"What Madness Is This?" - A Timeline

^ I'll upload final version of the maps onto my deviantart account soon and then post them all in one post here. Sounds good? :)

I agree the Italian states should be stable. Also, I have indeed noticed you going crazy with butterflies, and I can't wait to see what this world looks like when 1900 rolls around. :eek::cool:

Sardinia as a Switzerland analog? Interesting Idea. Finland also kinda seems like a Switzerland analog. I'm curious as to which nation is more like Switzerland then?

Sure! Sounds good.

It's gonna be insane. And that's all I'll say. :D

Finland was a kind of Swiss analogue, but under the Hohenzollern-Wettins, it'll become way more Prussian-ized. Eventually, it'll just be an extension of Prussia. I think I'll PM you an idea.
 
Sure! Sounds good.

It's gonna be insane. And that's all I'll say. :D

Finland was a kind of Swiss analogue, but under the Hohenzollern-Wettins, it'll become way more Prussian-ized. Eventually, it'll just be an extension of Prussia. I think I'll PM you an idea.

To all of those, sounds great.

Speaking of PM's the last PM I sent you was sent on February 27th and was about AKII questions. You may as well respond to that one first and PM your idea with it so we kill two birds with one stone. :) I think that same PM asked about that secret novel of yours, but just PM that seperatley I guess.

There was also another PM which was me trying to get in touch with you right when our account was restored, but don't bother responding to it as everything relating to that was discussed in the HOI.

Also, I just got an idea, will Napo ever restore the Jacobites to Scotland?
 
Catholics monarchs onto a Presbyterian republic? It does not seem too likely in my own opinion. Unless he was going for a union between Scotland and Ireland, I suppose.
 
Restoring the Jacobites and forcefully ending Scotland's republic would not end well at all, though it is a neat idea. The French already occupy the coast between Ireland and Scotland to keep them from ripping each other apart. Most of the Catholic Scots have probably migrated to Ireland, and vice versa, so the Scots are pretty solidly Protestant at this point. I'd say they're one of the "shiftiest" of France's allies. They haven't been to either Congress, if I remember, and they are pretty isolationist.
 
On the issue of Catholics, where is the Pope living? It also seems that there was a Napoleon as a cardinal, just incase you think the position of one calling for a French-led crusade is open.
 
On the issue of Catholics, where is the Pope living? It also seems that there was a Napoleon as a cardinal, just incase you think the position of one calling for a French-led crusade is open.

...

This is so awesome.

*researches possibilities*

Yesssss... *rubs hands* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien_Louis_Joseph_Napoléon_Bonaparte

Almost forgot about him. He's the son of Zenaide, the Queen of the Two Sicilies in this. :D He also had an older brother, so he's not a crown prince. That means his cousin Napoleon II could indeed tell him to infiltrate the Church. His Holiness, Pope Lucius IV? :eek: Anything like this would put Catholicism firmly in the French Camp, making any break between France and Austria's alliance impossible. It just wouldn't do to have all of Austria excommunicated. This would also trigger even worse treatment of Catholics in the R.U., since they'd be branded "French boot-kissers."
 
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...

This is so awesome.

*researches possibilities*

Yesssss... *rubs hands* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien_Louis_Joseph_Napoléon_Bonaparte

Almost forgot about him. He's the son of Zenaide, the Queen of the Two Sicilies in this. :D He also had an older brother, so he's not a crown prince. That means his cousin Napoleon II could indeed tell him to infiltrate the Church. His Holiness, Pope Lucius IV? :eek: Anything like this would put Catholicism firmly in the French Camp, making any break between France and Austria's alliance impossible. It just wouldn't do to have all of Austria excommunicated. This would also trigger even worse treatment of Catholics in the R.U., since they'd be branded "French boot-kissers."
Inspired by the book Emperor of America, by the author of The Manchurian Candidate. It also had the main character's old mentor be placed as Viceroy of Canada, so perhaps some things could be done with those people representing Nappy in kingdoms he is not currently in, such as Italy. I would also like to hear a bit on the issue of artwork, which had been looted widely since the Revolution began. Heck, the Talisman of Charlmagne, ripped from the tomb of the king (not by Nappy though) was used as Josphine's bracelet and the Mona Lisa was in the Emperor's bedroom. Not to mention the planned demolition of most of Versailles, though to be fair it would make the complex easier to handle.

