A Brother’s Betrayal

pompejus

Napoleon’s response


The French emperor wasn’t happy with the situation. He had not been able to capture the resisting parts of Holland. During the winter the waterline hadn’t completely frozen; the ice had remained to weak for an offensive. Meanwhile Wellington had been able to end the siege of Cadiz and beaten a French army near Malaga. These set-backs meant that some of his allies where looking again to the British, hoping they would be able to beat them, specifically Austria, Prussia and Russia where troublesome. Russia was the worst. Napoleon had heard reports that Russia started to violate the continental system. He decided to handle that problem first. The emperor would create the largest army Europe had ever seen, march towards Russia, beat Tsar Alexander into submission and show the rest of Europe that he still was master of Europe. After he had beaten the Russians, he would deal with the British in Spain and Holland.

During the spring of 1811 Napoleon created his Grand Armee. In the end it consisted out of 550.000 men, half of them French, half of them from allied nations. Only Austria and Prussia didn’t sent any men as Napoleon didn’t trust them. A large army remained in Spain and in Holland. In june he marched towards Russia, through Prussia to show them the power of France.
 

pompejus

The Russian Campaign
In the end of June Napoleon entered Russia. After finding out the immensity of the French army, the Russian general Barclay de Tolly decided not to have battle with napoleon and retreated, hoping to be able find a good defensive position so his chances would be more even. During this retreat, Barclay de Tolly ordered to burn or destroy everything that could be useful to the French army. This hindered the pursuit of Napoleon greatly. Many men were lost by lack of provision and many others deserted.

Meanwhile the Russians tried to make as much armies available as possible. Peace was made with the Ottomans. Even though Russia had occupied a large part of Bessarabia, Moldova was able to keep it. The Russians considered the situation with napoleon so dire, that they were willing to make an unfavourable peace.

Near the small village of Kloesjino, Barclay de Tolly made preparations for the battle against Napoleon. In the beginning of September the two armies met. The battle was bloody and long, but a clear victory for Napoleon. General Baclay de Tolly perished in the battle. Napoleon continued his march towards Mocow. But Moscow was empty, the city was evacuated and all the food and other supplies were taken. The French army suffered because of its lack. Meanwhile the army was hit by small Russian partisans and Cossack troops. In the end of September Napoleon decided to leave. If he had stayed any longer, all of the army would have died of hunger.

In the meantime the Russians had created an army which they thought would be able to defeat Napoleon. When Napoleon retreated they attacked him near the town of Borodino. This became a pyrrhic victory for Napoleon. He managed to defeat the Russian, but at the cost of a large part of his army and his victory was far from decisive; a large part of the Russian army was able to get away. Meanwhile the French army was bother by the Russian winter and Kozaks and other small Russian partisan groups. Many soldiers died of hunger or cold and many deserted. At Smolensk the Russians fought again with the remnants of the French army. This became a big victory for Russians. A very large part of the French army was destroyed. The remnants of it limped back to France; Napoleon had lost more than 90% of its army.
 

Hashasheen

Banned
pompejus said:
I think I am going to bump this thread hoping people may comment on the latest two updates.
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their not bad, though i dont see the difference in the Russian campaign, shouldnt their be a butterfly or two from having to keep an eye on the dutch as well as the spanish?
 

pompejus

Temporary Username said:
their not bad, though i dont see the difference in the Russian campaign, shouldnt their be a butterfly or two from having to keep an eye on the dutch as well as the spanish?
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There are various butterflies: Napoleon goes to war with less men, battles are at different places, Russia didn't get Bessarabia in the peace with the Ottomans, Russian general Barclay de Tolly dies in battle, Moscow didn't burn down and a couple of others. The problem is that I like the entire idea of the Russian campaign so much that I tried to let it as much the same as possible. Still we aren't that far away from the POD that I considered it reasonable to remain relatively close to the OTL.
 

bard32

Banned
Which brother? Joseph, whom Napoleon made King of Spain, or Jerome, who
married an American named Jenny Jerome? :D
 

Roberto

bard32 said:
Which brother? Joseph, whom Napoleon made King of Spain, or Jerome, who
married an American named Jenny Jerome? :D
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Do you even read threads beyond the OP, or in this case, the title? :rolleyes:

Very nice TL, Prometean, btw. But it could do with some better formatting.
 

Roberto

pompejus said:
Prometean?
But if you have any ideas about better formatting please tell so I can improve i.
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Sorry, I confuse you two a lot. :eek:

Anyway, just work on grammar and spelling a little (it's pretty good, just keep it readable), but the major thing is to split it up from those big text blocks that are impossible to read.
 

pompejus

maverick said:
I like it, but little seems to change in the Russian campaign, which Isn't my main complaint...

