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

Chapter 335
1874

New Orleans, Hanover Dominion


Despite the admirable efforts of the River Cows (Hippos) imported over the past century to the lower Mississippi, the seemingly endless varieties of weeds introduced to the Mississippi threatened to choke it off. One local inventor would even produce a specialized "weed-catcher" intended to be put upon the prows of steamships as they travelled up and down the Mississippi River tear out the noxious weeds. But this would never be put into practice.

In all reality, the weeds were likely in the Mississippi to stay though the River Cows kept the worst effects from halting traffic. It was the local tributaries which caused the most trouble but this could be dealt with especially as River Traffic was, while still importantly, no longer the only transport artery north and south. At least two railroads ran adjacent the Mississippi and transport could be made from Chicago to New Orleans without ever setting foot upon a boat.

Still, the city of New Orleans, which always had a habit of being unique, would find a way to be successful. Better than most American cities, it would accept virtually all comers. Here Catholics did not bear witness to any "No Irish Need Apply" signs while Negroes and Mulattos were welcomed to reside wherever they could afford. Most settled into "Ethnic" neighborhoods but, unlike other regions of the nation, the black district was as pretty....and filthy...as their white counterparts. Various shades of brown moved in as well including Roma, Copts and other southern Mediterranean types like Greeks, Lebanese, etc.

Already possessing a legacy population of French, it would receive a healthy Spanish (including Mestizo, Mulattos, etc) immigration from the West Indies and New Spain. New Orleans also, for unknown reasons, became one of the first possessors of a visible Italian neighborhood in British North America. No one knew exactly how they arrived. Some say a group of Italians immigrated from the Peninsula to Brazil, found some labor contract unsatisfactory and opted to return home but lacked the funds for a full voyage and somehow ended up in New Orleans. Eventually, they would prosper and send for their families. No one knew if this was true but the story would be believed by many.

It was often said one could walk blindly and dumb throughout each neighborhood and know where one was by the smell of cooking fires alone.

Each ethnic neighborhood would form their own enclave but the overall culture of the city became mixed. The Catholics - French, Black, Roma, Spanish, etc - would celebrate Mardi Gras as few other places would on earth. Even the Orthodox would take the time to enjoy the show. Protestants would hold themselves aloof....but that was understood as they were Protestants, after all, and it would take another century before they started to partake in the show (which by that point had little practical religious connotation).

One particular great event in American history occurred in 1875 in Hanover:

In 1874, the Tulane University "Fighting Hippos" would challenge the Louisiana University (the name Louisiana hailed from a secondary school which once occupied the grounds before the Dominion was renamed "Hanover") "Ragin Royals" to a match of La Soule. The game was taught by a Bourbonian who played in that French colony years before where various plantations would pit their men, largely Pacific Islanders, against the others. However, here the rules were finally set down including a ban on passing the ball forward, codifying that each team was to possess only 12 players and attempted to stamp down upon the worst of the violence. The schools would give one year to learn these new rules (during which time these codes had been sent to other schools in the region) and then the two were to play in 1875.

The Tulane squad travelled from New Orleans to Baton Rouge and, before an enormous crowd of 800 people, would batter one another for an hour until Tulane won out, 18 to 15. This was the first recorded "La Soule" game on American soil and it would soon spread throughout the nation particularly after 1900 when the then-King would pronounce it his favorite sport and insert further modifications of the code to reduce unseemly violence and ask that any gentlemen wagering do so away from the field.

Meanwhile, another code which banned any players utilizing their hands would become popular in the north and, for two generations, the north and south looked upon one another's respective sports with disdain.

Manhattan

With a smirk, King Henry II would realize that three of the last six men he'd knighted were, of all things, Jews. These included Judah Benjamin, Benjamin D'Israeli and Lionel de Rothschild. There was already some grumbling over this but all three had served the nation honorably.

Benjamin had elected to retire from government, D'Israeli had lost a power struggle to his colleagues in the Ministry and was ousted from his Foreign Secretary position while de Rothschild's bank of New Jersey had served almost as a second national bank for the Kingdom.

His son and heir, Alfred (the King had determined he didn't like being "Henry II" or the "second" of anything so why not give his son a unique name?), would ask for permission to travel on a "North American Grand Tour". Apparently, he wished to see Russian America (who could pronounce the full name), California and Anahuac and possibly even New Spain. The King agreed...in another two years or so when he was sure his son could comport himself.

In the meantime, the King's doctors would become concerned with a lump on his neck and referred him to a specialist.

South Zealand

Over the course of the 1870's, the islands of North Zealand, South Zealand and Van Diemensland would realize that they met the qualifications for Dominionhood in British North America....but had not been given any formal invitation by the government. While local assemblies had been formed decades before and the King's appointed governors had actually granted a measure of independence GREATER than most American territories, the people of these remote islands would begin to wonder as to their future.