Oh, and what happened to any survivors of the National Assembly, the Directory, and the other two Consuls? Oh, and of course. The fate of the remaining Bourbons.
 
I would also like to hear a bit on the issue of artwork, which had been looted widely since the Revolution began. Heck, the Talisman of Charlmagne, ripped from the tomb of the king (not by Nappy though) was used as Josphine's bracelet and the Mona Lisa was in the Emperor's bedroom. Not to mention the planned demolition of most of Versailles, though to be fair it would make the complex easier to handle.

Oh, and what happened to any survivors of the National Assembly, the Directory, and the other two Consuls? Oh, and of course. The fate of the remaining Bourbons.

Funny you should mention art, because I was going to cover that soon. Some art has probably been repatriated in the Congresses. Most, though, will likely be made official French gov't property upon Napoleon I's death. Expect France to create some ridiculous museum loaded with the world's treasures. :cool: Maybe they turn Versailles into a museum? I could see that.

They likely have died for the most part, naturally or unnaturally. I think I mentioned one of France's old Consuls becoming a minor duke or such (like OTL). The remaining Bourbons are likely in exile, even self-imposed exile. Probably somewhere in the Americas. That might actually be interesting to cover. Maybe the former Spanish nobles move to Georgia or the Caribbean? :D
 
They likely have died for the most part, naturally or unnaturally. I think I mentioned one of France's old Consuls becoming a minor duke or such (like OTL). The remaining Bourbons are likely in exile, even self-imposed exile. Probably somewhere in the Americas. That might actually be interesting to cover. Maybe the former Spanish nobles move to Georgia or the Caribbean? :D

Kentucky seems as good a place as any place for that accursed family. Also, there is probably some work for the industrialists and artists of England across the Atlantic. Enough of those born in the in the western hemisphere to head back, certainly. Come to think of it, how might the Highlanders take to continued evictions to from their ancestral lands, especially when it means they are forced into cities where the innkeepers lure people in for the night so they can sell their corpses for dissection? Come to think of it, were the Presbyterians against that sort of thing? The cutting up bodies I mean, the murder part is self evident. The universities would need a steady supply of bodies to continue being leaders in anatomy. Butterflies might yet abound?
 
New chapters! The third one will blow your minds and show just what kind of a horror story the Republican Union is becoming. :eek: And for all you possible nay-sayers who think the Union citizens wouldn't accept this, read this:http://www.cracked.com/article_1623...2=Science&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=companion ;)

THE WORLD CONGRESS OF BERLIN: CONCLUSION

The economic effect of the Congress on Prussia was huge. Thousands had converged on the nation to see the event, making up well over the amount of the cost of hosting. As the clean-up commenced as the representatives went home, bankers, builders, carpenters, blacksmiths, and especially prostitutes started to count their fat profits with glee. The Prussian King was pleased with the latest events.

After those events, the world powers agreed that the next World Congress would be held in Paris, in 1838. Many were suspicious that Caesar thought he would be dead by then and it would help shine a spotlight on his successor and keep the world's fear of the Bonaparte family solidly in place. Also agreed upon for 1838 was that the Rheinbund (Confederation of the Rhine) would represented for the first time (the French had done this in 1826 and 1832). This would later be a big event in European politics.

Months later, in 1833, debate swirled on if the Congresses really accomplished much. At the end of the Congress of Vienna, the Dissolution of Spain occurred. During the final the weeks of the Congress of Berlin, the Republican Union was already working against Vermont, and soon invaded. Both times, war immediately followed a Congress. The world would later worry just what France might try after 1838.



THE GREEN MOUNTAIN WAR
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When Goodyear signaled for the attack on Vermont, it was more of a finalization than an order. For months, Union spies had been scoping out the backwoods buffer state, readying for when the Consulate signaled for an invasion. Goodyear and the Union government had been sure that France would not accept their demands, and rather than have a war against the mightiest empire on earth, they decided that a quick, decisive, overwhelming invasion of Vermont would be the best strategy. The annoying buffer state between the Union and Canada was a French puppet, but if the Union Army occupied it before news could get to France, then Napoleon would likely just go along with it.

