The Golden Eagle, A Napoleonic France after the Peace of Vienna
- Thread starter Kaiser of Brazil
- Start date
-
- Tags
- france french empire napoleon
Just found this TL. I love the premise, though, as you mentioned, the POD is bordering on ASB. Of course, that doesn't matter if you develop it well since the scenario has plenty of potential. I also love the west bank of the rhine & piedmont border for France, it looks somehow pleasing on a map (not for any nationalist reasons, I'm not French). Good luck with the TL, I see you've already done quite a bit with it just by the number of pages. Anyway, nice TL so far, I'm definitely picking "Vive L'Emperur!" in the poll.
All Power to the Emperor
All Power to the Emperor
While the peasants and workers united against their Monarchs in Europe, the opposite happened in Japan. The fruits of the Korean War continued to harm the Shogun, and the lack of intervention in the Great War meant that he was both irresponsible for the military, a coward for the Samurai clans, and a tyrant for the working class. The case of the latter was an interesting one as from Pelletists to Ultranationalist factions were united in hate of the Shogun. Besides, the old Shogun was dying by 1916, and many saw it as the ideal moment to rise the recently enthroned Emperor Taishō to the position of ultimate ruler of Japan.
((Emperor Taishō))
The head of the Tokugawa clan, Tokugawa Iesato, was shocked after receiving such message that only made the heads of the clans snap. They disobeyed the head of the Tokugawa and started a vote that unanimously abolished the office of Shogun and gave the Emperor unlimited powers. On the 3rd of May of 1916, for the first time in centuries, the Emperor was in charge of Japan. And he had many plans for it.
((Here it is a small Japanese update, for those who wonder why they didn't join the war, it was the hesitation of the Shogun))
Why can't there be just one timeline where Japan becomes democratic before WW2 and stays that way?
There are plenty of ones like that; The Anglo-Saxon Social Model, With the Crescent Above Us, and Male Rising, just off the top of my head, all feature Japans with healthy democracies.
Seeds of Revenge
Seeds of Revenge
It was over, news spread across the nation that they were now part of a foreign people that they learned to hate, families and neighbors suddenly were in two different nations. One nation of one language and one people, was split in 3. 3 weak nations. And that was all fault of London and Berlin, seeds of Revenge were planted on the fertile grounds of France. And they would give life to two trees called: Edouard Delacroix and his brother Charles Delacroix.
But before we dive into these two men responsible for shaping the entire World like few before them, one must understand their mentors, two men that would be representatives of the two extremes of authoritarianism: Charles Maurras and Léon Blum.
((Charles Maurras, the Mentor of Edouard))
((Léon Blum, the Mentor of Charles))
((The Ambition of Maurras was to restore the Frankish Empire))
For his brother, it was the opposite, he made contact with Pelletism before the war, but only after it he became invested on it. His mentor, Léon Blum, was one of the leading figures of French Pelletism, as one of the leaders of the "Parti des Travallieurs". But Charles went a step further, entering the territory of National Pelletism as the ideal nation. With workers fully mobilized into a perfect state with no internal divisions, adding a total mobilization of society towards the military for the spreading of such Revolution.
The Two Brothers had same origin, born in the city of Lacroix on the French Empire, Edouard was the older brother, being 2 years older than Charles (1886, 1888). They were raised in a troublesome household, depending on their uncle (that married her mother after their father died in 1895), that was tutor of the Crown Prince when both he and the Prince died on the Titan in 1912, both joined the army to sustain themselves and their family, serving in the Rhineland. Charles was injuried by a bullet during Operation Jena, being sent home. His brother fought in the siege of Paris, until the end of the War. Now both were unemployed due to the heavy military limitation over the French Kingdoms (150,000 men for France, 100,000 for Occitania, and 40,000 for Britanny) and were decided on avenge France. The family meetings would be interesting.
Well, many times, when TL's reach the early to mid-20th century, they will write their TL's version of Hitler, which is a trope I'm not very fond of. I was glad that you didn't go that route.
Life in the Post War years
Roaring 20s
The war was over, as the millions of bodies were buried and the ink of Berlin dried up, a new war had started. It was microscopic, and the destruction of the war and the awful trench conditions just worsened it, it first infected the soldiers coming home, then their homes and neighbors, then about half a billion people around the world. It was known as "The Flu pandemic", the H1N1 influenza virus spread like wildfire around the world, infecting poor and rich alike. It would take 2 years until it was over, and it killed over 5% of the world population (100-120 million). The disease taught the governments a lot about how to better prepare for virus outbreaks, General Disease had stuck again and its said that the outbreak contributed in tipping the balance of the war towards the Coalition as it stuck the French harder than most due to the destruction of infrastructure.