Would they seek greater autonomy?

Or would they choose to seek Dominionhood?

Isthmus of Panama, Viceroyalty of Nuevo Granada

As the Kingdom of Spain (or her dependents) lacked any realistic level of engineering expertise for the great project ahead of them, the King of Spain would select a French engineer to lead the project of cutting a swath between the two oceans.

While the physical labor itself was daunting, the general opinion among the technological community was that disease was the true enemy of this project.

Within months, thousands of men fell ill of malaria while hundreds died. The massive Spanish Empire would bring in laborers from New Spain to Rio Plata and by 1875, the cemeteries of Panama were already being filled by a diverse workforce.

By 1876, laborers would be scarcer and scarcer. Eventually, the assorted governments would look to fill their quotas of recruits by emptying the jails of Latin America as forced workers. Many Vice-Royalties were elated with the opportunity to evict these malcontents. However, public opposition soon formed in many regions.

It was also pointed out that non-Europeans were disproportionately represented in these manpower harvests.

The actual managers of the project also loathed the prisoners, who had little to no reason to work hard, and derided them as "inutile aux seins sur un taureau" (useless as tits on a bull).

Eventually, the forced labor was abandoned as non-functional while the deaths of malaria and yellow fever added up. Finally, a female mulatto nurse by the name of Delphine would read a medical journal of Dr. Carlos Finley of Cuba that mosquitos were the carrier of these diseases and determined several ways to combat the mosquitos including draining stagnant swamps, pouring oil and chemicals into pools of water, etc.

While Delphine was forgotten to history for nearly a century, Carlos Finley was, in the 1880's, presented with a belated medal for his theories. Indeed, the "Finley Prize" would be bestowed upon doctors worldwide from 1896 onward by French Kings for great contributions to the advancement of Medicine.

By 1880, the methods to control the mosquito proposed by Delphine were studied and adapted by French army Doctor Charles Laveran and the plague of both malaria and yellow fever were reduced to annoyances. Laveran would receive the Finley prize himself in 1897 for his efforts to eliminate the plague in the West Indies.

Then, construction could recommence in earnest and the "Isthmus Canal" would make rapid progress with the latest construction machines and dynamite, a relatively recent invention of the brilliant Swedish man Nobel.
 
Last edited:
Chapter 336
1874

Southern Africa (now an official EIC subsidiary)


By 1874, the Company mines (the EIC maintained a monopoly on all below ground resources) were churning out huge amounts of metal wealth. Though this still paled in comparison to the agricultural wealth being pulled from the Congo (mainly rubber, palm oil and cotton), Southern Africa was rapidly increasingly in importance to the Company. While the Company did little to halt panning for gold or diamonds in alluvial deposits (this was deemed not worth the effort), the deep mines were controlled directly and the workers well-paid. More and more Europeans migrated in and, in a stunning move, formed a successful union. While the company paid competitive salaries, the unions were more interest in maintaining their dominance and thus managed, in a series of general strikes, to ensure that "African" labor not be utilized in the future. This was deemed a challenge to the Company power and some Directors would recommend simply closing the mines, getting rid of ALL the workers and replacing them with Africans or Javans.

However, this would result in years of reduced revenues and this the Company could not abide. Thus, the agreement was reached. The EIC would follow provided that miners would continue to arrive in adequate numbers (which they would for decades).

By the mid-1870's, the demographics would swiftly change in Southern Africa. Jews had been the first major group enticed to the region but eventually the number of miners required greatly exceeded those Jews willing to do the work (they preferred working on their "Kibbutz's" or what-have-you). The Poles, Germans, Russians, etc (who the Jews were trying to escape) began to arrive in greater numbers, largely to the northern or northeastern regions of Southern Africa to work the mines. Of course, many did not desire to do so and swiftly turned to farming or other useful occupation.

The Jews began to realize that their leverage over the EIC was waning. While they may be profitable farmers, etc, that did not mean that their presence was profitable to the Company. Slowly, the Jews would begin to organize should the Company ever deem their presence or power a threat.

Burma

The King of Burma, facing several internal rebellions, would receive offers from BOTH China and the Maratha Empire for aid. However, the offer from the Marathas included more modern weapons AND fewer actual Maratha "advisors", which left the King feeling that he was less likely to became a pawn to the easterners rather than the northern Chinese.

This single...and entirely rational....decision would eventually be a major step towards war in Southeast Asia.

Manhattan

With Aquitania receiving official Dominion status in 1874 and Cilisia in 1875, the Kingdom of British North America continued to grow.

King Henry II would plan on formally being present in these regions for the first major elections to take place in the winter of these regions. Not for the first time, a King of British North America would agree to travel to a warm region during the harsh Manhattan winter.

