America - Albion's Orphan - A history of the conquest of Britain - 1760

[Alt History Buff]

1807 - December

Vienna

Emperor Francis II would struggle mightily with the reverses in Transylvania and Serbia. He had not expected the rebellions to sap the Austrians so greatly even before confronting the Russians. But the impending unification of Wallachia and Moldavia had spurred the Romanian peoples to covet Transylvania (at Russian encouragement). Now the Austrians were being pressed backward. It went without saying that no help would be coming from the German Confederation or France.

Francis would mourn the loss of his wife in 1807. Worse, he'd lost all but one of his sons to a Yellow Fever epidemic in 1804. The only survivor? The mentally feeble Ferdinand whom plainly could not govern.

Francis required a new set of male heirs...thus he needed a new wife. The Emperor blamed Ferdinand's feeble mind on inbreeding (his wife was closely related). Of course, all the great houses of Europe faced the same problem. This time, the Emperor would set his sights upon the young Maria Beatrice of Italy, now fifteen years old. Despite the war and standoffish relations between Austria and Italy, marriage alliance was considered a good way to smooth such problems.

It would take a full two years but the attractive princess would marry the Emperor after her 17th birthday. Her father, King Victor, had his own problems. Only one of his surviving children was male and the Prince and Heir had been stricken by smallpox, something which often resulted in sterility. As the King's younger brother was childless as well, the entire dynasty appeared in danger. Peace with ANY major power would likely help.

Moscow

Czar Paul was satisfied with the progress of the war thus far. Much of the Habsburg domains had fallen to the insurrectionists and Russians. The Orthodox peoples of the Balkans had finally taken steps to throw off the Catholic overlord.

Prince Alexander, now a father himself, was among the commanders of the expedition (though the Prince only nominally so given his youth). This made Paul quite proud. The father and son had their share of disagreements but the bond remained very strong.

Paris

Against all expectations, the aging King Louis XVI clung to life. His son and heir, Prince Louis, was forced to take ever greater positions in government, almost against his will. A somewhat timid youth by nature, the Dauphin was not well equipped to assume control should his father expire. Of course, everyone said the same thing about Louis XVI when he took over.

The problem was "everyone" had been largely right. Only a bizarre confluence of events had kept France from being challenged by foreign powers.

The Dauphin, intelligent but unaggressive, prayed his father may spare him the terrible responsibility for a few more years.

In the meantime, France dispatched forces to Wales and Northumbria to join the Anglian, Mercian, Northumbrian and Irish forces gathering in the British midlands to crush King William IV once and for all.

London

Though his victories remained admired and feared over the past two years, the truth was that Prince William of England had expended his limited resources fighting battle after battle to reconquer Britain...and still only occupied a small percentage of the rest of the island.

Now a great coalition was being formed to the north and William was uncertain....well, to be honest, DOUBTFUL...that he or his father's nation would survive the spring. To this day, he was shocked that the French hadn't just invaded southern England directly. The Royal Navy had been stripped of manpower and could hardly repulse the French. Fortunately, the ill-health of the King of France had temporarily taken center stage in Paris.

In December, 1807, King William IV expired....much to the relief of his subjects. Though he mourned his father, Prince William was quietly grateful that he now had a free hand to end the war. Hastily crowned King William V in London, the new monarch issued messages to his neighbors offering peace at the ante-bellum borders. Several neighbors, like Mercia, would scoff and rightly view this as desperation. However, Anglia, which remained partially occupied, was grateful to accept and William V was diligent in swiftly retreating. Northumberland similarly agreed to the armistice. And the French commander simply awaiting orders from Paris...which were not forthcoming.

Only Mercia and their Irish allies (and to an extent, the Welsh) demanded that the coalition continue the war. However, the political will had collapsed. The Welsh King stated that his own nation would agree to the armistice if France did. Bereft of allies, Mercia and Ireland were forced to agree.

Throughout the winter and spring of 1807, the English army retreated to previous borders without hesitation as a final peace was agreed...as dictated by France whose delegate, Mr. Tallyrand, would set the terms. In truth, they were not too harsh. England would retain her borders with only nominal reparations. King Louis was beyond caring about such things by now and the French nation, seeing the war expand in Europe and America, didn't want to spend her time crushing England.

However, Tallyrand wanted one little twist of the knife. The House of Hanover in England claimed title to all of Britain and Ireland for the past fifty years despite plainly having lost such rights. The price of peace would be King William V openly recognizing these other states as sovereign (which had never officially happened before) as well as giving up the claim to represent all of "England".

This meant that the "Kingdom of England" would henceforth become the "Kingdom of Wessex" after the ancient state.

"England" as Tallyrand snidely stated in mixed company, "was now merely a geographic concept".

 

[DTF955Baseballfan]

Well if King Victor's line goes extinct there are the bonapartes.

England merely a geographic concept. Well that's what they said about Germany centuries ago also, so there could be an England again.

 

[Odinson]

In December, 1707

Shouldn't this be 1807?

 

[Tarabas]

Well if King Victor's line goes extinct there are the bonapartes.

That's what we are hoping for, but I can't see this happening too smoothly. Napoleon's popularity might be high, but many would prefer some obscure branch of Savoy-something to take over instead of some upstart Corsican noble. Unless something big happens..

 

[Alt History Buff]

Shouldn't this be 1807?

Thanks, Corrected.