Thus, the Republican Union flexed its military muscles for the first time. The Southron republics had done it in the Dissolution of Spain, so now the Union would do it in the Subjugation of Vermont. The Consuls prepared everything in advance, and even had men ready to be "military mayors" of all the important Vermont towns.

On October 1st, 1832, 30,000 Union soldiers crossed the border under the command of General James Polk and trampled the Vermont military. By the passing of one month, the entire Green Mountain Republican Army had been defeated, but militias still were holding out and fighting back. The militias adopted a skull-and-crossed-bones flag as the symbol of the resistance and practiced brutal torture and murder against all captured Union soldiers, usually leaving their bodies hanging on trees upside-down or impaled on sharpened logs. Polk reported back to Philadelphia in a message that, "The hill-willies here practice the Black Flag Doctrine very well. They, despite their ignorance on all other matters, know that injecting fear and terror into their enemies is the best way to win a conflict. I dare say that I may instruct my own men to do the same if we aim to finish this affair before the Corsican Ogre pushes his meddling nose into this."

Polk did indeed counter their heinous acts with his own, and the Union soldiers started arresting "hill-willies" (as they had begun to call any citizens of North America north of the R.U. border) at random and then, equally at random, shooting them upon massacres of Union troops. Until January, 1833, it was massacre after massacre. Finally, though, the main resistance leaders were captured and shot and the Green Mountain Republic of Vermont was officially proclaimed an R.U. Military Territory. Any and all groups or organizations pushing for Vermont independence were proclaimed outlaws. The flying of the old green-white-and-blue flag was forbidden, and anyone flying or possessing the skull-and-bones banner in any form was to be executed immediately as an enemy of the Union.

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Republican Union scouts massacre captured Vermont Resistance Fighters

By the time news reached Europe, it was too late to do anything aside from France invading the Union, and most everyone knew that that would be preposterous. Caesar did, however, warn the Union that France would immediately retaliate against any violation of Canadian sovereignty.

It was not long before the remnants of the militias ran to cover to reestablish themselves. "Skull-and-Bones" became a huge organization dedicated to fighting the occupation with everything they had. As Polk presided over Vermont as military governor, he had no idea that the group would prove to be a major headache for decades to come. Whenever the questions of statehood were brought up, the region always blew up again, making Vermont technically a dictatorship within the Union itself.

All in all, historians have rated the Union's performance in the invasion fairly well, saying that they had clearly outlined objectives and were determined to fulfill them. However, the loss of life during and even after the conquest was horrible, with some 9,000 Union casualties and 29,000 Vermont casualties by 1850. Many have said that the Union deliberately fudged the numbers of the dead Vermonters and that backwoods massacres might make the number closer to 40,000.


THE RISE OF GOODYEAR AND THE "NEW SLAVERY"

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Charles Goodyear (circa 1835)

Needless to say, Charles Goodyear was held up as the ideal "American" by the Union government. His racist, revanchist, xenophobic rantings made sure the scientific genius's portrait was hanging up in public schools around the country, right next to those of Jesus Christ, Julius Caesar, and Elizabeth I (who had recently experienced a new wave of popularity as an "anti-Spaniard Christian leader"). He was for all basic purposes a lunatic--a lunatic idolized by the masses and carried on shoulders into Boston upon his arrival from Berlin. His face was everywhere, and so to was his promise to Friedrich-Wilhelm III that America's industry would never be outdone.

Ever since its formation, the Republican Union had long been falling behind its neighbors in industrial matters. In 1828, the Union had ended slavery forever (largely to just annoy the Southrons and show how "enlightened" they were). The Southron republics, meanwhile, still used black slaves to work in their increasingly advanced factories. Newport News, widely considered the industrial capital of North America at the time, employed immigrant workers, promoting further immigration, while they used slaves to build the factories to begin with. In the Union, in late 1833, Goodyear finally came to Philadelphia touting his new book, Plans for Rapid and Stable Industrial Growth and the Maximization of Profit. The long-winded tome called for harsh immigrant labor was read widely by government officials, who proclaimed it a work of art. He was brought before an Inter-State Committee to discuss how best to institute these ideas. With his pockets loaded with government money, Goodyear turned to Shicagwa, the growing Iowai port city on Lake Michigan, as his main target.