In the meantime, the Queen (seemingly perpetually pregnant) would face greater questions as to how she would govern the Kingdom of Oldenburg. Her mother died years before and she'd only been back to Europe twice since. It was apparent that Her Majesty had no intention of relocating to Germany. Instead she seemed content to leave the petty German state to her Minister, Maximillian van Washington, in perpetuity.

However, there was always a backdrop of concern, stemming from a century prior, that the monarchy would somehow force America to be beholden to the whims of a tiny European country. Several high-ranking politicians advocated that Her Majesty cede her European patrimony to her younger son or one of her daughters when the time came. To this, the Queen utterly refused and her temper soon became legendary. While not a generally unpleasant woman, Queen Adelheid did not like being told what to do and quashed any such talk. Her eldest son had been born to rule and thus he would!

When the King was approached privately on the subject, he caustically retorted that American Ministers should not deign to interfere in "Foreign Relations". The King had never done a thing to advocate Oldenburger interests via American power and vowed never to do so. If His Majesty ever were to place his wife's patrimony before his own....THEN the government may approach him. Not before.

Most took the hint and opted to remain silent, including the leaders of the government.

While the issue was not dead, it was put to rest for the moment.

Aquitania

Henry II would spend several weeks of his journey to Aquitania being worn down by his son regarding his "Grand North American Tour". Eventually, the King realized the true reason behind this torture. Alfred had been in communication with the young Princess Alexandra (Drina) for years and sought to learn if she was as pretty as the pictures sent to him indicated). While the King did not believe his sixteen year old son was ready for such worries, he determined to let him go in 1875, a year earlier than planned.

Henry II had been given the gift of marrying the woman he desired (within limits) and he felt his son deserved no less.

Father and son would personally welcome Aquitania to Dominion status in 1874 and their visit was remembered for generations. The power of monarchy was like that.
 
Chapter 337
1875

Manhattan


For the second time in history, the King of British North America would Knight a man of color. This one was a semi-professional mathematician and astronomer who had successfully estimated the orbit of the eight plant in the solar system in 1864 and found it in 1866. Naming the planet "Hades" after the God of the underworld, the solar system would grow greatly. Indeed, the large moon orbiting the planet was even named after Hades' wife, Persephone.

With his eldest son (of two) off on his "North American Grand Tour", the King concentrated on mundane issues. He would travel west again this year to Cilisia where yet another Dominion was due to join the nation. He assumed some ribbon cutting or something would occur.

Fortunately, this was a quiet time in America, relatively speaking. The economy was good in most regions as no banking failures had occurred since the last major retoggling of the banking system. Peace did not seem to be disturbed in Europe or Spanish Latin America (no further rebellions).

Immigration was beginning to become an issue as the cities were becoming swamped with foreigners. Half of Brooklyn and the Bronx was German even as Irish immigration had finally tapered off after the "Indenture Act of 1874" officially banned most forms of Indenture, particularly relating to foreigners. Naturally, the south-central coastal regions like South Carolina would protest but there was little they could do as their workforce dried up. As it was, the recovery of Ireland from their Famine had reduced the number of Indentures to a nominal amount by the 1860's and the institution had apparently run its course.

It was under these circumstances that the King was informed that the tumor on his throat appeared to be malignant.

The Ottoman Empire


By 1875, the last remnant of the old Ottoman Empire was cast aside when the new Sublime Porte formally renounced any further claims outside her borders and withdrew any persecutions upon the by-now tiny non-Muslim minority in the Empire.

The Ottoman Empire was declared defunct and the Sublime Port officially renaming his country "Anatolia". He publicly vowed to make his nation the most modern in the world and thus commenced a massive campaign of social, religious, educational and economic reform. Many western and eastern rulers (including Spain, Egypt and China) had attempted to do this but few with such dogged determination as the Porte. He would close down dozens of religious institutions and move the money towards "modern" centers of learning with an emphasis on engineering, economics and other suitable "modern" pursuits.

Though many of the old guard would object, the Porte had the backing of the military, industrial and reformist sectors and the Imams and other groups were pushed aside. Within a few years, Anatolia had a greater percentage of her youth studying industry and technology than any other on earth.

Paulgrad, Tikhookeaskoya


Prince Alfred of British North America would not realize at the time (though he would by the end of his life) that kneeling before his beloved would become tradition, the act of the Prince on bended knee offering his beloved a diamond ring would carry on through the ages.

Knowing that marrying a common like some of his aunts had done was utterly unacceptable for the future King, the Prince would think more and more about the pretty Russian princess he'd met years before and pressed his father to allow him on a good-will tour of Tikhookeaskoya (and other North American regions, of course, but the Prince only cared about Paulgrad).