 

[Alt History Buff]

January, 1808

Naples

The Prime Minister of Naples, Floridablanca, had served in Italy for over a decade. A capable man, the Count had lost his position in Spain and was relegated to the serving Carlos IV in Naples. The Count had proven to be conscientious in his duties and Naples would prosper quietly. While Floridablanca had pressed the King to protect the Papal States from northern invasion, he failed to gain any support in Madrid and he stood by as the Savoyards consumed most of Italy.

Floridablanca would die in January, remembered well in both Spain and Naples.

Santa Fe

"James Smith" (formerly Armstrong Hyman Thruston) would march westward for months after his enlistment in the American army. Delegated to a regiment under Captain William Clark, the 200 man regiment would be dispatched as far west as Americans have travelled since George Vancouver reached the Pacific.

In Santa Fe, the newly promoted Major Winfield Scott (barely a boy in Clark's mind), was discovered to have turned the petty missionary outpost into a fortification. The trek westward was harrowing to say the least as the slow march / wagon train would crawl inexorably westward...almost always under the eyes of various tribes of Indians.

The Comanche in particular had a terrible reputation. Rumors of hordes of Indian warriors wandering about the plains may have been exaggerated but, on silent nights in the desert....one's mind could imagine.

On occasion, Indians would approach the column. "Smith" realized that this must be unusual this far west as the Spanish had seldom to never seen so many white men at the same time. Given that the Indians were prone to travel a wide area, it was obvious that perhaps a large-scale attack was unlikely before the command reached Santa Fe.

The most notable encounter was when a half dozen older Indians sat astride their ponies along the trail into the mountains concealing Santa Fe. Captain Clark had given strict orders not to shoot at any Indian unless the savages shot first. The last thing the Americans needed was starting a blood-feud with people whom outnumbered them in the region. Hundreds of miles away from American help was not the time to pick a fight. Instead, the American Captain would pantomime an invitation to dine to the old men, assuming they were tribal elders or something of the Comanche.

In truth, the old men were just that...old men. They had wandered eastwards from their tribe in search of game only to encounter the American forces. Over the evening, the lack of translators with the American party would prove problematic as no one could even discern the actual tribe. Instead, the men were given food, a warm spot by the fire and a bit of whisky and tobacco.

At dawn, the men wandered further east, silent almost the entire time. Fearing that the Comanche would side with the Spanish, the Americans were happy with the peaceful if mystifying meeting. Only later would it be revealed by Major Scott that these men were probably just Comanche "civilians", not actual tribal chieftains. Scott had also interviewed enough Spaniards in Santa Fe to realize that the Comanche of the Plains, though familiar with the Spanish, were not Spanish allies. The real Spanish support among the Indian population was more complex, more religious than political/military.

Upon reaching Santa Fe the previous year, Scott had looked anxiously upon the nearby Pueblo (and other tribal) villages, believing that the Catholic priests would encourage warfare. This was a primary reason why the then-Captain Scott would elect to keep the Spanish civilian population of Santa Fe within the town borders. With no real defensive position for hundreds of men, Scott would quickly throw up a modest earthen barricade. Certainly not enough to keep a nimble man from sneaking in but enough to halt Indian cavalry to easy access.

Clark would deliver news to Scott of his promotion to Major and inquire what Scott's strategy was. In truth, the question had lingered for months in the commander's mind as well. In the end, Scott had not enough men to do much more than hold the immediate environs of Santa Fe. The Virginian had enticed local tribesmen to visit the town, proving that the Catholics priests were not being mistreated (unlike Clark, Scott actually had men whom could translate). When Indians came to Santa Fe for assorted "white man's goods", the few hundred Spanish-speaking residents were welcome to do so. Indeed, the peace allowed Scott to purchase beef and other foodstuffs from local farmers to support the garrison.

Scott determined that he had just enough forces on hand to be dangerous...to himself. Any conflict with the larger regional tribes would be suicide as the Americans were sitting ducks in the town. Similarly, if a Spanish force approached, Scott doubted he could defend the town by battle or survive a siege.

Hundreds of miles away from home and incapable of further aggressive acts, Scott determined that holding the town was the best he could do for now.

Like many military men, he hated conceding the initiative. But marching on San Diego or towns to the south was impossible logistically and he'd struggled just keeping the peace with local tribes.

Vienna

Archduke Ferdinand, the simple heir to the Habsburg throne, would follow his brothers into death after an unfortunate incident where a servant left too larger a chicken bone in his soup. The mentally deficient youth expired after choking.

While a tragedy that the Archduke died at all, the fact that he was the last of Emperor Francis II's sons brought into focus that the succession was now in danger. Though it would take some time, Maria Beatrice of Italy would make her way in 1809 to Vienna to marry a man more than twice her age.


Gwalior, northern Maratha Empire

General Arthur Wesley was actually having fun. Being effectively pressed into the Peshwa's army had its benefits. Wesley was able to gain the aid of the Pakenham brothers (Thomas, Edward and Hercules), Irish gentry of the Longford Barony. Both families had effectively been run of out of Ireland decades prior by the new Catholic King and his minions, their lands confiscated. Well, the Pakenham lands were confiscated. Most assets of value in the Wesley name had been lost by Arthur's father and grandfather over the decades prior to the war.

Wesley had been commanded by the Peshwa to march north to Gwalior, a land dominated by a Rajput dynasty currently rebelling against the Peshwa. Leading 2000 Europeans provided by the BEIC, another 1000 by the other East Indies Companies (French, Dutch, Austrian) and 12,000 native troops (mostly Sikhs), Wesley would vanquish the Peshwa enemies in battle.