But life didn't improve after that in some countries: The Russian civil war was still ongoing, France was still trying to recover, the German Kaiserreich had to rebuild the western territories and reverse the Frankification of the Germans of the Rhine, the Spanish Republic was tearing itself apart, the Portuguese haven't lifted their authoritarianism (due to Miguel's Paranoia that Spain was sending Pelletists to Portugal), Gaucho unrest was rising in South Brazil, and the Italians were undecided about what to do with their king. (Hopefully all will be covered in future chapters)
But elsewhere, like in the US and Britain, post-war prosperity hit them hard. Wilson was reelected in a wave of victory feelings, even if he was a authoritarian president with several common elements with ones like Savinkov and Edouard: He instituted a pledge of allegiance and a salute to be used at schools, censorship was widely used against pro-Entente propaganda after his assassination attempt, the "War Powers Comitee" was created during war as a way of the government to instruct the industrial sector of America in a clear act of Corporativism during the War, that's also ignoring his encouragement of the KKK, segregation of the army and other racist legislation. But those were argued as necessary in wartime, and didn't prevent Wilson from winning a massive victory even in Northern States that were traditional Republican strongholds like in New England.
((Typical 1920s American house))
Last edited:
Do you guys like cultural updates or should I keep focus on political ones ?
Red Sea
Red Sea
"I say that the Mediterranean is becoming a Red Sea, dominated by Pelletists and other degenerate types that seek to destroy our nation and way of life. Once our great nation arises from the ashes of Europe and the inevitable collapse of Liberalism and Democrats, we shall have the Mediterranean as our own "Mare Nostrum" ! And if the decadent nations of Pelletism stand in our way, I say we shall still have our Red Sea, but red with their blood !" - Part of a Speech made by Edouard Lacroix in Orleans, 1927.
Edouard was reffering to the rise of Pelletism in 2 nations that controlled the West of the Mediterranean: Italy and Spain.
Spain became a republic after the King fled during the French Invasion, the Republic was temporarily ruled by a Constitutional Assembly until the Fall of Paris in 1916, after the Treaty of Berlin, the nation had to deal with economical and political hardships. Most of the East of the Nation, especially the newly acquired Catalan territory, was destroyed by the War, being a huge drain in resources. And the republic found itself in a political polarization in 3: Pelletist workers led by the CNT and the newly founded "Partido Pelletista Obrero Españo"l (Spanish Pelletist Worker's Party), the minority of moderate liberals and republicans of the "Unión Nacional Republicana", and the mostly Monarchist "Confederación Nacionalista Española" with great support amongst the church and army officers. The constitution of 1916 was heavily influenced by Pelletism, granting several labor rights and liberties with Spain as the vanguard of it in the world. The first elections gave victory to a common Pelletist-Republican front led by Pablo Iglesias, considered father of Spanish Pelletism and first President of Spain.
((Pablo Iglesias))
In Italy, Amadeo Bordiga did the same. The General-Secretary of the Pelletist Party went to use the insatisfaction of the people in his favor. Post-War Italians saw their government as incompetent, wasting men in a unnecessary war that the Italians lost and just won the territories of the North by mercy of the Germans. The hate was sent also to Prince Umberto due to his defeats, and for Murat due to the entry of the War. In 1917, a general strike was called, demanding increased labor rights, until it went out of control with several republicans and paramilitary units of the Communists led by War Veteran Benito Mussolini. The year of 1918 opened with the Strike taking over Northern Italy and Bordiga increasing the demands for the Abdication of King Murat and Prince Umberto.
((Group of Strikers in Turin))
((Amadeo Bordiga, General-Secretary of the Italian Pelletist Party))
((Benito Mussolini, leader of the Italian Red Guard))
Last edited:
A future Japanese politician, folks:
Name: Hosokawa Toyonobu
Home: Tokyo, Japan
Age: 32 (1920)
Gender: Male
Culture: Japanese
Politics: Savinkovist
Background: Hosokawa Toyonobu hails from an old noble family, the Hosokawas. As a young law student, Hosokawa would study law before taking up journalism. As a young journalist, he would visit many European countries. However, it would be his coverage of Italy during the revolution and Russia during the civil war which affected him the most as he was horrified by the Italian Revolution and was enamoured by Savinkov's ideology, returning home with a staunch anti-Pelletism and strong admiration for the Russian State.
Name: Hosokawa Toyonobu
Home: Tokyo, Japan
Age: 32 (1920)
Gender: Male
Culture: Japanese
Politics: Savinkovist
Background: Hosokawa Toyonobu hails from an old noble family, the Hosokawas. As a young law student, Hosokawa would study law before taking up journalism. As a young journalist, he would visit many European countries. However, it would be his coverage of Italy during the revolution and Russia during the civil war which affected him the most as he was horrified by the Italian Revolution and was enamoured by Savinkov's ideology, returning home with a staunch anti-Pelletism and strong admiration for the Russian State.