If anything, Princess Drina had grown only more beautiful in the years since they'd met and her genuine warm personality (so different from her bitch of a mother) could not help but come through. Surprisingly, the Princess had learned English (the King of Tikhookeaskoya believing that a match with British North America may do much to preserve his own Kingdom) and the two were able to converse in relative privacy (always observed but not always within earshot).

As a sign of his earnestness (not to mention desire), the Prince knelt and offered the Princess his ring in representation of his intention to demand her hand once his father approved. Tired of her parents, the Princess was more than happy to agree (again, pending her father's approval).

Only the most dire urgings of the Prince's escorts and advisors (including the elderly Abraham Lincoln) would even get the Prince to continue his Grand Tour to the regional Kingdoms and Vice-Royalties. It was pointed out that California, Anahuac and New Spain would be insulted if the Prince failed to arrive per his plans. Fortunately, the Prince WAS persuaded by worried and amused attendants to continue the adventure (these men ASSURING him that the Princess would not change her mind in the following few weeks) and the general experience proved positive both for the Prince and American relations with her neighbors as Alfred proved capable of diplomacy once his hormones calmed down.

But his self-pleasuring pursuits behind closed doors would not allow for the Prince to wait a single day after arriving home in Manhattan to demand that the King agree to the marriage. The King assumed that he had a few months to "think about it" but the alarmed Prince would so vehemently stalk his father than Henry II agreed just to shut his son the hell up.

By the end of 1875, the marriage negotiations were complete and the Prince already pining for spring of 1876 in which his beautiful Russian bride arrived. The Prince had been raised to respect the Church and therefore pre-marital sex was not accepted. However, the Prince was already being advised by friends, advisors and his father of what to expect and Alfred was more than ready to go.

Some Americans would be put off by the girl's religion (though she agreed to abide by the Church of America (the Church nominally led by the King) but the King would point out that the Queen had accepted this faith, thus who in America would deign to argue with the throne?

In the end, there would be some short-term resentment when Drina arrived but this would not last long, particularly when the young couple began shooting out heirs.
 
1875

Manhattan


For the second time in history, the King of British North America would Knight a man of color. This one was a semi-professional mathematician and astronomer who had successfully estimated the orbit of the eight plant in the solar system in 1864 and found it in 1866. Naming the planet "Hades" after the God of the underworld, the solar system would grow greatly. Indeed, the large moon orbiting the planet was even named after Hades' wife, Persephone.

With his eldest son (of two) off on his "North American Grand Tour", the King concentrated on mundane issues. He would travel west again this year to Cilisia where yet another Dominion was due to join the nation. He assumed some ribbon cutting or something would occur.

Fortunately, this was a quiet time in America, relatively speaking. The economy was good in most regions as no banking failures had occurred since the last major retoggling of the banking system. Peace did not seem to be disturbed in Europe or Spanish Latin America (no further rebellions).

Immigration was beginning to become an issue as the cities were becoming swamped with foreigners. Half of Brooklyn and the Bronx was German even as Irish immigration had finally tapered off after the "Indenture Act of 1874" officially banned most forms of Indenture, particularly relating to foreigners. Naturally, the south-central coastal regions like South Carolina would protest but there was little they could do as their workforce dried up. As it was, the recovery of Ireland from their Famine had reduced the number of Indentures to a nominal amount by the 1860's and the institution had apparently run its course.

It was under these circumstances that the King was informed that the tumor on his throat appeared to be malignant.

The Ottoman Empire

By 1875, the last remnant of the old Ottoman Empire was cast aside when the new Sublime Porte formally renounced any further claims outside her borders and withdrew any persecutions upon the by-now tiny non-Muslim minority in the Empire.

The Ottoman Empire was declared defunct and the Sublime Port officially renaming his country "Anatolia". He publicly vowed to make his nation the most modern in the world and thus commenced a massive campaign of social, religious, educational and economic reform. Many western and eastern rulers (including Spain, Egypt and China) had attempted to do this but few with such dogged determination as the Porte. He would close down dozens of religious institutions and move the money towards "modern" centers of learning with an emphasis on engineering, economics and other suitable "modern" pursuits.

Though many of the old guard would object, the Porte had the backing of the military, industrial and reformist sectors and the Imams and other groups were pushed aside. Within a few years, Anatolia had a greater percentage of her youth studying industry and technology than any other on earth.

Paulgrad, Tikhookeaskoya

Prince Alfred of British North America would not realize at the time (though he would by the end of his life) that kneeling before his beloved would become tradition, the act of the Prince on bended knee offering his beloved a diamond ring would carry on through the ages.

Knowing that marrying a common like some of his aunts had done was utterly unacceptable for the future King, the Prince would think more and more about the pretty Russian princess he'd met years before and pressed his father to allow him on a good-will tour of Tikhookeaskoya (and other North American regions, of course, but the Prince only cared about Paulgrad).