The local Prince was overthrown and his most pliant son put on the throne. Wesley left his friend Edward in command of the region and returned to Pune to report directly. To his surprise, the Peshwa proved more than generous in both praise and reward. Hundreds of thousands of Rupees were granted as well as the tax revenues of several districts around Gwalior were divided among the senior Anglo and Sikh commanders. Several leaders were even granted hereditary noble titles, something rare for non-Hindus in the Maratha Empire.

By this time, the Company (and no doubt the Sikhs) were uncertain what the Hindu nationalist Peshwa had in mind for their own. But it turned out the Peshwa cared more about crushing rebels than creating them among the Europeans and the Sikhs.

In due time, several more rebellions would spring up in various corners of the Indian subcontinent. Again and again, the Peshwa would call upon those whom proved their capacity, regardless of faith.

 

[souvikkundu25140017]

Very pragmatic mindset!!!

 

[Alt History Buff]

February, 1808

London, Kingdom of Wessex

While most of the physical devastation of the past two years of war had been restricted to England's...er, Wessex's....territories, that did not mean that the people of the newly renamed Kingdom of Wessex had escaped the second war King William IV had started via his own stupidity (the first led to the fragmentation of Britain, now often called Britainization). The unprovoked aggression against the majority of the other British Kingdoms would not soon be forgiven by any of Wessex's neighbors. Economically isolated, Wessex would face hunger and unemployment for years to come as few desired to trade with them.

King William V knew his father had been a poor monarch. He had usurped his elder brother Edward's throne and acted as puppet to the French. Then he'd refused to implement any socio-political reforms, even going so far as refusing to reinstate Parliament (as had every other British Kingdom). The new King knew his father was not, by nature, a tyrant. He had been afraid in the early years of the his Reign (particularly the ones which were less than legitimate as Edward had been alive) that reforming Parliament would result in a popular revolution against him. William V suspected that his father had hoped to reconquer Britain, thus providing some basis of support among the people and forestall a rebellion against his throne. Instead, all the man ever did was make the situation worse. He'd lost almost 3/4's of England in the "English Civil War" he'd started via his autocratic rule and then disturbed the peace in Britain with his unwise attempt to reconquer the island by force.

From the moment William IV had been laid to rest in Westminster (there was no public service as it would be unbecoming for the Royal Casket be pelted by dung), William V made every effort to normalize relations with his neighbors and, more importantly, France. It had been a miracle (and in no small part to William V's skill on the battlefield) that England....Wessex...even survived the past war. If France had not been distracted by the ill-health of Louis XVI....well, it would be quite likely that London would be under French occupation at this very moment.

Having lost two years of trade, suffered poor harvests (more due to loss of manpower in the fields than weather) and utterly bankrupted the nation to the point that the new Bank of London had collapsed, the nation was in poor financial straights. While not a man fond of ledgers, William V knew damned well that the nation would take decades to recover, likely the remainder of his reign no matter how long William V may live.

The English....Wessex...aggression of the last war would spur closer relations among the remainder of the British Kingdoms. Cornwall-Devon, Mercia, Anglia, Northumberland, Wales and Scotland would each renew their support for a local alliance cooperation in mutual defense, postal delivery, trade barrier reduction, etc. Naturally Wessex was not invited to participate at this time. William V suspected that this may change in the future as Wessex was ideally located as the nexus between Britain and Europe trade but, for the moment, he did not blame his neighbors one iota. He wouldn't trust Wessex either.

Another factor in the "northern alliance" as it was called in London was the surprising lack of involvement by the French. When William IV had initiated his mad scheme, most people on Britain assumed the French would deal with the problem directly. Instead, barely 10,000 French troops had been dispatched over 2 years. The French Navy only sporadically blockaded the coast of southern England, not even really raiding English shipping to a great extent. William IV had bet right on that category...but wrong everywhere else.

As with any war in Britain, the recent conflict would spur an exodus of citizens from the affected regions of Wessex, Mercia and Anglia for America. Later estimates would see 150,000 during the two year war and another 200,000 in the three years of immediate aftermath while the region suffered from economic collapse. Mercia and Anglia would receive loans from the Dutch and French....Wessex not so much. Again, William V could not blame them.

 

[Odinson]

I wonder if Britain will ever be reunited temporarily.
Like a British Yugoslavia.

Britoslavia

 

[BigBlueBox]

We might see British re-unification kick off in a few generations in a similar manner to OTL German unification, with one of the kingdoms established hegemony over the others and creating a federation with its king as the emperor.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1808 - March

The Algarve, Southwestern Spain (formerly Portuguese territory)

Against all expectation, the Portuguese peasant movement in the Algarve actually forced back the thousands of Spanish regulars which had sought to suppress the rebellion. Only the constant influx of fresh Spanish soldiers allowed Carlos IV's minions in command of the major towns of the Algarve. Thousands of Portuguese peasants would cross the border into Spanish territory with an eye on reclaiming the region for Maria the Mad (never called as such to her face).

In truth, by 1808, Prince Joao (John), Maria's only surviving son, had already assumed most controls of government as Regent. His seventy-ish mother was finally put to pasture by the Prince and the Royal Council. Though Joao loved his mother, he knew damned well that her forty year reign had been nothing but catastrophic for the nation. Beyond losing Brazil, failing to rebuilt Lisbon after the earthquake and halting any semblance of reform, the once-mighty naval power of Portugal was a god-damned mess. Only the backwards Balkan countries perhaps were less developed. Even Spain (SPAIN!!!) was in better shape than Portugal from a military, industrial, social, political, etc standpoint.

