All Hail Germania (The Actual TL)

Erm Right...

Hello There...

So this is my third major project, my second ATL.

First let me say, Questions, Comments, and Concerns are always appreciated.

The premise of this TL is WI: Columbus had sailed for Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. This actual PoD is set back several years before this with Maximilian successfully maintaining his marriage to Anne of Brittany with a small war.

"But IV," you may ask, "why would you pick such a bizarre, rather random PoD?"

"Oh that's easy," I answer, " Because I'm a Habsburgophile, and people of my mentality find the most bizarre PoDs that we can use to wank out the Habsburgs and prevent their inbreeding and eventual fall from grace."

So, as I'm still in the planning stages for much of the TL, here a link to the planning thread:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=121597

So with out any further stuff, I give you:
 
All Hail Germania​

Defining Event - The War of Breton Betrothal
In 1488, Francis II of Brittany, the last male scion of the House of Montfort died, having fallen from his horse while riding at the age of 29. He was succeeded by his eleven year old daughter Anne, who became Duchess of Brittany. A year early, Francis had been forced to capitulate to the French King, recognizing France’s dominance over Brittany and forcing Francis to give the French King his daughter’s hand in marriage. However upon his death, the marriage had yet to happen. Anne and the Breton estates had little desire to have Brittany come formally under the thumb of France, and began to search for another spouse.

In December of 1491, Anne wed by proxy, Maximilian of Habsburg, King of the Romans. She was 14, he was 32, and it was no secret the marriage was purely politically motivated. By marrying Maximilian, Anne had directly violated the terms of the Treaty of Vergers signed by her father in 1488 which promised her hand to the French King. This marriage drew the full rage of France as Charles VIII set out with an army to siege Rennes. Charles hoped that with Imperial Forces distracted in Hungary, and Castilian troops in Granada, Brittany would not be able to find support. However Charles wagered wrong. Maximilian left the lines in Hungary for the Burgundian Netherlands. Charles drew Maximilian’s ire not only for his attempt to undo the marriage with Anne, but also for his treatment of Maximilian’s daughter.

Margaret of Austria had been betrothed to Charles in 1482, as part of the Peace of Arras, bringing with her, Franche-Comté and Artois as a dowry. However following the Treaty of Vergers, Charles decided not to marry Margaret, but refused to allow her to return home. As result Maximilian saw this not only as his duty to defend his new wife, but also as an opportunity to save his daughter, and to retake the lands of his first wife Mary the Rich, which were now rightfully his son Philip’s inheritance.

Maximilian however needed time, he needed to muster forces in the Netherlands to march into Artois and Burgundy and then on to Brittany. His envoys in London and Valladolid succeeded in gaining support from the English King and the Castilian Queen. However this commitment by Isabella I of Castile tied up the very last of her assets, with much for her military power already in use in Granada. Similarly Henry VII agreed to hold off the French for as long as Maximilian needed to raise an army. Henry recognized that a fully independent Brittany would be an asset to England should he or his descendents ever retake up English claims on the French crown and on France itself.

The first English troops began to land near Dol in northern Brittany in February of 1492. The English Army began to march for Rennes hoping to be able to reinforce the city before the arrival of the French King. Three days after they arrived in the city, the French Army under Louis II de la Trémoille arrived near by. Anglo-Breton and French forces first clashed at the Battle of Acigné. Both sides took heavily causalities, however the French were repelled. As the French clashed with the English in Brittany, Maximilian began to lead his army through Artois, meeting little resistance, as Charles VIII had failed to solidify his hold on the area. He left a large garrison in Arras, before marching the rest of his forcing into Champagne on the way to Burgundy.

By May of the same year Castilian forced had finally begun to arrive to help reveal the English and Bretons. Charles VII had left Brittany to personally take command of his the French Army sent to oppose Maximilian. However his decision proved to be disastrous. Charles VIII’s forces met with the Burgundians under Maximilian near Reims. Through the course of the battle Charles fell from his horse and was captured. Three days later Maximilian forced him to sign the Capitulation of Reims. In it Charles agreed to the nullification of the Treaty of Vergers, to recognize Anne and Maximilian’s marriage, to return Margaret of Austria and her dowry to her father, and the restoration of the Duchy of Burgundy. Castilian Troops began to withdraw as soon as the treaty was confirmed. However English troops did not, as part of a secret agreement between Maximilian and Henry VII with Anne’s consent. Instead English troops took up the defensive positions the French had be authorized to occupy under the Treaty of Vergers.