If anything, Princess Drina had grown only more beautiful in the years since they'd met and her genuine warm personality (so different from her bitch of a mother) could not help but come through. Surprisingly, the Princess had learned English (the King of Tikhookeaskoya believing that a match with British North America may do much to preserve his own Kingdom) and the two were able to converse in relative privacy (always observed but not always within earshot).

As a sign of his earnestness (not to mention desire), the Prince knelt and offered the Princess his ring in representation of his intention to demand her hand once his father approved. Tired of her parents, the Princess was more than happy to agree (again, pending her father's approval).

Only the most dire urgings of the Prince's escorts and advisors (including the elderly Abraham Lincoln) would even get the Prince to continue his Grand Tour to the regional Kingdoms and Vice-Royalties. It was pointed out that California, Anahuac and New Spain would be insulted if the Prince failed to arrive per his plans. Fortunately, the Prince WAS persuaded by worried and amused attendants to continue the adventure (these men ASSURING him that the Princess would not change her mind in the following few weeks) and the general experience proved positive both for the Prince and American relations with her neighbors as Alfred proved capable of diplomacy once his hormones calmed down.

But his self-pleasuring pursuits behind closed doors would not allow for the Prince to wait a single day after arriving home in Manhattan to demand that the King agree to the marriage. The King assumed that he had a few months to "think about it" but the alarmed Prince would so vehemently stalk his father than Henry II agreed just to shut his son the hell up.

By the end of 1875, the marriage negotiations were complete and the Prince already pining for spring of 1876 in which his beautiful Russian bride arrived. The Prince had been raised to respect the Church and therefore pre-marital sex was not accepted. However, the Prince was already being advised by friends, advisors and his father of what to expect and Alfred was more than ready to go.

Some Americans would be put off by the girl's religion (though she agreed to abide by the Church of America (the Church nominally led by the King) but the King would point out that the Queen had accepted this faith, thus who in America would deign to argue with the throne?

In the end, there would be some short-term resentment when Drina arrived but this would not last long, particularly when the young couple began shooting out heirs.
Will we see a personal Union between Tikhookeaskoya and KNA? Having a Russian West coast would be pretty freaking cool. Plus, we could finally remove the eye-watering Russian-American border. Manifest Destiny will be realized!

(Now all that's left is absorbing the Kingdom of California, and America's N A T U R A L B O R D E R S will be reached.)
 
Will we see a personal Union between Tikhookeaskoya and KNA? Having a Russian West coast would be pretty freaking cool. Plus, we could finally remove the eye-watering Russian-American border. Manifest Destiny will be realized!

(Now all that's left is absorbing the Kingdom of California, and America's N A T U R A L B O R D E R S will be reached.)

I know that "Manifest Destiny" is a meme with any expanded or alternate US thread, but I doubt there will be any more territorial growth outside of some Pacific islands and maybe some parts of Africa.

Considering how many children people from Russian America are popping out children, including the nobility, there's no way that a prince(ss) of the KoNA would marry the heir to the Russian American throne. Congress also dislikes personal unions since it ties th KoNA to European affairs and wars.

It would definitely be nice and strategically significant to have the entire west coast, I seriously doubt it.

Concerning Anahuac and New Spain, everyone in Congress would be asking why would you want any more Catholics who can't speak English?

Anahuac is a desert and the US already bought as much land as it wanted from them. New Spain is heavily populated of Catholics and any attempt to annex them would lead to a war with Spain and their Viceroyalties.
 
I know that "Manifest Destiny" is a meme with any expanded or alternate US thread, but I doubt there will be any more territorial growth outside of some Pacific islands and maybe some parts of Africa.

I could see the kingdom of California being annexed, either through diplomacy or conquest. Other than that I agree.
 
Chapter 338
1875

Southern Africa - EIC


Over the course of the past years, George Custer, commander of the 1st Cavalry Regiment (the South African Rangers) and his brothers would keep tabs with their friends "Freddy" Nietzsche. The fellows were apparently doing well out east with their saloon and brother business. Naturally, Libby Custer would not be told about the latter as Custer's wife would no doubt frown upon this. George had been promoted to Brigadier and placed in command of all cavalry as Nathan Bedford Forrest had finally succumbed to the temptation of mining and rode northwest to use some of his land grants (most of the mining lands were already taken) for a ranch. However, as the company controlled all "reserves", deep mines were forbidden and only surface panning and more modest (i.e. covert) mines were worked. The best Forrest could do was hope that some diamonds happened to be near the surface of his remote and arid homestead (they would not and Forrest would make his living as a shopkeeper in coming years).