Finally shunting the old woman out of the way, the Council put Joao in command. Unfortunately, while SANE, Joao wasn't much better. Weak, indecisive, lazy and grotesquely fat, Prince Joao (the new Regent), clung to the absolutism that virtually every major nation in Europe was rejecting. Beyond attempting to stifle the Jesuits whom had effectively ruled in Maria's name for nearly five decades, not terribly much was going well for the impoverished and tiny nation at the corner of Europe.

With the army and navy effectively non-existent (the Portuguese common soldier was often seen begging for food on the streets of Lisbon and Porto), Portugal was practically ignored by the rest of Europe except as an occasional way-station for shipping passing by Iberia en route to somewhere else.

Joao would have been happy to live out his days in obscurity but the common Portuguese peasant would soon force the Prince to face the terrible prospect of yet another war with Spain.

Texas / Aethiopia Border - the Rio Grand

General Henry Dearborn grimaced as his painfully assembled army splintered among several outposts and fortifications between the Rio Grande and the Nueces Rivers as well as large numbers of cavalry forced to patrol hundreds of miles westward from the coast to ensure that the Spanish were not attempting a flanking maneuver.

In truth, Dearborn had not been impressed by the quality of soldier King Carlos IV had dispatched to America thus far. The handful of Spanish Regiments which had long guarded the border with America and Russia proved disappointing though it was well-established that these were the dregs of the Spanish military...which was saying a great deal as Spain's army was widely regarded as the worst in Europe.

As many of his volunteers headed home (he'd effectively called upon most of the able-bodied men of Aethiopia and Caledonia) to their homesteads, Dearborn was left with only 4000 regulars (a disproportionate number of the American Army) and 2000 semi-reliable militia.

The good news was that the Spanish were not apparently of any inclination to strike back for some reason. This gave Dearborn and his subordinate, Alexander Macomb, time to build up the fortified defenses along the frontier. Indeed, in just two years, so many Americans had spread across the Mississippi that remote outposts like San Antonio de Bexar had been repopulated by thousands of settlers. Even the town named after Moses Austin had seen an influx of new residents and now carried a population five times greater than when it had been destroyed by the Spanish.

Though Dearborn longed to attack south of the Rio Grande, even attacking with the totality of his forces upon Monterrey, the closest town of significance, would hardly guarantee victory. Defeat, of course, would leave the entirety of the western plains open to invasion. Even the modest influx of reinforcements and supplies after the devastating hurricane (it was still not publicly known that the Spanish fleet had been crippled) did little to alleviate his dearth of material on hand.

Instead, Dearborn was forced to wait at the border, wondering where the hell the Spanish were.

Valladolid (city west of Mexico)

Nicolas and Jose Michelena were the scions of prosperous secondary gentry. Young men of ambition were still held back in the Spanish Empire. Even the relative reforms of Brazil, Peru, Rio Plata, New Granada and New Spain would only moderately transfer power from the metropolis to the colonies. Some low-level positions were opened up to local gentry, particularly in Brazil and Peru. These positions were alternately prestige or financially rewarding (seldom both).

But offering a handful of alcalde, tax collector, customs inspector and junior officer commissions to the locals did little to satisfy the craving for additional power. New Spain, for example, had yet to reap many benefits as its loyalty was considered unquestioned (beyond the odd Indian rebellion).

But the Michelena brothers were among a young guard in New Spain whom desired more. They were hardly Republicans, far from it. They believed the gentry should rule...the LOCAL gentry. Meeting with friends and allies in Valladolid, these men would rally the local militia in demanding more local authority. Intending this to be but a peaceful protest, this would grow into a full-blown revolt as unpaid soldiers, Indian tribes, resentful aristocrats and political radicals gathered under the Michelena brothers' banner. A local recession would bring thousands of hungry and angry peasants to their side as well.

Both young men would quickly regret their actions as they presently realized that they had effectively declared war upon the King, something well beyond their original intentions.

By March, 1808, a mob of 20,000 men, women and children, pressed on by radical clergymen Father Vincente de Santa Maria, Father Huango and Father Hildalgo (of Dolores).The Michelena brothers realized that they must succeed...or hang.

The Zealand Islands

Many years prior, the Kingdom of North America would encourage the whaling trade on the Zealand islands, southeast of Bourbonia. These were not intended purely as colonies in the traditional sense but Americans had sailed out to the southern Pacific in moderate quantities in recent years, increasing the number of settlements and overall population of the Zealand islands to perhaps 20,000.

Whaling remained the most important and profitable product. However, the sheep-herding industry would also take off and employ a large number of these settlers.

The usual problem remained: these lands were not empty of souls. The local people went by many names (Maori most often) and were considered so violent that the Americans did all they could to avoid them. However, the Maori, enraged by the waves of smallpox and other diseases brought by the foreigners, would take out their frustration upon the American settlements and their livestock.

Despite the advantage in armament, the Americans could never quite crush the local tribesmen. In desperation, they would seek aid from the French governors of the Island of Bourbonia whom dispatched an army of "recruiters" to the smaller islands. The labor shortfall on Bourbonia remained a problem and the French had already consumed most of the smaller Pacific island populations for their sugar fields. Even New Guinea and the Solomon Islands were seeing whole swathes of land deserted of humans.

