the Muslims in 1812, but the assembly in Salonika has residual control of finances once household and government expenses (civil service etc) are paid, even though there is still a surplus of "crown" estate moneys on top of general state revenues.
In some ways Trebizond has become more developed than Salonika. It has its own railway industry, and runs the branch line to the GER even when it enters French territory, even selling locomotives and rolling stock to Russia and France within Anatolia. The same, wide, gauge is used by all.
Mobile steam traction engines (like you see at vintage shows) have also been developed in Trebizond, and exported to Anatolian France and Russia, as well as to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan and back to Salonika, where there is only a small subsiduary factory.
The Grand Quartermaster is a crook and has been siphoning off money for years under the 2nd Grand Duke, who was a pretty ineffective ruler. The Grand Quartermaster (unfortunately never named in the dream) has links to organised crime, both local Greek, which is hand-in-hand with the merchant oligarchs, and from the Kingdom of Italy (French) which is France's main mercantile arm, and includes Pisa, Genoa and Venice in its realm.
The Grand Duke (in the dream, this is me of course) is visited in Salonika by Maria, a woman in her twenties of joint Greek and French parentage whno works as an agent for the Intelligence Chief, and poses as a Factory Agent in Trebizond. She tells the Grand Duke that the Grand Duke is crooked, and they take ship from Salonika to Trebizond, to arrive without fanfare as a surprise.
Upon arriving at Trebizond, Maria has the Grand Duke ask to see the steam traction wortks and the Grand Quartermaster is only too pleased to show them off (sort of like the jewel in the crown of his administration). Whilst they are in the factory complex and he is smiling and beaming in pride, Maria drops her bombshell, revealing that she knows about the secret factory behind the main one, funded by moneys which the Grand Quartermaster has filtered from the budget without permission. With no choice but to comply, he shows her and the Grand Duke this other factory.
The second factory is building an armoured and armed version of the mobile steam traction engine, based on two bogies, one spring-loaded, and to be covered with an armoured carapace, as yet still in bits.
The Grand Duke is delighted at this unforeseen technological development and pardons the Grand Quartermaster, but gets him to formalise things, drawing up an agreement that sets the works on an official footing. Maria is disgruntled but not so much that she doesn't share the Grand Duke's bed that night.
A FEW WEEKS LATER...
The Grand Duke is meeting with his Intelligence Chief and a naval designer who is quite well advanced in constructing a submarine prototype at Salonika. He's Scottish by origin and named Iain, and is one of two Scots to very briefly feature in the dream - the other is called Craig and had some sort of Guard role in Salonika, but whilst I remember him being "present" in the dream, the only definite recall I have of him is in connection to the naval designer, as it was something of note for two Scots to have prominent positions in Salonika.
Maria bursts into this meeting and interrupts them to bring news from Trebizond. The Grand Quartermaster has been assassinated by a bomb which has blown up his house-cum-office, leaving only smoking ruins.
The Grand Duke and Maria head once more for Trebizond, taking this time the direct and quickest route, using the royal train which passes sealed and non-stop through Constantinople and along the Northern coast. The Grand Duke and Maria spend most of their time in the sleeping compartment, working on their tension by having constant sex, as there is nothing they can do from a distance, and they need the full facts before they can act, so the journey would otherwise be a period of purgatory if they do not distract themselves.
Arriving at Trebizond, one of the Greek merchants from the assembly there is their official greeter. He informs them that an initial investigation has revealed that the assassin was linked to organised crime, probably Italian, and it was some vendetta against the Grand Quartermaster in person, and not against his office or the state itself.
The Grand Duke and Maria visit the armoured traction works, and this time are presented with the completed Mark I model. Some of the design/construction team want to call it a Tortoise, after the Roman shield deployment for storming gateways, but the Grand Duke and Maria come up with the name Armadillo. The Grand Duke is impressed by the technical tour, being shown how the contraption operates by the Chief Engineer. The front bogey mounts the artillery piece ("otherwise it could only fire when running away" the Chief Engineer remarks), with springs for its recoil, whilst the rear bogey contains the steam engine, and over both is an iron framework which supports the armoured plates.
The Grand Duke points out that it would only be of much use in cities, though it could be brought by ship or train to the city then off-loaded to assault it. The Chief Engineer is a bit put out at what seems to be a belittlement of his masterpiece, but the Grand Duke explains his theory - a Mark I design proves the concept, the Mark II proves that the concept can become operational, the Mark III is the first to see widespread use in conflict, and the Mark IV is the ultimate weapon with all the flaws ironed out, especially those learnt in combat. The Chief Engineer looks at him as if he is a bit nuts.
A messenger arrives, breathless, to say that the French Ambassador ir here in Trebizond, having travelled non-stop from Salonika to see them in person; it must be something vital!
The Grand Duke and Maria return quickly to the Grand Ducal residence in Trebizond and entertain the French ambassador who tells them that shots have been exchanged in Africa between British and French parties (rumoured to be in the disputed lands South of Egypt), an experimental French ship is missing in British waters, and that the British ambassador to Berlin has been arrested and has admitted plotting to blow up the French arsenal in that city.