Custer was now in command of ALL cavalry forces, though this was largely only thousand effectives by 1875. The worst of the African tribal warfare was over and the Company didn't pay regulars to sit around all day. The Custers, even as officers, would work part time in the assorted company mines, being given a share of the proceeds they dug up. While stationed at the "Big Hole" in the north in 1874, the trio of brothers made a decade's worth of salary (even on the generous Company payroll) in but 7 months before they were reassigned. The trio had even contemplated resigning and working as laborers when the company changed its policy at the "Big Hole" and the generous % of an individual's take was split up among all miners to be paid a "bonus" at the end of the year. This was intended to make it more fair and granted a base salary to the miners but it also meant no one man could dream of getting rich.

Thus the Custers were happy to be transferred out east. George was able to pick his "command post" among the dozen or so cavalry stations in Southern Africa and was able to bring his Major (his brother Tom) and Captain Boston Custer along with him (Boston being in command of the 10th Troop stationed in this headquarters).

In truth, Prince Felix of Salm, the commander of Company forces overall in Southern Africa, had gotten along well enough with Custer. The American, while almost ridiculously dressed (even by European standards), had proven a worthy subordinate. Custer attempted (with partial success) to learn some of the local languages as well as some German (which he'd partially learned at West Point) and Dutch (relatively close to German). The man was certainly active and hadn't completely abandoned his duties as so many soldiers hired by the Company had done (usually in search of gold or diamonds). But, in the end, Prince Felix felt a little of George Custer went a long way and was happy to

With a combination of salaries, their diamond gains and their land grants, the Custers were able to purchase a huge plantation only a dozen miles away from Troop 10's headquarters on land which had been picked over by wildcat miners and found empty. While it did not appear to have much in the way of resources, the land was arable (not all in the region could claim that) and appeared more than useful for cattle rearing. The Custers would hire miners who had gotten tired of mining to tend the flocks and commenced building a large plantation house.

As it so happened, Troop 10's headquarters was also (not entirely by chance) nearby the boomtown of Witwatersrand where the Earps and Freddy Nietzsche owned much of the land in town as well as hotels, saloons, brothels and, oddly, three churches. Real estate rents were a steady and profitable business for the partners which now included their older brothers Newton and James and younger brother Warren.

By 1876, over 50,000 people lived in the environs of Witwatersrand and the Custers were surprised that 10,000 acres were actually free so close by (they would buy another 28,000 over the coming decades). However, in these early years, no one moved to the area to farm and non-metal producing lands were less than worthless to prospectors. The brothers would find a large market for their meats (beef, lamp, chicken), wheats and fruits.

In the meantime, the Custers would renew their friendship with the Earps and Nietzsche though Libby Custer would refuse to socialize with brothel managers.

Of course, Libby would have to learn to deal with a lot of new things. Her brother Thomas would marry a mixed breed Indian-Portuguese daughter of a Topass officer. Boston would marry what he called a "lasped Jew".

In October of that year, the George and Libby would welcome their second child, this time a boy, George Jr., who joined his elder sister Trudy in the nursery. Eventually, Libby would spend most of her time in the homestead while at least two of the three Custer brothers would be at the army post.

At the post, George would hire an African housekeeper and eventually sire four half-breeds of his own with her.

In 1873, a pair of Americans by the name of Frank and Jesse James arrived as "volunteers". Though Frank and Jesse had reportedly been accused of "Jayhawking" (usually cattle-theft) in Thracia, they managed to escape to Hanover where they formed a volunteer group with Frank as the commanding officer. Most of these soldiers would be merged into the 3rd Troop of the 1st South African Cavalry but Frank (and his brother) would be transferred to the 10th with Frank as one of the Lieutenants. After their three year enlistment was up (and no one believed the James brothers would actually serve out their term), they were granted land grants near the Custer property, which they promptly sold to the Custers and settled into property as overseers. Their friend John "Doc" Holliday, a South Carolinian by birth, had recently graduated from Dental School in 1873 and was happily received by the army as a travelling dentist. Unlike the James brothers, Holliday would keep his regional land grant and create his own little ranch adjacent to the Custers. While most of his time was spent in town, Holliday would "hire" five black girls ages 12 to 17 from their dying father, a tribal man who had not been evicted with the rest of his tribe as he had served his former employer well in one of the former Dutch towns) and effectively keep them as a harem in Witwatersrand and "Holliday Manor" as it soon became known. A century later, "Holliday Manor" would become reknowned as a large animal preserve.

While, once again, Libby was taken aback by the unseemliness of these men, she had little say in the matter and attempted to turn a blind eye to the behavior of her family, employees and neighbors.
 
Any reason why India did not have a similar population growth rate like China or Russia?
I noticed a long time back that this TL avoided the French Revolution and the subsequent mass disruption of Europe in the Napoleonic/Coalition wars. That I think helps explain Russia a bit, though now it is 70 years on. I was noticing a lot of expansionism, especially by the Russians, early in the century--clearly as the Russians succeeded in grabbing some territory and hegemonizing other lands, this was the basis of something of a boom for Russia and ethnic Russians--some settling in new acquired lands as overlords more or less, others doing well in the general boom. This could sustain Russian growth rates, as does the larger population base already inherited.