Thus in August, Maximilian arrived in Rennes, and met his young wife for the first time. However not long after that did they have to depart for Austria, as Maximilian was the co-ruler of his aged father, Friedrich III.
 
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Thus it begins.

France will fall stone by stone, never to rise again. The great nations shall play the game of thrones amidst the ruins, and the French shall be their pawns evermore.

The Holy Roman Empire begins ascent to be worthy of that name. A union of church & state. German rather than Roman but a might nation will still be the foundation of glory. And an empire united under the throne of the grand dynasty of Europa.

Long live the House Habsburg.
 
Excellent beginning of the TL! Bloody nose for the French - I like it! :D

Thus it begins.

France will fall stone by stone, never to rise again. The great nations shall play the game of thrones amidst the ruins, and the French shall be their pawns evermore.

The Holy Roman Empire begins ascent to be worthy of that name. A union of church & state. German rather than Roman but a might nation will still be the foundation of glory. And an empire united under the throne of the grand dynasty of Europa.

Long live the House Habsburg.
Danke Danke
 
Agent of the Monarchy – Christoph Kolumbus, Part 1
By Winter Maximilian and Anne had arrived in Linz where Friedrich III had moved his court to in Maximilian’s absence. It was while in Linz that Maximilian received Christoph Kolumbus a Genoese navigator that had been sent on to him by the Catholic Monarchs. Kolumbus believed that the Earth was actually much smaller then it had been calculated to be and that he could sail west and reach the eastern coast of Asia. Kolumbus had been traveling around Europe searching for financial support from a Europe, first in Portugal then in Castile. In Castile he came before Isabella I, who while not agreeing to finance his plans, did leave open the possibility of doing so in the future and convinced him to stay in Castile for several years by paying him a pension from the crown.

In early 1492, Kolumbus once again petitioned the Catholic Monarchs for support. However with most of their financial assets tied up in the conflicts in Granada and Brittany, Isabella and Ferdinand had to turn him away. They did however take pity on his position and offered to pay for his passage north, where they suggested he go before the King of the Romans, who was one of the wealthiest men in the world controlling the assets of the Burgundian Inheritence and shortly thereafter the assets of the Breton Inheritance as well.

Kolumbus laid out his plans before Maximilian and his son, Philip the Handsome of Burgundy. Kolumbus planned to sail from Europe westward believing that India was only a few hundred nautical miles from the coast of Europe. Both Maximilian and Philip were intrigued by the idea; however they had little faith in it. Even still, if the plan did work it had the possibility of great repercussions in Europe as Maximilian realized. If Kolumbus really could find a water route to India, Maximilian could break the virtual strangle hold the Italians and the Muslims, and there by undermine his chief enemy, the Ottoman Sultan, and his chief rival for power, the Pope. Therefore three days after his first audience, Kolumbus was summoned back to the King’s presence. Maximilian and Kolumbus agreed to a revised version of the proposal Kolumbus had originally offered Maximilian. Maximilian would provide three modern carracks in Amsterdam for Kolumbus’s use and pay for the salaries of the 60 men that would be need to crew these vessels, these men were to be picked by the Emperor so he could ensure loyalty. Kolumbus would sail from Amsterdam first to Brest, then to Huelva in Castile before setting off for India. Kolumbus would claim any lands he discovered in the name of Maximilian and the House of Habsburg. Upon his successful return, Kolumbus would be awarded with the title of Grand Admiral of the Ocean Sea and be appointed the Emperor’s Viceroy for any and all of the newly discovered lands and “greatly rewarded”.

Kolumbus quickly set off for Amsterdam and by late July of 1493 he and his crew had arrived in Huelva. On August 3, 1493, Kolumbus’s three ships sent off from Huelva for part unknown. 16 days later in Linz, Friedrich III died during a surgical operation to amputate his left leg. Kolumbus now sailed for the de facto Holy Roman Emperor.