The way Goodyear abused the workers he hired was, in many ways, much worse than actual slavery. In the South, thanks to a growing movement for eventual abolition, the slaves were recently being treated very well in most places. However, up in locales like the Goodyear Shirt and Blouse Company factories, if a worker was a minute late, he or she could be beaten by company thugs. Any attempts to protest poor working conditions were promptly crushed. Goodyear became the "Caesar of Shicagwa" by 1835.

The crazed industrialist was determined to crush the spirits of his foreign employees utterly. Starting in 1835, he launched wave after wave of new companies, many bearing his name, and moved into a palatial mansion in the Iowai countryside. To protect these new interests, he hired a mercenary army of "private eyes" to keep "law and order" in place. Soon, simple company thugs at places like the Goodyear Shirt and Blouse Company and the Goodyear Tools Company were replaced by black-uniformed, baton-wielding soldiers. Any attempt at forming any sort of labor unions were snuffed out by the mercenaries, and thus was born the "New Slavery" in the Union.

The New Slavery movement arose from the bizarre mentality and outlook of Union citizens on foreigners, especially Catholics or Eastern Europeans. Since the early 1820s, the government had been actively tricking impoverished Europeans into coming to the "Land of Opportunity." The way it worked was that Union agents would sail to Europe and outright lie to the poor people, and instruct them on how to cheaply travel to America. For many of these people, for instance, the young Serbian Dragomir Crncevic, they spent all they had on the trip.

Crncevic's story was later turned into a novel in Virginia and became a best-seller under the title Dragomir's Cabin. The first portion of the book tells how Crncevic's parents and only brother were killed in the Great Wars of the Empire. Then, starving in the midst of the Serbian Famine of 1835, the young man meets an American named Theodore Jones, a traveling medicine and sideshow man and secret recruiting agent working for the Union, who promises him wealth and abundance in "Dear America." Fooled completely and with just enough money to make the trip as a crewman on a Union vessel in the Mediterranean, Dragomir sails to Boston.

Upon his arrival, though, he is met with hatred and slurs, and within two days of being a Union citizen has been mugged twice. Understanding little English, he is hired for menial labor by the new Boston-Shicagwa Rail Company, a new subsidiary of Goodyear Rail aiming to connect the opposite sides of the nation with railroads. He is routinely beaten by Goodyear's mercenaries for sometimes no apparent reason. Finally, after attacking an abusive guard, both of his legs are broken and he's sent to the "Foreigner Prisons" in Pennsylvania's Ohio region. There, at Camp Burr, he recovers from his injuries and is then forced to relocate to Shicagwa, to work on an the expansive construction site for the new town hall. There he joins a strike.

On Christmas Day, 1837, the workers all quit. The mercenaries marched in, carrying muskets and rifles. Goodyear sent his vice-president, Samuel Morse, in to order the workers to stand down. When they refused, Morse unhesitatingly ordered the small army to open fire, beginning the Christmas Day Strike Massacre of 1837. Dozens go down in seconds, and Crncevic is hit in both legs by musket balls. Doctors haphazardly amputate the legs and he is then sent back to Camp Burr. There, for the last several months of his life, he sits in his "cabin" (actually a shack) penning his story. After he managed to get the writing smuggled out, he died of infection from his double amputation.

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Christmas Day Strike Massacre of 1837

The sickeningly awful biography sold like wildfire in the Southron republics, only beaten in sales by the Bible. Many international clubs and organizations were formed to press for reform in the Union.

The Union responded by decrying the book as "Southron subversive propaganda," and promptly outlawed it. Then, the government turned right around and gave Goodyear the honorary title of "Colonel," reflecting the high esteem in which they held the industrialist. Colonel Goodyear Enterprises was born, and from that point on, Goodyear finally lost whatever remaining bits of morality he had. Brutality was the rule of the day, and absolutely nothing was to get in his way of modernizing the R.U.. Any forms unions might take were outlawed. Goodyear's mercenary forces grew in leaps and bounds, with uniformed thugs present at every factory.