The American offer to allow the French to take as many of the damned Maori away from Zealand as they desired was welcomed. Indeed, the American islands and Bourbonia would quickly become trade partners, especially with the Spanish cutting off American shipping along the Straights of Magellan. The whale oil, fish and wool produced in the Zealand islands would quickly be purchased by the burgeoning demand on Bourbonia.

The Maori population, already in decline, would quickly be reduced further as "recruitment" escalated. Often, Americans would participate in the action for French coin.

Thus, the Maori would swiftly become part of the fabric of Bourbonia's French-Polynesian population mix.

In the early decades of the 19th century, the French would introduce a new game common to many European nations, including Britain. La Soule (or Choule) was a game often played between villages in which the men of one village would carry a leather covered pig-bladder through a mob of men from their rival village between a set of posts (or occasionally, before their church).

La Soule was played mainly in Normandy and a Norman immigrant would encourage his "workforce" to play on Sundays after mandatory Church in hopes of draining them of rebellious thoughts. The game soon became common as sugar plantations fielded teams against one another. Eventually, by the middle of the 19th century, the then-governor of Bourbonia would codify the rules, including standardizing the field of play.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Note that I've just started a new PD called Columbia's Children, an Alternate America.

I'll continue along with this one as well.

Hope you follow. Thanks.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1808 - April

Western Transylvania

As the Habsburg forces struggled to gather and oppose the Russian/Romanian/Bulgarian/Serbian alliance over the winter of 1807/8, only the bitter cold of the mountains slowed the enemy advance into the lands of St. Stephen (Hungary, Croatia and Transylvania). While many of the peoples of the diverse Habsburg Empire had rebelled in recent years, few desired Russian domination. However, the crushing economic collapse would hinder the Austrian resistance from the start.

By spring of 1808, over 2/3rd's of Transylvania (including the central regions colonized by Hungarians and Germans) had fallen to the enemy. The General Staff loathed the idea of retaking the easily defensible mountain passes but there seemed to be no particular other avenue. Indeed, it had been a monstrous struggle merely to put 120,000 men in the field. The borders with Poland, the German Confederation and Italy were denuded of men.

The Bohemians, Slovaks and Hungarians were particularly disinclined to volunteer in great numbers. On the Germans, Croats and, amazingly, the Bosniaks and Albanian Muslims supported the Emperor in force.

Serbia

As in Transylvania, the Serbian rebels, supported by Bulgars and Russians, would press the Habsburgs to the northwestern corner of Serbia. With the fall of Belgrade, Karadorde Petrovic, the leader of the rebellion, would be spontaneously declared King (to the fury of several high-ranking nobels). Per his promises, Petrovic would select a 100 man Diet consisting of supporters throughout the nation to construct a new Constitution and prepare Serbia for her first real election.

Warsaw

Frederick Augustus, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, would look in in horror as he read the dispatch from Dresden. A popular uprising had occurred and taken over the government. The rebels demanded that Frederick Augustus either renounce the Roman Catholic faith for Lutheranism and align the Electorate of Saxony with the German Confederation of the North...or abdicate in favor of a relative willing to practice the Protestant faith. Frederick Augustus' brother Anton was suggested as Frederick only had one surviving child: his daughter Maria.

Frederic had attempted to be the best of sovereigns, ruling with even-handedness and competence. However, the Electorate had become ever more dissatisfied with the arrangement of having a Catholic ruler of an overwhelmingly Protestant German people. This had long been useful for Saxony as it allowed dynastic marriages with the most likely threat: Austria. As the Electorate and Catholic Kingdom of Poland were held in personal union by the House of Wettin, this further enhanced Saxon prestige.

But the Protestant-dominated German Confederation would spend years encouraging closer ties with the Saxon people and, combined with Frederick's many prolonged absences in Poland (a far greater mess than Saxony), the common people had finally had enough.

The King-Elector was given an ultimatum: convert to Protestantism and return full-time to Dresden or ceded the Electorate to a Protestant. Most no doubt expected Frederick to march upon the Electorate from Poland. However, the King of Poland had spent a generation attempting to reorganize Poland into a viable state. Finally released from the Russian, Austria and Prussian clutches which kept Poland weak, the vast nation was finally making strides. But that was not necessarily the same thing as being capable of marching an army through Bohemia into Saxony.

In truth, Frederick had given much of this thought over the years. Lacking a male heir, he'd petitioned the Polish Diet to set aside Salic Law and make his daughter Maria his heiress in Poland. Still unmarried (and in her twenties now), Marie had been suggested as marriage material for Josef Poniatowski, of the powerful Polish clan.

Tired at the constant fight to maintain his patrimony, Frederick wondered if it was indeed time to separate Saxony and Poland.

 

[G-6]

At least he still has

 

[wwbgdiaslt]

I'm looking track a little of all of the English monarchs and how they are related, have you got a family tree to clarify?

 

[Alt History Buff]

1808 - May

Western Transylvania

With the onset of Spring, the Habsburg forces prepared for what many suspected would be the Emperor's last opportunity to regain Transylvania and Serbia. Francis II would dispatch over 100,000 soldiers (mainly German, Croat, Albanian and Bosniak with less enthusiastic quantities of Slovaks, Bohemians and Hungarians). The lack of Hungarian enthusiasm was particularly galling to the Emperor as Transylvania had been part of the Crown of St. Stephen (Hungary). The eastern Hungarian (and German) settlers in eastern Transylvania were the ones being crushed by the Romanians and Russians. Did the damned Hungarians not care?