It has always been a bit of a mystery to me why the Chinese ruling dynasty is so successful here, gobbling down the Philippines, Viet Nam and now Japan. Each of those can be explained separately but they seem to be rolling sixes in terms of getting competent if ruthless Emperors and not getting bogged down in late dynasty corruption. I do not know why this is.

Also, while I believe the emperors have been astute enough to recognize they need to modernize at least their armed forces, OTL lots of more or less bright gunpowder empire potentates understood that much, even OTL the Qing Dynasty. It usually does not work well. I believe this is because the essence of "modernization" in the sense of being able to compete with capitalist European powers is to become a capitalist society, or as a long shot alternative--a radical socialist society, and the Soviet and CCP and other independent Leninist states (Vietnam, Cuba, in a sense anyway Yugoslavia and Albania) track record there was, I will admit, pretty mixed. I think it is myopic at best to condemn them as total failures--there is no doubt that the USSR and PRC anyway accomplished great strides of modernization, especially on the military tech front, and no doubt they shepherded massive transformations. We fight about whether it could have been better under other leadership.

I say no, probably not, and look at the track record of all those other gunpowder empires...except Japan. My belief is that entirely by sociological chance, the broad nature of Japanese society happened to luckily fit into a form more compatible with capitalism, so Japanese efforts happened to strike the necessary resonances to shift the ruling elite over to the new paradigm. Not because they were "better" but just because the capitalist key happened to vaguely fit their social lock.

OTL there were reformers aplenty in the middle and late Qing dynasty, loyal to the regime but also visionary enough to see they had to make some changes. These efforts led to weak and inconclusive results, I believe because the form of the social hierarchy was resistant to the necessary changes, hence the need for someone as radical as Mao Zedong to eventually come in and clear the decks.

So you or the author might look at it all differently, conclude my notions about societies having to mesh with particular kinds of social machinery to successfully adopt and prosper from them are wrong for some reason, and suppose the Emperors just had to give the right orders at the right time to get reasonably competitive technological evolution within the Qing ruled system. However, I forget if the author has clarified that the Chinese are in fact being successful on that front. They did recently whip the tails of the Russians in the far east, so that is one strand of evidence their arms are not inferior to Tsarist ones anyway.

I think part of the ATL success of the Manchu-Chinese regime is due to a vacuum--just as the devastation of the Napoleonic Wars is not a factor in decimating Europe, so the ignominious defeat of the Hanoverian United Kingdom has spoked the wheel of some major OTL "engines of change;" the British are not leading the charge of global capitalism and have therefore not spent the past century putting up flags on islands--or messing around with the internal affairs of the Chinese Empire as OTL in the Opium Wars--In fact now that I recall it, I believe East India Company efforts to try to push opium was what triggered the Qing into their overseas adventures that paid off so well for them. Meanwhile Britain is not sending legions of young Company men to manipulate and harness Indian politics, so we have a clear field for this single dynasty aggressively digesting the whole subcontinent on their own behalf...with the help of coopted European and American company men serving at the Peshwa's pleasure as they are under his protection.

That cooption helps explain a little bit how the Indian realm can be technologically competitive I guess.

But there you have it, the author thinks it is plausible not one but two powerful Asian despots can somehow manage to keep their empires technologically near par with Europe and America.

Meanwhile, while I think I have indeed offered reasonable guesses as to why the Russians are more populous, China doesn't need special explanation; OTL despite quite disastrous circumstances in the 19th and first half of the 20th century, Chinese population surged to the billion point. India too is known OTL for high population.

Neither were hurt immediately by the Napoleonic wars of OTL, but both suffered pretty badly in the 19th century after those wars.
 
Chapter 339
1876

Manhattan


The marriage of Prince Alfred of British North America and Princess Alexandrina would be the event of the year, perhaps the decade, in British North America. Parties were held for weeks as the Tikhookeaskoyan King Alexei and Queen Alexandrina would arrive with the Princess to help prepare for the wedding. While invitations were sent out to other neighboring nations in North America and, of course, to Europe, only a handful of Royals would make the trek. These included the Czar of Russia's and King of Tikhookeaskoya's mother, now into her seventies, as well as the American-born Queen of Scotland, the Prince of California and, in a surprise, the younger sister of the King of France. Naturally, the assorted Ambassadorial staffs were augmented by a mish-mash of Royals.

Still, for the former colony, this was an unusual amount of royalty gracing their shores and every wealthy resident of Manhattan fell over themselves to throw a party. More than a few would regret the costs, though.