Kolumbus made a brief layover in the Canary Islands before continuing on westward. Land was sighted on October 15, and shortly there after Kolumbus landed on one of the smaller islands in the Philippian Sea [1], which island exactly is still disputed by historians. Kolumbus continued on landed next on the northeastern coast of Kuba, and then moving on to Hybrasil. It was on Hybrasil [2] that Kolumbus left 24 men and one of his ships, the Wiener Neustadt, with orders to cannibalize the ship and establish a fortress. Kolumbus headed for Castile, arriving in Vigo in March 8, 1494. He was informed of the death of Friedrich III and dispatched a letter to Maximilian informing the Emperor of his success and congratulating him. Kolumbus then headed for the Burgundian Netherlands. He landed in Bruges on March 29, where he was greeted by Philip the Handsome and informed that Maximilian was currently en route to the city. The Emperor arrived two days later and was fascinated by Kolumbus’s tales and success, and by several of the “Indians” he had brought back. The Emperor quickly agreed to another expedition, this time much larger. With in a month of Kolumbus’s arrival at Bruges, the Pope in Rome had issued a bull stating all the land west of the Azores were property of the Holy Roman Emperor. Alexander VI did this even as rumors began to swirl that the Emperor hoped to undermine the Papacy’s Italian benefactors.

By October of 1494, Kolumbus had returned to Huelva, this time with a fleet of 29 ships and 2059 men. He set off for his second voyage to “India”.

[1] – The Caribbean Sea comes to be named after Philip I, Holy Roman Emperor (Philip the Handsome).
[2] – The man Kolumbus leaves in charge is of Irish descent, and the island reminds him of the myth of Hy-Brazil which leads to the first round of colonists naming it that. We know it as Hispaniola.
 
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Valdemar II

Banned
When the names are discussed for these new provinces, I thing Margraviates is the most likely, because of the old tradition for these names.
 
Excellent. With such fantastic updates I wish you could be more detailed - that would mean even longer parts :D

What are the names of the other ships or have I missed them? Small hint: the one which is mentioned - its 'Wiener Neustadt', not Neuestadt.

Can't wait for the next part.

Ah, when do we get a map?
 
Excellent. With such fantastic updates I wish you could be more detailed - that would mean even longer parts :D

What are the names of the other ships or have I missed them? Small hint: the one which is mentioned - its 'Wiener Neustadt', not Neuestadt.

Can't wait for the next part.

Ah, when do we get a map?
Bah typo

As for a map, I dunno. it depends on how much I motivate myself. I just figured out how to outline countries with Paint.net so I've been playing around with that on old maps.
 
So the dark times have come on scheule for the Amerindians. Oh, is that still Politically correct to us that term?

Anyway I am interested to see what approacg is made to colonization.

I notice that with Columbus and Cuba, the weak C has been way to the bold and strapping K! All hail Germania!
 
So the dark times have come on scheule for the Amerindians. Oh, is that still Politically correct to us that term?

Anyway I am interested to see what approacg is made to colonization.

I notice that with Columbus and Cuba, the weak C has been way to the bold and strapping K! All hail Germania!
The "modern" PC terms are either just the native peoples or the specific tribe names.
 
Agent of the Monarchy – Christoph Kolumbus, Part 2
Kolumbus returned to the New World by mid November of 1494. He first sailed through much of the Lesser Philippians, claiming several of the islands in the name of Maximilian and naming them. He eventually made his way up into the Greater Philippians arriving at the off the coast of Hybrasil where he had left the Wiener Neustadt. There he found the small village of Saint Brendan, named after an Irish Saint who was supposed to have discovered a mysterious island in the Atlantic. Kolumbus arrived right as tensions between the first batch of colonists and the native Taino people had reached a boiling point. Three days after Kolumbus arrived; the Taino people attacked the settlement. The natives stood no chance against the Europeans and they were slaughtered. Kolumbus spent the winter in Saint Brendan during which time he committed what is today recognized as genocide against the Taino people. The native population was already ravaged by European diseases to which they had no immunity, and following the attack on Saint Brendan Kolumbus began demanding that they provide him with gold, of which there was very little of on Hybrasil, while at the same time he systematically enslaved them. The Taino population was further decimated by their practice of massive suicide to avoid enslavement by Kolumbus.

