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POD- The British fleet is unsuccessful at Aboukir Bay. Napoleon is able to spend time to secure a Francophile Egyptian government that can at least hold on to the core of Egypt around Alexandria and the Nile Delta, even if it is unlikely to hold recent Napoleon conquests in the Levant. Napoleon sees the benefit of good local governments controlled by natives and uses that to his advantage when invading Russia-

1812- Instead of heading directly for Moscow and hoping to knock out Russia’s government in one grand battle for the capital, Napoleon instead decides on taking a stab at nation-building during the campaign in hopes of redrawing Eastern Europe, using a divide and conquer strategy and inspiring nationalism among the minorities of the Russian Empire. He has seen what his redrawing of the borders of Central Europe has done to inspire nationalism there, especially in Poland, and the loyalty of those subjects to Napoleon of any place outside of France, and he hopes to recreate that success in Russia.

He brings liberalism, freedom of the press, legislatures, local militias, and an end to corruption everywhere he goes. White Russia centered on Minsk, Ruthenia based around L’vov and soon Kiev, Lithuania and Latvia are formed under a northern campaign along the Baltic. Russian forces wait for what they consider to be inevitable- an attack on Moscow or St Petersburg; but when winter comes Napoleon hunkers in the south of Ukraine, near Crimea, wary of any interference from the Ottomans taking advantage of the disorder that reconstruction of maps often entails. Food supplies are more plentiful in the south with warmer weather, Ruthenians take sides, with nationalists taking the name Ukrainians, and those fighting to stay with the Russian Empire as Little Russians.

1813- Russia cannot bear the loss of so much valuable land, cut off from the Crimea and Black Sea ports, and most of the Baltic ports. Afraid that Sweden may join Napoleon on an attack on Estonia, Karelia, and St Petersburg; the Czar sues for a general peace. The United Kingdom, seeing itself once again standing alone, and with the War of 1812 with the USA being stalemated, decides to come to the table when Emperor Napoleon asks for a general “Congress of Nations” to be held in Berlin. All the major European powers attend- UK, Portugal, Spain, France, Sweden, Denmark-Norway, Prussia, Austria, Russia, Sardinia, and even the Ottoman Empire. China, Japan, and the USA are all invited as a courtesy, only the USA participates, and simply for the reason of ending the War of 1812 before it drags on for another year with British forces fresh from Europe being freed up to join the American front.

The Congress becomes one giant celebration, even for the British, of a peaceful Europe, of a globe redrawn to forever create a balance of power. So that no major nation would have reason to be jealous of another a series of future congresses would address issues and resolve disputes. Europe is of course redrawn specifically, with other areas of the world given broad “spheres of influence” to various nations, with specifics decided upon by the active planting of colonies, and not just of exploring first and flying a flag.

France gives up a lot of its late annexations in return for huge economic and diplomatic control of nominally independent nations throughout Europe. Big differences in the map are- Denmark-Norway and Sweden are united, Finland is given to Russia as compensation for the loss of Eastern Europe and to keep “Scandinavia” as it is called, from becoming all too powerful in the Baltic Sea. Portugal remains, but with Brazil in South America a “Co-sovereign nation” in perpetual union with Portugal under the Portuguese crown; Portugal is assigned as a British protectorate and Britain receives economic benefits such as open borders and veto over Portugal’s foreign affairs policy.
Spain receives Catalonia back from France but becomes a limited monarchy and a federation, legislative power is devolved into Castile, Galicia, the Basque Country, and Catalonia. France receives protector status over Spain, the Spanish navy becomes an arm of the French navy, French troops are stationed in Spain (except by treaty they cannot enter Galicia to avoid surrounding Portugal), the Portuguese receive economic free trade in Galicia, and France controls Spain’s foreign policy. Spain’s monarchy is headed by the Bourbon dynasty, but is a figurehead only.

France receives the southern Flemish/French portion of the Austrian Netherlands, with the Walloon northern portion going to the Netherlands. Brussels is in the Dutch section. The Netherlands, like Spain, is under French economic and diplomatic control. France also receives Geneva and the French speaking portions of Switzerland.
Central Europe became the biggest controversy, as Prussia sees itself betrayed at the Congress by both the French and British. The Habsburg Dynasty sees itself move from being Austrian, to being rewarded with all of Germany, with Prussia becoming just one of many constituent kingdoms. Despite wanting to retain the title of Emperor, this is one concession Napoleon cannot allow, and with the only exception being the Czar of Russia he will not allow another Emperor to sit on a thrown in Europe. “King of the Germans” is to be the new title. All German speaking lands are finally united as one nation-state, no more loose confederations or ineffective empires. Non-German speaking Bohemia and Moravia are united in personal union with Germany, but have their own administration. German economic and foreign affairs are directed by treaty through France much as with the Netherlands. German speaking portions of Switzerland, along with Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Austria become part of Germany. The legislative and bureaucratic capital is placed in Frankfurt, Napoleon wants the administrative aspects of a united Germany close France; the executive branch is in Vienna where the Habsburgs reside while the highest court of the judicial branch, based on the USA model, is placed in Berlin as a consolation to the ruling caste in Prussia. The entire federal structure is more centrally dominated than Spain, and moves almost immediately to copying the American style with former kingdoms taking on the role of states in a federal system.