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Goodyear mercenaries break up the Goodyear Carriage Company Strike of 1838

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Heavy fighting at the Goodyear Rail Company Riots of 1840

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Irish Goodyear Enterprise workers in New York City are crushed by the NYPD (1844)








OOC: Basically, every time the immigrants riot, the more the regular citizens are going to go along with the group mentality and become convinced that the immigrants are rabble-rousing ingrates. :( And yes, the industrial revolution happens a bit early in this TL, about 20 years early. Expect that to be the tech level they're at from now on (20 years ahead of OTL). Cultural level, though, is about 50 years behind OTL...
 
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How long until we get to beverages? I imagine that temperance, a new use for sugar, a new importance for caffeine, the ability to turn fruit into long lasting drinks in the way grain was easier to transport as whisky, and such would have a good decent effect on the establishment of banana republics, even if there aren't many small countries left around. That and banning wine for Communion in the Republican Union... Should be interesting. How is the Episcopalian church doing by the way? Might be too High Church for some though if England overthrew their king it might allow Cromwell to surge in popularity. Also, may I ask on the possibility of the Amish, Quakers, or other Christian groups helping people escape to Virginia, Maryland, and Canada? I also feel that the settling of Louisiana may be going too fast, though that is only in the maps, which you did not make. Things take time.
 
How long until we get to beverages? I imagine that temperance, a new use for sugar, a new importance for caffeine, the ability to turn fruit into long lasting drinks in the way grain was easier to transport as whisky, and such would have a good decent effect on the establishment of banana republics, even if there aren't many small countries left around. That and banning wine for Communion in the Republican Union... Should be interesting. How is the Episcopalian church doing by the way? Might be too High Church for some though if England overthrew their king it might allow Cromwell to surge in popularity. Also, may I ask on the possibility of the Amish, Quakers, or other Christian groups helping people escape to Virginia, Maryland, and Canada? I also feel that the settling of Louisiana may be going too fast, though that is only in the maps, which you did not make. Things take time.

I actually have a plan that alcohol is in fact never banned by the R.U.. However, that says nothing about foreign spirits and things in the absinthe category. Localized temperance may be a thing, though.

As for the churches: pretty much all the Protestant churches are still about like OTL. As long as it's some form of Protestantism, you're fine in the R.U... for now.

The whole Amish/Quaker thing is a good question. One I hadn't considered. For now, the Amish are probably too secluded to matter, but the Quakers I'm sure are being persecuted (like OTL). I may have to write about that later in fact. As for escaping to Canada, that will be a huge matter of import later on as that border becomes a powder keg of insanity.

The maps provide a general idea of how far civilization is going. Only solid blue indicates civilization, while the borders are just agreed-to red tape. There probably are a goodly amount of towns out to the Nebraska area by now (~1840), mainly populated by Americans, not French, created for the purpose of farming and mining. The main thing France wants is to claim California proper before Mexico, but the rest of the Great Plains will likely be more sparsely populated than OTL. There's no overpowering USA in this TL to dominate the continent and practice Manifest Destiny, thus France will indeed take its sweet time. :)
 
Alright. Might I also suggest Pennsylvania keeping Ohio as shown in earlier maps? Maybe also take from Virginia that little thorn in exchange for the land they got in Little Egypt.
 
Alright. Might I also suggest Pennsylvania keeping Ohio as shown in earlier maps? Maybe also take from Virginia that little thorn in exchange for the land they got in Little Egypt.

Oh yes, PA keeps Ohio. :D It's just an easy regional name differentiating it from the heartland of the Capital.

That wouldn't have been a bad idea earlier, but since the story has advanced to 1838-ish, it's probably too late for the R.U. to demand anything from Virginia (Little Egypt was siezed during the Fall of the USA, and was not negotiated with the new R.U. emergency government) without giving up new territory in exchange.
 
Oh yes, PA keeps Ohio. :D It's just an easy regional name differentiating it from the heartland of the Capital.