Francis was uncertain just how many enemy combatants were in the field. Some of his General Staff proposed as many as 200,000 now well-positioned for defense in the mountains of western Transylvania and North-western Serbia.

Serbia

If there was one good bit of news militarily, it was that the Serbs appeared to be distracted by the Crown supporters in Bosnia (now wasn't THAT ironic?) and much of the theoretical military power of the Serbian Kingdom under their peasant King was concentrating on the Musselmen whom deemed the Emperor the lesser of two evils.

Already, many Bosniaks and Albanian Musselmen were fleeing the region for safer pastures. Thousands had already voyaged to the Levant where they sought the safety of the peaceful Near East.

Warsaw

King Frederick Augustus of Poland and Elector of Saxony would receive the petition from the rebels now controlling the latter. It was hardly surprising. They wanted a political separation from their old Habsburg alliance and alignment with the German Confederation. Already the latter was hinting that they would oppose any attempt by Poland or Austria to reinstall Frederick upon the Saxon throne. Granted, one must take this threat with a grain of salt as the German Confederation was hardly a unified alliance. Were they really planning on dispatching armies south?

Frederick doubted it.

But did the Elector want to do so?

The issue of faith in Saxony was complex. Utterly dominated by Lutheranism, the German state tolerated a Roman Catholic Elector for political reasons which may no longer apply.

In truth, Frederick was tired. He was an honest man in a world that was changing too quickly. There seemed no reason why Poland and Saxony should be unified any longer. Already prepared to see one of his younger brothers as successor of Saxony (where Salic Law held sway) and possible Poland (where the new Diet installed in recent decades would perhaps be willing to set it aside for Frederick's Catholic daughter, Maria Augusta).

In a move that would shock Europe, Frederick would attempt to negotiate a settlement with Saxony. If one of his younger brothers, the childless Anton and Maximilian (whom just lost his wife), were to prove acceptable to the Saxons....well, that was acceptable to Frederick as well. Frederick had his hands full reforming Poland where he was both accepted and popular by the larger nation.

Anton was perhaps more religiously motivated and unlikely to be wiling to convert to Lutheranism. But Maximilian's wife was now dead and his male heir was less than ten years old. Now may be the time for Maximilian to stake his claim on the throne in a manner acceptable to the Saxons.

Santa Fe

Armstrong Hyman Thruston, now known as James Smith (or was it JOHN Smith? Thruston could not remember some days. On one occasion, he got it mixed up and had to tell his C/O that he answered to both as he full name was James John Smith), was deeply regretting his actions. He'd assumed that the death of the tyrant King would be greeted with open arms by the people of the Slave Dominions. Instead, the exact opposite happened. While most Americans mourned the eminent George Washington's death, the fact that Thruston had attempted to kill the King was met with outrage across all American society. Indeed, the citizens of the "Slave Dominions" fell over themselves to affirm their loyalty to the Crown and Thruston was condemned most roundly by those he'd presumed to aid.

Now he was stuck in Santa Fe, surrounded by a host of hostile tribes. In truth, the Americans were slowly learning the facts of frontier politics. The Spanish missions were not necessarily popular with neighboring tribes...but they also were not a threat. Various tribes looked fondly upon the priests and petty Spanish functionaries while other held them in contempt. Most just ignored them. The region was vast and Spain had done little to populate or tame the lands between San Diego, Santa Fe, San Antonio and Chihuahua. Mostly desert and mountain with few to no resources yet found worth exploiting, the influence of the Spanish was more religious than administrative. Even then, the personal dynamism of the local priests was more telling regarding Indian relations than anything else.

Major Scott, the commanding officer from Virginia, would immediately see that his supply line was impossible to protect and sought good relations with the local Indians. Indeed, the four hundred and fifty American soldiers in Santa Fe (now most of the population) was utterly dependent upon the handful of nearby Spanish farmers and those of the nearby tribes. Already, the Major had confiscated anything from the American ranks which may be easily traded for cattle, pigs and whatever else the locals produced. Unlike the Comanche, Apache, Fox and other "Plains" tribes, many of the local Indians of the mountains were sedentary rather than migratory. When Indians arrived to trade, they were plied with alcohol and false cheer from the American officers. Dire warnings were issued to any soldier whom assaulted an Indian without evidence of previous threat.

No one knew, even the Spanish, how many Indians were nearby. No doubt far more than four hundred and fifty...and they knew the land far better than the Americans. Months in Santa Fe had allowed the industrious Americans to build up an extensive defensive position which would protect them from any form of cavalry assault by Indians (though many of the local tribes were not known as horsemen). The earthen ramparts by now circled the town and makeshift gates of wagons would open by day and close by night. Guards were posted at all times.

Isolated outposts were set up on nearby hills to give early warning of any advancing Indian or Spanish forces.

Santa Fe in early 19th century.

"Port Washington" New American settlement at northern shore of Rio Grande River mouth.

If Henry Dearborn was annoyed that the late General Washington was honored by having the small American settlement at the mouth of the Rio Grande named after him while Dearborn had yet to hear if Fort Wilkerson was going to be renamed in HIS honor (as had been rumored for literally years), the General did not show it. Instead, Dearborn merely held a solemn ceremony with his troops and pronounced the town's new nomenclature and went about his business of preparing for the inevitable Spanish counterattack across the Rio Grande.

Just as he'd been waiting for months.