I do nonetheless have some doubts about Napoleon invading Russia with two open fronts against him...that is Holland and Spain, when IOTL Holland was an ally, Spain somewhat under the French knee after the war of 1809 and the campaigns of 1810 and there was no possibility of a second front...which Napoleon seemed to have avoided a lot IOTL...such as when he cancelled his invasion of Britain when Austria declared war upon him...
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I didn't see the situation in Holland as a second front, but more as a stalemate. The French aren't able to cross the Waterline, but neither are the British. Last time they invaded true the Netherlands they were very much beaten by the French. A large French army is still on the other site of the water (Napoleon's army that entered Russia was smaller than OTL army, because there were forces needed in Holland). The British forces are meanwhile are split between Spain and Holland. The Dutch army is irrelevant as the biggest part of the Netherlands still occupied by France. The forces in Holland are there so Napoleon isn't able to occupy all of it.

If the British want to defeat Napoleon from Holland, they need allies on the mainland to help them defeat Napoleon and maybe some forces from elsewhere in empire, like maybe Canada.

At least that is how I see the situation.
 

ranoncles

I do see some problems with your vision.

Spain was always a side show to Napoleon and he even felt that as long as the British deployed their field army there, he didn’t have to worry about any landings close to Paris.

Holland is another matter entirely. It’s just a hop, skip and a jump from Paris and therefore a clear and present danger to his rule. Napoleon would never tolerate that and he would certainly not march off a thousand leagues to the wilds of Russia. And knowing him, he would probably feel a great need to punish his brother for his “ingratitude”. Likewise, those Confederation of the Rhine nations would also balk at sending troops to Russia with an enemy on their doorstep. So, the 1812 Ouverture is simply not on while an Anglo-Dutch army lurks in Holland. Although I don’t expect it to be a large force. Until 1813, the English only committed around 50,000 British troops to Spain with perhaps another 20,000 available for other activities (the rest of the British forces were second-line, second-rate troops). The Dutch never had more than 20,000 men and would be hard pressed to raise much more.

The Dutch Water Line is the only thing standing between the Anglo-Dutch and destruction at the hands of the French Army of Germany/Army of the North.

Therefore, the most likely solution would be for Napoleon to solve it with an engineering tour de force, like he did at Wagram when crossing the Danube.

I would imagine him taking personal command, since his brother’s betrayal is a personal insult. He would establish large artillery grand batteries to cover a suitable crossing and then have his engineers build a pontoon bridge. Perhaps even a Wagram-style bluff in which part of his force demonstrates to fix the opponent’s attention while the bulk of Napoleon’s force makes a dash for an unexpected crossing place.

As to your naval battle off the coast of Holland, Napoleon had introduced a major shipbuilding scheme after Trafalgar. By 1814, the French navy and its allies would have outnumbered the British in ships of the line. But in 1810, the French navy was still relatively weak and therefore Napoleon would not have sent a numerically inferior force filled with less able seamen against the British and Dutch fleets, which happened to be the two ablest fleets in Europe…...
 

pompejus

After more than a year a new update? Yes, why not.

The congress in Vienna

After the Russian adventure, it didn’t take long for Napoleon to be beaten. The Prussians and the Austrians rose against him; the British and the Dutch broke out of Holland; The Russians marched into Europe and even Sweden joined the fight. French allies like Denmark, Saxony and Bavaria were defeated or joined the forces of the new coalition. Finally Napoleon was killed in a battle near Cologne, which meant the end of the French empire. The coalition forces marched upon Paris and France was beaten.

Europe had changed after the Napoleonic wars. It was decided that borders should be redrawn, some countries would be rewarded, some must pay. In Vienna a congress would be held to discuss what would happen. France, of course, would be punished heavily. No one would accept a strong France and it would lose many annexed parts. It would lose all the conquered parts in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and the German lands. The problem was who would get what. Prussia occupied Saxony and did not want to lose it. Russia controlled Finland and did not want to lose it, but Sweden had fought on the site of the victors and wanted a reward for their trouble. What would happen to the Netherlands, would William of Orange be restored as stadholder or even made king, or would Louis remain king of Holland? What would happen with the Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved by Napoleon?