That wouldn't have been a bad idea earlier, but since the story has advanced to 1838-ish, it's probably too late for the R.U. to demand anything from Virginia (Little Egypt was siezed during the Fall of the USA, and was not negotiated with the new R.U. emergency government) without giving up new territory in exchange.
In which case it would be a perfect homeland set up by the RU for free Blacks, escaped slaves, and Indians. Let them all fight it out over the fertile region near multiple river mouths. Also, does the Carolinas have South Carolina's land claims in the west?
 
Come on, guys, anyone else? Only Clan and Zoid have really been commenting lately. :( Comments and feedback make everything better!

In which case it would be a perfect homeland set up by the RU for free Blacks, escaped slaves, and Indians. Let them all fight it out over the fertile region near multiple river mouths. Also, does the Carolinas have South Carolina's land claims in the west?

I actually have a shocking plan for black Union citizens. Wait and find out. :D (no, it isn't concentration camps or anything cliche like that)

Are you referring to the Tennessee area, out to the Mississippi coast? That's the state of West Carolina. There are three states in the Confederation: North, South, and West. West Carolina was the result of the Confederation settling their differences before unifying.

*Joker GIF*

Indeed. :D
 
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Come on, guys, anyone else? Only Clan and Zoid have really been commenting lately. :( Comments and feedback make everything better!



I actually have a shocking plan for black Union citizens. Wait and find out. :D (no, it isn't concentration camps or anything cliche like that)

Are you referring to the Tennessee area, out to the Mississippi coast? That's the state of West Carolina. There are three states in the Confederation: North, South, and West. West Carolina was the result of the Confederation settling their differences before unifying.
Hoint to have them as some military caste then or working with electricity. As for the South Carolina area, I meant the long thin strip that the colony claimed but that they later had to cede to Georgia.
 
Massively exciting and important chapters here! Conspiracies abound in Paris. Give me some comments on these two sections, guys! Also, if anyone would like to see their namesake appear in this TL, like in American King, let me know. ;) I almost feel like some people are ignoring this as "ASB" simply because France wins the Napoleonic Wars, even though I gave them the most ludicrously and completely plausible victory ever (more acts of God and weather and such than actual military might; the whole TL hinges on the "Madness" of George IV). Remember, this is not a France-wank at all.

DEATH OF AN ERA
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Only known photograph (taken by famed artist Louis Daguerre) ever found of Caesar Napoleon the Great, taken about six months before his 1835 death

"It is with great sadness today that this publication reports the death of the most monumental figure in European Civilization. Yesterday, at his home in Paris, Caesar Napoleon I passed into the arms of the Heavenly Father at the age of 66. Born on August 15th, 1769, to a Corsican family of minor nobility, Caesar, christened at birth as Napoleone di Buonaparte, attended the famed École Militaire in Paris. After serving a short time in the French Royal Navy, Napoleon became more interested in artillery, and from there out, his story is well known by all the world."

-Lyons Gazette, January 5th, 1835


"At his death, he was comforted by his wife, Her Imperial Highness, Caesarina Marie Louise, his son, Emperor Napoleon of Spain, his younger brother Jerome, several of his closest private friends, and his dear friend French Prime Minister Michel Ney. The cause of his death is not yet confirmed, but it is widely assumed that it was a combination of bronchitis, stomach ulcers, and a heart condition."


-Imperial Times (Paris), January 5th, 1835



"The French Ministry of Public Affairs states that, due to his declining condition being well known as of late, other nations already had sent ambassadors to give their best to the Imperial Family during this time of sorrow. England's King Edward was, ironically, the first to send such an emissary."


-Rheinbund Allgemeine Zeitung (Confederation of the Rhine General Newspaper), January 7th, 1835


"The French Embassy in Copenhagen claims Napoleon of Spain, "L'Aiglon," is to take the French Crown next month. There is much excitement amidst the sorrow as to how the 24 year-old Caesar Napoleon II will rule. Speculation is also rampant that the young monarch will form an official union between France and Spain."

-Berlingske Tidende (Berling's Times) (Copenhagen), January 11th, 1835


"Rumors swirl of assassination by poison being the cause of Caesar Napoleon I's death. While these have not been at all substantiated, this version of events allegedly originated with a servant at the Imperial Palace."