In early April continued northward, leaving several ships filling with colonists at Saint Brendan to continue colonization. By late April Kolumbus had returned to Kuba and order the establishment of a settlement on the southeastern tip of the island, at that point he believed Kuba to be a peninsula. He then continued on discovering Saint Willibrord Island [1] in early May. Kolumbus made his way back to Saint Brendan before departing for Europe. He arrived in Bruges in late October and was brought before the Emperor in Weiner Neustadt. He made a full report to Maximilian, who was very pleased to hear of the success of his efforts. Kolumbus however did leave out several key details, notably the slaughter of the native populations. In recognition of Kolumbus’s success, Maximilian granted him the title Duke of Hybrasil.

Kolumbus soon discovered after his return that no longer was he the only one exploring the New World. The Genoese had sent an expedition that had left shortly after him and returned before him claiming to have discovered a great southern continent. He also learned that the English had contracted another Genoese sailor, John Cabot, to sail in Henry VII’s name in search of the north western passage. Shortly before Kolumbus left for his third journey to the New World, he was informed the Portuguese were coming close to reaching the Indies via southern tip of Africa.

Kolumbus’s third trip which left in 1498 did little to help his reputation in the eyes of Maximilian, who was already disgusted with Kolumbus for bringing back over 1000 native slaves on his last trip. Kolumbus sailed once again to the New World, this time spending much of his time in the Lesser Philippians. In early August he returned to Saint Brendan, only to find the colonial population most unhappy with him, Kolumbus having exaggerated the bounties in the New World. When Kolumbus returned from the New World, he was accused of tyrannical practices and governance by several colonists who had sent letter home. Kolumbus was briefly imprisoned by Maximilian, who eventually released him, after Kolumbus had been stripped of his titles and power.

Kolumbus was able to convince Maximilian to fund one last expedition in 1502. He once again set sail for the New World. When he arrived at Hybrasil he was not warmly received, in fact the only settlement that did not try to kick him out as soon as he arrived was the Burgundian settlement on Saint Willibrord. However unlike the other settlements who blamed Kolumbus (largely correctly) for lying to them about the new world and for creating hostilities with the natives, Saint Willibrord’s governor also waged open war against the natives and those who he governed over largely had not come to the New World with the expectations of colonists elsewhere. From Saint Willibrord Kolumbus sailed along what he believed was the peninsula that jutted out from the northern coast of the southern continent discovered by the Italians. He returned to Europe shortly there after, spending his remaining life in he wife’s native village in Portugal.

[1] - Jamacia

Agent of the Monarchy - Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli entered the service of the Medici family in 1494 as a Clerk and Ambassador. When, several months later the Medicis from power, Machiavelli continued his work in the series of the Florentine Republic. He served as Ambassador for Florence in Ferdinand II's Court in Aragon, to the Papacy in Rome, and the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor. Machiavelli came to Maximilian I's court in 1498. The Florentine was impressed by the Emperor's dedication to strengthening his family's and his state's position in the world, though he did question Maximilian’s tendency to go about much of his governing in a very secretive manner, rarely consulting others. Maximilian for his part was impressed by Machiavelli’s judgment and political savvy.

Machiavelli was also introduced to Maximilian’s son and heir, Philip the Handsome. These two struck up a strong friendship, and it was Philip who convinced Machiavelli to leave the serve of the Florentine Republic and come advise him and his father. Philip pointed out the instability of the Florentine Republic, and the likelihood that the Medicis would be returned to power at some point once the focus in the Italian Peninsula shifted off of Naples. Philip reasoned that the Medicis would not be fond of having Machiavelli serve them as he had served the Republic. Machiavelli agreed to end his service to his native Florence and come to the Habsburg Court.

Machiavelli soon found that while Maximilian consulted very few people about his policies, Machiavelli himself had apparently become one of them. Machiavelli quickly rose to prominence with in the court and began to wield great influence. Historians believe that he was the one who finally convinced the Emperor to strip Christoph Kolumbus of his titles for his actions. Machiavelli also became the tutor for both Maximilian’s children with Anne of Brittany, and Philip’s children. In the latters’ cases, Machiavelli was also the one who negotiated the deal between Maximilian and Ferdinand of Aragon over succession in Iberia when it became clear Joanna would become Queen after the death of her older brother and sister.

Machiavelli remained the preeminent figure at court during Philip’s reign. He is largely believed to be the one who was responsible for convincing Philip he was justified in starting the War of the Imperial Crown, and later for supporting Martin Luther and the break with the Church in Rome from a political stand point (Machiavelli himself remain Roman Catholic until his death, however it is unknown as to where or not he was a practicing Catholic).
 
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