The Grand Duke in turn points out that there are always rumours of "shots fired in Africa", he gets the Ambassador to admit that the missing ship is a prototype submarine whose proving voyage was to penetrate unnoticed into Plymouth's estuary, and that the British ambassador in Berlin made his admissions under torture.
Nevertheless, they all head back to Salonika, the French ambassador via the rail link to Smyrna, and the Grand Duke and Maria via fast steam packet ship, thus avoiding crossing Russian lands, although sailing under the Bosphorus Swing Bridge.
Once back in Salonika, the Grand Duke meets with his Intelligence Chief to be informed that the crisis has blown over. The shots fired report has proved to be false. The submarine has been located, having sunk itself when its seals broke in a crash dive, and that no more is being heard out of Berlin, but rumours from London are that the British ambassador is being secretly repatriated.
----------
Whilst a dream, and thus a narrative, I thought it had interesting AH detail, tho I can't say what was happening where the dream was not looking - eg with Montenegro, or Bosnia
Best Regards
Grey Wolf
Russia owns Constantinople, whilst France owns Smyrna. Hungary is an independent kingdom under a Davout, Illyria is French, Janina has retained its independence but is hellenised, and the rest of Greece is French. Russia has protectorates over a slew of Eastern Balkan states - Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania, and owns directly the Bulgarian lands (on the basis that Bulgarians are Russian), together with Eastern Thrace and Constantinople as well as the province across the Sea of Marmara and the Northern shore of Anatolia as far East as the border with Trebizond.
The Grand Duchy of Salonika is basically Thessaly, Southern Macedonia, Salonika and Western Thrace, and its ruling family descended from one of the 14 new Marshals that Napoleon created for the entry into Constantinople in 1812 from amongst his generals, one of whom was Eugene de Beauharnais, but the general whose line now rules Salonika was someone who in OTL never rose above the rank of general.
France has Western and central Anatolia and its lands link up with Egypt, its ally, whose Northern border goes beyond Antioch and Aleppo. Mesopotamia is independent under its Mameluke rulers, and sees much Franco-Russian rivalry for influence. Greater Armenia, encompassing Erzerum and Erzincan, is independent as a Russian protectorate as are Greater Georgia and Greater Armenia. Cyprus is French.
That's the map that I saw in my head as the dream went on - I don't know for sure about anywhere else in the world, but there were some clues later.
The Grand Duchy of Salonika is hellenised French, or maybe frenchified hellenes, a merger of the two cultures. Its two halves are distinct. Salonika has an assembly that is vocal and difficult, even though the Grand Duke can appoint the First Minister and the cabinet, but he needs assembly approval for the budget etc.
Trebizond is more oligarchial, and is ruled by a Grand Quartermaster as the agent of the Grand Duke, and the merchant assembly which is much less of a problem to deal with.
Three routes link the two halves: 1) the initial sea lane, the original way of passage from Salonika through the Dardanelles, across the Sea of Marmara, through the Bosphorus and along the Northern coast of Anatolia to Trebizond; 2) the Grand European Railway from Paris to India, but this runs through Russian-owned Constantinople and for Trebizond one would then take the branch line along the Southern coast of the Black Sea, which is also Russian owned; 3) is to take ship from Salonika to Smyrna in French Anatolia, and then the branch line to join the GER as it goes through central Anatolia, including Ankara, before then taking the branch line to Trebizond.
The first scene occurs briefly in Salonika's assembly with the leader of the Opposition deriding the Grand Duke's Intelligence Chief as "a French tool" and the First Minister defending him by pointing out that he is not French but a Fleming, to which the Opposition leader snaps that Flanders is a part of France. As a note the Intelligence Chief had a name something like Duran, Durande, Durante etc
Grand Ducal revenues are quite good, not least because the Grand Ducal family owns large estates, confiscated from the Muslims in 1812, but the assembly in Salonika has residual control of finances once household and government expenses (civil service etc) are paid, even though there is still a surplus of "crown" estate moneys on top of general state revenues.
In some ways Trebizond has become more developed than Salonika. It has its own railway industry, and runs the branch line to the GER even when it enters French territory, even selling locomotives and rolling stock to Russia and France within Anatolia. The same, wide, gauge is used by all.
Mobile steam traction engines (like you see at vintage shows) have also been developed in Trebizond, and exported to Anatolian France and Russia, as well as to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan and back to Salonika, where there is only a small subsiduary factory.
The Grand Quartermaster is a crook and has been siphoning off money for years under the 2nd Grand Duke, who was a pretty ineffective ruler. The Grand Quartermaster (unfortunately never named in the dream) has links to organised crime, both local Greek, which is hand-in-hand with the merchant oligarchs, and from the Kingdom of Italy (French) which is France's main mercantile arm, and includes Pisa, Genoa and Venice in its realm.