-London Times, January 13th, 1835



"Accusations of the Corsican being poisoned has interrupted the planned coronation festivities (scheduled for February 18th), and Napoleon II is apparently taking these theories seriously enough to be fearing for his own life. Security for the coronation has been tripled."

-Berlin Zeitung, January 20th, 1835



As seen in the newspaper excerpts above, there was a witch-hunt going on in Paris in mid-January to stamp out an alleged conspiracy to take the lives of the Imperial Family. The coroners were reporting that Napoleon I had showed symptoms of arsenic poisoning. Questions immediately arose as to who would do such a thing, with many suspecting a member of his inner circle, perhaps a general or marshal wanting to attempt a coup. Servants at the Imperial Palace were thoroughly interrogated, and a few were held as suspects. Chief among them was 31 year-old former Grand Army drummer Wilhelm Lukas Hofmeister, one of Caesar's chief butlers and servants.

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Wilhelm Lukas Hofmeister, anarchist assassin of Caesar Napoleon I (Paris Police Sketch, 1835)

On January 21st, Hofmeister, an ethnic Hessian, was arrested by Paris Police. They gutted his small house on the Imperial Palace grounds for evidence and found nothing too incriminating. Just as it looked like he would walk free, a sharp-eyed constable spotted a shovel next to the house had fresh dirt and footprints around it. The officer grabbed the shovel, followed the prints, and discovered recently disturbed earth. He started digging and quickly came up with three bottles of arsenic, several medical books on poison, and a large tome entitled "The Anarchist Way," by Meinrad Beutel, a prominent riot-inciter in the Confederation of the Rhine. By the next day, all known anarchists in Paris had been imprisoned. Ethnic Hessians were also put under surveillance by the secret police. Several dozen suspected anarchists were lynched and murdered across Europe as the news spread. Even in countries rival to France, the murder of a monarch was unsettling.

Hofmeister refused to confess, discuss possible members of a cell, or even talk to authorities, knowing he would be executed anyway. The police swiftly turned to torture, but still, they could not get any information. Jourdain Roux, lead investigator into the plot, wrote in his diary on January 24th, "The Hessian cretin refuses to break. He withstands every measure we use against him. He must break. I must break him. The Empire is not safe until he talks." The next day, following brutal torture, Hofmeister died in custody. But while he was dying, he screamed something deliriously about "rooftops."

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Jourdain Roux

Immediately, the Paris Police and the French Army started a massive sweep of all the rooftops in the city.


THE CORONATION OF NAPOLEON II
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Caesar Napoleon II in His Study
(by Thomas Sylvestre Lestrange, 1835)


On February 18th, 1835, Napoleon II (Napoleon I of Spain), at age 24, became the youngest most powerful man since Alexander the Great. Despite the assassination plot, he was determined to press onward with the huge planned festivities. While the fears of everyone involved would call for a shorter, quicker event, the coronation would be very public. Napoleon II, dashingly handsome in his blue uniform, made the carriage ride from the Palace to Notre Dame Cathedral amidst a a sea of admirers. Upon getting out in front of the same church his father was crowned at decades before, many held their breath, as if at any time a crazed anarchist might leap out and knife him through the heart. Fortunately, he made it inside without problem. As he received blessings from Pope Gregory XVI at the altar upon which sat his multiple crowns, a man named Tristan Langlais was taking a position in across the street. A private in the army, the assassin hardly looked like an anarchist, and everyone was fully aware he was "standing guard" there, along with several dozen other (perfectly loyal) soldiers.


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Pope Gregory XVI

Bear in mind that at this point Napoleon II was merely a womanizer, and as of then had yet to acquire a bride and heir. If Napoleon II died, it would be a catastrophic event, likely with a massive European civil war.

During the next fifty minutes, Napoleon II was crowned with the old crowns of France, Andorra, Italy, as well as the new one of the United Empire of Brazil and Argentina. He was then proclaimed to legally and rightfully be: "His Imperial and Royal Majesty Napoleon II, By the Grace of God and the Constitutions of the Republic, Caesar of the French and Spanish, Emperor of Brazil and Argentina, King of Italy, King of Andorra, Lord of Mann, Mediator of the Helvetic Confederation, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, Protector of the Free City of Lisbon, and Duke of Reichstadt." The title of "Prince of Bombay" was proclaimed to be a dauphin-like position for the heirs to the French throne, and as such, would be temporarily unused until a son or daughter had been born.