Italy is similarly united, under King Ferdinand of the Two Sicilies who was in opposition to Napoleon. The new Kingdom of Italy, however is to be like Germany, under French influence. The Catholic Church, though made the official religion of the new nation, is removed from having any secular control of any territory. Italian and Romansch speaking portions of Switzerland are given to Italy, as are Fiume and Trieste, and Trentino. Italy adopts the Napoleonic Code but keeps a very strict monarchy with little legislative input from the citizenry. The capital is at Florence, which is seen as more intellectual and modern than Rome and insulated from the Catholic Church.
Slavonia and Dalmatia are united, the Kingdom of Croatia and Slovenia is declared with Napoleon as king. Along with this personal union with France the new kingdom enters into an economic union with France, the Franc becomes the national currency, open borders and free trade with France, and foreign affairs must align with France. Stipulation is that the Russian Empire would receive the protectorate status in 100 years should the Ottoman Empire ever “cease to contain sizeable Slavic populations” before then. The royal line of king will go to Napoleon’s second born child.

With the Habsburg dynasty becoming dominant in Germany with greater power than ever dreamed of by their Holy Roman Emperor predecessors, France and Britain agreed that Hungary could not be a part of such a vast realm. Hungary, already stripped of its Slavic lands to the south, has its eastern Slavic lands taken as well. Galicia goes to an independent Poland, Ruthenia to Ukraine. Only the Slovaks remain along with regions of Serbs in Voljvodina, and Romanians and Germans in Transylvania. Hungary is ruled by the House of Savoy, previously in charge of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Having been a British ally and as consolation for the loss of its Italian holdings, this is seen as keeping Napoleon in check on the east, though Hungary is put as a protectorate of Germany, with Germany having free trade, open borders, and veto over foreign affairs, much as France has with Germany.

Poland becomes a kingdom under the former King of Prussia, as compensation for the loss of dominance in northern Germany. Poland becomes a protectorate of France, with the stipulation that in 100 years the protectorate switches to the Russian Empire. Between the Russian clause and the kingship being invested in the House of Hollerzollern, a “canary against German aggression” exists to buffer Russia from a unified Habsburg nation from the Czar’s perspective. Germany comes to see Poland as a good place to export German culture.

Lithuania and Latvia exist, under French protection for 5 years. After this, it is unknown if they could stand up to Russian imperialism. White Russia (Belarus) and Ukraine are formed. Both are given Russian protectorate status, much to their dismay.

Malta is given to France, but Minorca and the Ionian Islands are British, which along with Gibraltar keep the Mediterranean from being a French lake.
Heligoland is the one part of Germany that is separated, the British keeping it as a naval base, leading to the nickname of the “Gibraltar of Germany”. Italy soon sees the Ionian Islands and Malta in much the same light though few other countries see the similarity in situation. Even France begins to look upon the Channel Islands as British imperialism to keep a piece of the nation as a historical hostage. The British see these concessions as their only leverage to keep the Continent (which is under French domination) from being able to muster their combined forces and lay siege to the British Isles.

The USA and Britain agree to a status quo ante-bellum. Napoleon speaks eloquently about being a neutral party to this “separate but concurrent belligerency to the recent World War which determined the fate of Europe”. Neither side fully trusts him, the British see his selling of Louisiana in 1803 as being a down-payment for America’s later declaration of war on Britain in 1812 which conveniently opened a new front on Britain just at the moment Napoleon was knocking Russia out of the war on France’s eastern front. America sees Napoleon as potentially using mediation as a way to weasel back into North American politics, either through taking Louisiana, Haiti, or some former or current Spanish colony, all in the name of extending the Concert of Europe’s policy of a balance of power.

The rest of the world is given rules of colonization- to claim a land as a nation’s colony it is no longer sufficient to claim the right of first exploration or flying a flag. Actual permanent settlement must be first, or concrete treaties with the actual party in possession of the land and not just those with vague sovereignty. Spheres of influence will be drawn based on these during regularly called congresses in the future. Dutch colonies of Cape Town and the western settlements of Guiana in South America are kept by the British in return for acknowledgement of French preeminence in Egypt and over Ottoman affairs and for the recognition of Dutch control over the East Indies archipelago. The British believe the measurements taken by the French when in Egypt which show that a Suez Canal would be difficult or impossible because of extreme height difference between the Mediterranean and Red seas. French are acknowledged as having preeminence in western and northern Africa, and Italy over Tripoli and Cyrenaica. French agree not to interfere in India, British agree that they will not threaten or militarize around French enclaves in the sub-continent.
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