After a very long congress, which took more than a year they got their agreement. Russia would keep Finland and would gain most of the duchy of Warsaw. Sweden got Norway from Denmark, but lost Pomerania. Sardinia gained Piedmont, Nice, Savoy, Genua and Corsica. Austria gained Tirol, Salzburg and a large part of northern Italy. Britain would keep all the French colonies it occupied, including St Lucia, Tobago, Seychelles, Mauritius, Martinique, French Guyana, Guadeloupe, St Pierre and Miquelon and Senegal. Hannover would get most of Munster and part of Westphalia. Prussia would keep all of Saxony, got Posen, Pomerania, Danzig, the southern part of Munster, most of its old western territories like Cleves. As compensation for the loss of Saxony, a new kingdom would be formed in the Rhineland, ruled by the former king of Saxony as the kingdom of the Rhine.

After much discussion it was decided that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte would remain king of Holland, as promised by the British, but he would have to relinquish all claims to the French throne. As compensation William of Orange-Nassau would regain their ancestral Nassau lands enlarged by most of the duchy of Berg. Also he would gain the Alsace. Another problem would be the Southern Netherlands. It was clear that no one wanted them returned to France. Except for France not many other countries were interested in it. Austria didn’t want them, Prussia didn’t care for them. In the end it was decided that most of them would be included in the kingdom of Holland, a controversial choice, but the only real option. It came with the benefit that a stronger country north of France would be a good counterweight for France. The eastern part of Luxembourg would go to the kingdom of the Rhine.

[FONT=&quot]Several smaller changes were made in the German and Italian lands. Also it was decided that the Holy Roman Empire would be replaced by a Confederation of German states, which would also include the kingdom of Holland. [/FONT]
 
Herr Frage

Herr Frage

Fine work, the nest part thus far has been an original PoD.

Killin Napoleon I in battle was interesting. Will we see a fully restored Monaco with no Return? Also I imagine the surviving Bonapartes will be congreating in Holland. The clan Bonaparte could end up the bulk of the Dutch nobility in time. What of Naploeon II?

So has the Cape Colony been returned? It would seem unlikely for the British to give up such a prize to a Bonaparte.

Frankly I cannot see a Bonaparte redily being accepted as a unifier by the German nation.

You are pulling up short of the real fun, the Post Napoleonic Era.
 

Valdemar II

Banned
Likely the United Netherlands is going to be more stable with a Catholic on the throne, it will keep Flandern out of the Belgian rebellion. That's the primary thing, of course it's going to make the Dutch monarchy more unpopular among the extreme Calvinists, we could large scale emigration of them, the Cape would likely be one of the primary emigration destinations. Of course the same factors which started the Boer Trek will happen here, so we likely still see the Boer States, through I could see some of the more radical Calvinist follow the trek, when Netherland tries to centralise and integrate the Cape into the Dutch state.
 

pompejus

Herr Frage said:
Killin Napoleon I in battle was interesting. Will we see a fully restored Monaco with no Return? Also I imagine the surviving Bonapartes will be congreating in Holland. The clan Bonaparte could end up the bulk of the Dutch nobility in time. What of Naploeon II?
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Actually I have not thought about Monaco at all. So at this point no idea. Let me think about it.
Herr Frage said:
So has the Cape Colony been returned? It would seem unlikely for the British to give up such a prize to a Bonaparte.
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The Cape often changed hands between the Dutch and the British during the Batavian republic era. In this case the British were pretty hopeless at the point they returned the Cape to the Netherlands. They are now starting to regret the return and in a deal with the Netherlands they will get part of the eastern Cape and Dutch help with building lasting settlements.
Herr Frage said:
Frankly I cannot see a Bonaparte redily being accepted as a unifier by the German nation.
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I am not sure what you mean. I am not planning a Germany reunited by a Bonaparte.

Valdemar II said:
Likely the United Netherlands is going to be more stable with a Catholic on the throne, it will keep Flandern out of the Belgian rebellion. That's the primary thing, of course it's going to make the Dutch monarchy more unpopular among the extreme Calvinists, we could large scale emigration of them, the Cape would likely be one of the primary emigration destinations. Of course the same factors which started the Boer Trek will happen here, so we likely still see the Boer States, through I could see some of the more radical Calvinist follow the trek, when Netherland tries to centralise and integrate the Cape into the Dutch state.
Click to expand...

Don't forget that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was very popular in the Netherlands, including the Calvinistic parts. He tried to learn Dutch and put the interests of the Dutch first and of his brother second, which is why in the end he was removed from the throne and the Netherlands was annexed to France. In this timeline there will be no Belgian revolt. Why should there be? The Belgians now have a French and catholic king. There is no reason for them to revolt. The next Bonaparte king will have a lot more trouble in the Netherlands. He will probably far more French (or Walloon) king than a Dutch king and than the trouble will start.
 
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