When the ceremony was over, Caesar Napoleon II walked out the doors of Notre Dame under heavy guard, with tens of thousands screaming his name and singing the national anthems of the various empires and kingdoms involved. Flags fluttered in the winter wind, fists went up and down, trumpets blared, and shouts of "Long Live the Emperor!" were chanted in a dozen languages. As he was about ten paces from his carriage, Private Langlais, hiding his doings from the other guards by standing behind crates on the flat roof of the building across the street, raised his rifled musket to his shoulder, took aim, and squeezed the trigger.

This was a now-or-never moment for European History. If the bullet missed or merely wounded Napoleon II, the new Caesar would likely make it his personal vendetta to destroy anarchism and non-conformism in all its shapes and sizes. If it killed him, Europe would indeed likely be engulfed in anarchy and warring states trying to grab up whatever they could from the decapitated corpse of France. Truly, the fate of mankind might well have been said to be riding on that Single Bullet.

Smack.

Screams.

Shouts.

Gunshots.

People fell.

People fled.

The bullet had lodged itself in the right leg of Napoleon II, sending him flying down the cathedral steps in all his regalia. Guards panicked everywhere, but one lucky officer had seen the puff of gun-barrel smoke and flash over the noise and lights of the coronation crowds. It was Detective Jourdain Roux, the man who had broken Hofmeister. Roux dispatched soldiers to barricade the building across the street, and as Langlais attempted to escape by leaping across to a neighboring rooftop, the Imperial Guardsmen opened fire and riddled him with bullets. The anarchist's corpse came crashing to the cobbled ground three stories below. A note in his pocket revealed he had expected death, and the paper simply said, "I die for Freedom."

Back at the church steps, Napoleon II was alive and well (and cursing loudly and profanely) as his assistants and officers heaved him into his carriage and took off for the Palace. Weeping and screaming citizens were barely able to get out of the way as the Imperial Family's carriage caravan sped at break-neck pace to safety. At this point, security officers and police worried about a widespread "killbox," with gunmen and perhaps even grenadiers waiting to murder everyone in the government. As soon as the Imperial Palace's gates closed behind them and Caesar was rushed to his personal doctors, the whole city was put on lockdown.

felice-orsini-an-italian-nationalist-attempts-to-assassinate-napoleon-iii-emperor-of-the-french.jpg

Napoleon II makes his escape (1835 London Times illustration)

No one went in or out of Paris for days without written approval by the government. The Imperial Guard and Paris Police did massive sweeps, going house to house, making mass arrests, seizing property, and practicing brutality on those who did not cooperate. Patriotic fervor hadn't been as high since the last coronation, and many militias roamed the streets, looking for anyone affiliated with opposition to the Empire or its leaders. The days after the Coronation Plot, as it came to be called, are widely considered to be the foundation upon which later European totalitarianism was built.




Note: Yes, I am taking preemptive measures to make sure political opponents of the European establishment are branded traitors and anarchists. I believe, in just these two chapters, I've largely aborted anything on the level of OTL 1848. That means little advancement for republican-democracy. The butterfly effects from this are innumerable. :D

EDIT: And yes, you could wonder/propose in-universe conspiracy theories about the whole "Caesar Napoleon was poisoned" thing. I'll leave that to the readers, though. :rolleyes: :eek:
 
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And it's We'll Meet Again all over... er... again! I don't know why, but I've always envisioned the idea of introducing totalitarianism in an alt-XIX century as the most disturbing deviation from history, bar none. It's like imagining a world of radical social, political and economic changes and then hearing someone cracking a whip to interrupt your dreams just to tell you: "Ah! Nope... Death camps." :(:eek:

Concerning your previous update, could we have the Skull-and-bones endure until present day as a world-wide spread terrorist organization commanded by a diarchy of men with never-proved Massachussets ancestry who simply go by the names of George (Bush) and John (Kerry)? :p:p:p
 
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