Where the hell were the Spanish anyway? Did they not WANT this region back?

In all honesty, he would not have blamed them. The region was a grotesque mix of coastal swamp, inland prairie and outright desert. Who the hell WOULD want it?

Apparently, America. Well, Dearborn decided he'd waited long enough. He'd gathered as many supplies as he could in advance locations. Some new troops had arrived, apparently without Spain interested in halting them as sea for some reason.

There comes a point when one can only prepare for defense so long without losing focus. And Dearborn had no intention of doing that. Instead, the General looked upon a map south of the Rio Grande. He'd come to believe that the greatest local river was the best line of defense. But perhaps ceding the initiative to the Spanish had been a poor decision. Dearborn had long held, against his aggressive junior officers' urgings, that Monterrey, the closely thing to a city within 200 miles of "Port Washington" was too far away and too heavily populated (relatively speaking) for his meager forces to threaten.

The Rio Grande was fed to the west by a northern-flow tributary called the San Jose River. Near the San Jose headwaters was the headwaters of another river, the San Fernando, which flowed parallel to the Rio Grande. On the map, this provided potentially another nice neat geographical region to carve out of New Spain. Monterrey, unfortunately, was west of the San Jose...but what can one do?

The American army, certain of a major counter-attack by land and sea, had been stationary too long. It was time to put the enemy on the back foot. Under the god-awful heat of June, the Americans were march again (this was part of his strategy of surprising the enemy).

Eventually the Spanish would put up a fight?

Right?

Ciudad de Mexico

The "Army of Valladolid" arrived at the gates of Mexico City. More of a mob than an army, the leaders of the rebellion would call upon peasants, reformists, even Indians to support the demand for a representative government, the first major movement for such in the Spanish Empire. To their shock, no Spanish Army awaited them as few to no Peninsulars had actually arrived in New Spain over the past months...or years. Instead, they found a haphazard mix of Alcaldes and other local elites...many of which desired reform as well in order to increase their own power. Even the church was divided.

The only reinforcements of note were three regiments from South America funded and dispatched by the local governments. The highest rank was granted to Francisco Miranda of Caracas, the scion of a wealthy merchant family. Among his adjutants was a young man just returned from receiving his education in Spain named Simon Bolivar.

 

[Lost the game]

sedimentary

Personally I prefer my native Americans to be igneous

 

[luis3007]

Right, it seems the whole Spanish New World will stumble into independence or at least autonomy from Spain while the Americans fight the weather and the Indians rather than the Spanish army.

 

[Alt History Buff]

I'm looking track a little of all of the English monarchs and how they are related, have you got a family tree to clarify?

England:
Edward V
William IV (the Usurper)
William V

Cornwall: House of Waldeck
Christian August I

Wales: House of Oldenburg
George Ludwig I

America: House of Hanover
Henry IX
Frederick I

Northumberland: House of Hanover
Edward I

Anglia: House of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Frederick William I

Mercia: House of Saxe-Meinigen
Ulrich I

Scotland: House of Atholl
John I

 

[Alt History Buff]

1808 - July

London, Kingdom of Wessex

William V continued to deal with the aftermath of his late father's disastrous attempt to reconquer England (and presumably the rest of Britain). Instead, William IV had bequeathed his son a bankrupt nation, politically isolated from all of Britain and, effectively, the rest of Europe. Peace had returned but William's throne appeared in great danger of rebellion.

Not that the King could blame his people. William loved his father but the late King would probably be remembered as the most evil man to rule England since Mortimer and the most incompetent since Henry VI (another man whom gave away a Kingdom due to his own incapacity). William IV's inability to compromise had led to the rebellions which resulted in Northumbria, Mercia and Anglia breaking away from England, ending all hope not only of reuniting Britain someday but even returning England to the ranks of a second rate power.

Then, William IV's ill-advised war had bankrupted the nation as well.

The worst of it was that William V had urged his father to reinstate some form of Parliament. It didn't have to be the dominating Parliament of the previous centuries whom turned the King into a figurehead (and little more). But William IV steadfastly refused, often blaming the existence of Parliament upon the nation's defeat in the 7 Years' War.

Now, what was left of England (William V still had a hard time referring to his nation as "Wessex") utterly loathed the memory of his father and the population bayed for blood. Revolution seemed imminent and the new King could understand why. The House of Hanover, summoned just a century prior, had overseen the destruction of the island power.

William considered summoning a Parliament...but feared that his people would demand an abolition of the monarchy. If the common people had gotten their hands on his father, then William IV would likely have faced the headsman's axe similar to King Charles. Indeed, if the people of Wessex (that still sounded odd) opted to do away with the monarchy, William would understand. It HAD served them badly.

But the chaos of selecting a new crowned head...or setting up a republic akin to the murderous one which had preceded in Mercia...would be even worse.

Though he genuinely desired for a return of a Parliament of some sort, William V would hold off until the nation's economy and political life stabilized enough for people to make rational decisions. William would, however, summon a new Privy Council intended to show he was willing to seek and listen to advice.

For the moment, it was the best he could do.

Scotland

Under the new House of Atholl, Scotland continued to struggle. Much of this was due to a combination of factors:

1. High Population increase due to high birth rate, peace, the potato and the Smallpox vaccine (Scandinavia was seeing a similar phenomenon).
2. An agricultural revolution which resulted in landlords and clan leaders slowly pushing peasants off the land to concentrate upon wool production and, in the new crofting communities to which the people were relocated, kelping.
3. Massive unemployment as the kelping industry began to struggle by the 19th century due to competition from Spain.
4. Reduction in British trade. Though Scotland did not even participate in the last war but was affected by it as its manufactures in the cities lost substantial demand.