The Grand Duke (in the dream, this is me of course) is visited in Salonika by Maria, a woman in her twenties of joint Greek and French parentage whno works as an agent for the Intelligence Chief, and poses as a Factory Agent in Trebizond. She tells the Grand Duke that the Grand Duke is crooked, and they take ship from Salonika to Trebizond, to arrive without fanfare as a surprise.
Upon arriving at Trebizond, Maria has the Grand Duke ask to see the steam traction wortks and the Grand Quartermaster is only too pleased to show them off (sort of like the jewel in the crown of his administration). Whilst they are in the factory complex and he is smiling and beaming in pride, Maria drops her bombshell, revealing that she knows about the secret factory behind the main one, funded by moneys which the Grand Quartermaster has filtered from the budget without permission. With no choice but to comply, he shows her and the Grand Duke this other factory.
The second factory is building an armoured and armed version of the mobile steam traction engine, based on two bogies, one spring-loaded, and to be covered with an armoured carapace, as yet still in bits.
The Grand Duke is delighted at this unforeseen technological development and pardons the Grand Quartermaster, but gets him to formalise things, drawing up an agreement that sets the works on an official footing. Maria is disgruntled but not so much that she doesn't share the Grand Duke's bed that night.
A FEW WEEKS LATER...
The Grand Duke is meeting with his Intelligence Chief and a naval designer who is quite well advanced in constructing a submarine prototype at Salonika. He's Scottish by origin and named Iain, and is one of two Scots to very briefly feature in the dream - the other is called Craig and had some sort of Guard role in Salonika, but whilst I remember him being "present" in the dream, the only definite recall I have of him is in connection to the naval designer, as it was something of note for two Scots to have prominent positions in Salonika.
Maria bursts into this meeting and interrupts them to bring news from Trebizond. The Grand Quartermaster has been assassinated by a bomb which has blown up his house-cum-office, leaving only smoking ruins.
The Grand Duke and Maria head once more for Trebizond, taking this time the direct and quickest route, using the royal train which passes sealed and non-stop through Constantinople and along the Northern coast. The Grand Duke and Maria spend most of their time in the sleeping compartment, working on their tension by having constant sex, as there is nothing they can do from a distance, and they need the full facts before they can act, so the journey would otherwise be a period of purgatory if they do not distract themselves.
Arriving at Trebizond, one of the Greek merchants from the assembly there is their official greeter. He informs them that an initial investigation has revealed that the assassin was linked to organised crime, probably Italian, and it was some vendetta against the Grand Quartermaster in person, and not against his office or the state itself.
The Grand Duke and Maria visit the armoured traction works, and this time are presented with the completed Mark I model. Some of the design/construction team want to call it a Tortoise, after the Roman shield deployment for storming gateways, but the Grand Duke and Maria come up with the name Armadillo. The Grand Duke is impressed by the technical tour, being shown how the contraption operates by the Chief Engineer. The front bogey mounts the artillery piece ("otherwise it could only fire when running away" the Chief Engineer remarks), with springs for its recoil, whilst the rear bogey contains the steam engine, and over both is an iron framework which supports the armoured plates.
The Grand Duke points out that it would only be of much use in cities, though it could be brought by ship or train to the city then off-loaded to assault it. The Chief Engineer is a bit put out at what seems to be a belittlement of his masterpiece, but the Grand Duke explains his theory - a Mark I design proves the concept, the Mark II proves that the concept can become operational, the Mark III is the first to see widespread use in conflict, and the Mark IV is the ultimate weapon with all the flaws ironed out, especially those learnt in combat. The Chief Engineer looks at him as if he is a bit nuts.
A messenger arrives, breathless, to say that the French Ambassador ir here in Trebizond, having travelled non-stop from Salonika to see them in person; it must be something vital!
The Grand Duke and Maria return quickly to the Grand Ducal residence in Trebizond and entertain the French ambassador who tells them that shots have been exchanged in Africa between British and French parties (rumoured to be in the disputed lands South of Egypt), an experimental French ship is missing in British waters, and that the British ambassador to Berlin has been arrested and has admitted plotting to blow up the French arsenal in that city.
The Grand Duke in turn points out that there are always rumours of "shots fired in Africa", he gets the Ambassador to admit that the missing ship is a prototype submarine whose proving voyage was to penetrate unnoticed into Plymouth's estuary, and that the British ambassador in Berlin made his admissions under torture.
Nevertheless, they all head back to Salonika, the French ambassador via the rail link to Smyrna, and the Grand Duke and Maria via fast steam packet ship, thus avoiding crossing Russian lands, although sailing under the Bosphorus Swing Bridge.
Once back in Salonika, the Grand Duke meets with his Intelligence Chief to be informed that the crisis has blown over. The shots fired report has proved to be false. The submarine has been located, having sunk itself when its seals broke in a crash dive, and that no more is being heard out of Berlin, but rumours from London are that the British ambassador is being secretly repatriated.
----------
Whilst a dream, and thus a narrative, I thought it had interesting AH detail, tho I can't say what was happening where the dream was not looking - eg with Montenegro, or Bosnia
Best Regards
Grey Wolf