All of this resulted in a substantial emigration of Scots to America where opportunity seemed higher. Many former landlords even paid their passage just to be ride of the unwanted tenants.

King John I would quite openly encourage closer ties to the rest of Britain in hopes of replicating the economic prosperity of the former united Island.

Political agitation continued for greater expansion of the franchise.

Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and South Carolina

The demise of the slave trade had, in the eyes of later historians, effectively doomed slavery to a slow death. But "Slave Dominions" remaining in America would attempt to extend it as much as possible. Voluntary manumissions were becoming increasingly common....only to be banned by the Dominion governments. When this was challenged and defeated in the Supreme Court, the national law was only sporadically enforced.

By the 19th century, the fear of rebellion prompted all four of the remaining "Slave Dominions" to pass a law which demanded any "Manumitted" person to be transferred abroad lest they encourage rebellion further. Migration from America to Africa had always been modest at best. Probably no more than 5% of manumitted slaves in the Kingdom of North America were returned to Africa.

With the obvious national mood turning against slavery (including in Parliament and the Throne), these attempts to get around the national law were getting increasingly desperate.

While the ban on Manumission was rejected by the Supreme Court, it would take years for another case to reach the docket challenging the "mandatory" export of manumissions.

With abolitionism increasingly common throughout the nation (even in some of the Slave Dominions themselves), funds were made available for repatriation to Africa. There was a wave of voluntary manumissions at this time...but it tended to be disproportionately the aged, the "worn-out" slaves, the lame, the mentally deficient, etc which were manumitted while the healthy and valuable slaves were kept in the fields and kitchens. As the latter were the ones most likely to breed, this wave of manumissions would have relatively little effect on the slave demographics.

In 1801's census, there were an estimated 367,000 slaves in these four Dominions. Over 46,000 were "repatriated" to Africa from 1801 to 1808 but most of these were those slaves deemed superfluous to the needs of their owners. Rarely did the slaveowners themselves pay for the passage. Most were happy to let someone else pay to get rid of useless mouths to feed (it was long considered "ungentlemanly" to throw a worn-out slaves onto the streets).

The core problem continued to fester.

Much more important to the plantation owners was the fact that field hands, disproportionately young and male (by some estimation over 75% of runaways were male and under the age of 30), continued to flee in great numbers.

Sporadic waves of indentured labor (usually in synch with trouble in Britain) would arrive to help offset the labor shortfall but there was only so much indentures could do. The practice had been ongoing long enough that the indentures had learned to ensure that their contracts precluded any service in South Carolina, considered the worst place to serve by health standards.

As usual, the elites of these Dominions would find ways around the problem. As indentures would refuse to serve in South Carolina, an internal migration was set up. Slaves from Maryland and Virginia would wake up to their morning chores only to find their master had surrounded their quarters with armed men. These slaves would be put in chains and marched to South Carolina. Later, indentured servants would take up residence in the Virginia and Maryland slave quarters.

From 1806 to 1810, this movement was so remarkably efficient that over a third of the "useful" slaves in Virginia and Maryland had been marched south, mainly to the South Carolina rice, cotton and indigo fields. Combined with "repatriation" to Africa of the aged slaves, voluntary manumissions of "healthy" young slaves, large-scale slave escapes, etc, this would greatly affect the demographics of the "Upper" Slave Dominions.

By 1810, the quantity of slaves would drop by nearly half from 1800 in Virginia and Maryland. And those whom remained would become disproportionately young and...female. Female slaves were always in demand as maids, cooks and, of course, mistresses. Over 70% of registered slaves were female by this time in these Dominions and a lower and lower percentage would serve in the fields. Often, their mixed race children would never be registered as slaves if their complexions were fair enough. They would be quietly referred to as "servants" rather than slaves.

Though the phenomenon was never truly captured scholastically, it was estimated that most of the children born by these "upper" Slave Dominion women were fathered by whites (often the master of the house or his male relatives but quite often by white free labor or indentured servants). Many of these children were not just half European but frequently 3/4's, 7/8's or even 15/16's as such relationships often occurred generation after generation. Yet many remained in bondage (though often of a less harsh version of slavery).

As the demographics skewed towards women in the "Upper" Slave Dominions, these women were less likely to flee due to fear of separation from their children. Also, many would realistically expect a softer life given they bore their owner's child and that the children would someday be set free (quite often, these were quietly walked across the border to a "Free" Dominion when they reached a certain age when they could attempt to assimilate into white society). Some of the female mixed-race children were offered as wives to indentured servants whom had served their time.

Those slaves shipped south would be concentrated into ever larger plantations. Here the worst face of slavery was witnessed.

Thus, by the end of the first decade of the 19th century, slavery was slowly being erased via a number of measures in Virginia and Maryland, was effectively frozen in North Carolina (where indentured servants outnumbered the slaves) and remained in force in South Carolina.

Agriculture was changing in the coastal Dominions as tobacco too rapidly exhausted the land. Instead, horse-breeding, grain, cattle, sugar beets, hemp, bamboo, flax (the previous three for textiles), brandy, whisky and other goods were produced in large quantities. Mixed with an increase in manufactures, the "Upper" Dominions would see a vastly diversified economy which would set them further and further apart from the Carolinas.