By 1876, it was readily apparent that the growing nation of British North America (usually just called "America" with more and more people omitting the "British") was becoming a power in her own right. With a population exceeding any in Europe save France or Russia, a vibrant economy and a powerful navy, America was not a nation to be trifled with.

For the first time in her history, America was a capital EXPORTER as it invested abroad, largely from banks based in posh Trenton or venerable Philadelphia. Soon these became the primary financial centers in the nation despite efforts by Boston, the Bronx and Baltimore to challenge them. It would not be until the following century when Chicago and St. Louis would claim much of the American banking market.

The importance of these markets could be attested by the fact that, in the past decade, two of King Henry's sisters were married to wealthy bankers. The acquisition of a princess was considered quite the social advancement for new money men. Henry would not begrudge this as there were few enough Princes around to marry his sisters, and he suspected in the future, his daughters. While his predecessors had wisely negotiated not a fixed fee for court expenses but a % of national revenues (at the time 1% of a very modest government budget), the expansion of population, wealth and taxation would see the Royal Family in far better stead. However, the remarkably successful breeding of five generations of American Royals would put pressure even on this figure.

Even with the policy that only the King's direct children and those of the Royal Heir would take the title of Prince or Princess allowed for dozens of such people demanding handouts from the King's List. The men of the family were expected to serve somehow, most in the army or navy, while the women, if they could not find a Royal match by a certain age, were given approval to marry a wealthy commoner. This may reduce the esteem of the House of Hanover in the eyes of European Royalty but it also meant a significant savings in Princess costs.

Only after the Royal Wedding was over and a confirmed success, one of the greatest scandals in American history unfolded. The King's youngest sister, Princess Tara, finally admitted to her illicit marriage to an investor in several successful banks in Philadelphia who was also a large property owner in the Baltimore area. This alone was hardly shocking, though it was certainly practice for a Princess to get Royal Approval for marriage. But Tara cared little about Royal protocol and routinely flouted social mores. She often dressed as a man and rode about Manhattan. Finally, her mother sent her away from the capital to get her to stop embarrassing the family. While residing in Baltimore, she met her future husband.

No, what was shocking was that the somewhat flighty Princess Tara had married.....Henry Smith.

While the name may be mundane and ordinary, his background was not. Henry Smith was the half-Inuit son of the infamous attempted regicide Armstrong Hyman Thruston. Having built up a fortune before he could read via sales of his father's tell-all book and revenues from the long-standing play "Rascal", Henry Smith would, in his late teens and early twenties, invest in several banks which resulted in him rising to great wealth.

Even the man's name was appalling. Rumor had it that, when the midwife presented the boy to the drunken Thruston, she asked what his name was. Thruston, having a half-century before attempted to murder Henry I of British North America, caustically shouted "Henry" and laughed so hard he fell to the ground unconscious.

While something of a minor celebrity, Henry Smith didn't bother to apply to most high level colleges and opted to remain nearer to home at the University of Maryland where his ethnicity was more derided than his parentage. His mother long dead, Smith would prove a generally solitary man despite his near popularity in the seedier portions of society. When Princess Tara arrived in Baltimore, she sought out the man and the two bonded over their unique quirks.

Tired of America, the pair determined that they should marry and determined to leave the Dominion behind. Learning that one of his friends and business partners, Nathan de Rothschild, was planning to sail to the EIC lands of Southern Africa to investigate setting up banking concerns (and possibly other businesses), the young Smith inquired if he and "his future wife" may join Nathan. This was readily agreed and the trio departed for Southern Africa, Nathan only learning after the ship sailed the true identity of Smith's wife.

Tara's letter to her parents had detailed her decision and asked for their best wishes. It would not arrive in Manhattan until after her departure from Baltimore. Rumor had it that the King immediately drowned his sorrow in a bottle of Elijah Craig Bourbon (a type of whiskey named after the street in New Orleans from whence it was shipped) and Jack Daniel's "Uncle Nearest" Whiskey (the latter having only started production a few years before and the bottle mailed to the King with Jack Daniel and his master distiller, Nathan "Nearest" Green's, compliments), The use of these two brands would allow the Maumee Bourbon distiller and Tennessee Whiskey distiller very powerful positions in the national whiskey market for centuries. Indeed, whiskey would see a rise in popularity over gin, rum, beer and other drinks as it became perceived as much a "Royal Favorite" as Lobster a la King (which Henry II, ironically, absolutely hated).

Nathan de Rothschild knew full well how this would go over in Manhattan when the King found out and feared his family may be blamed. Eventually he extracted a promise from Henry and Tara to explicitly and publicly state that Nathan had no knowledge of the affair. Eventually, the trio would stay in Southern Africa for years and work with several local bankers and property owners to challenge the EIC dominance over control of the minerals of the region. This failed miserably and Nathan was forced to return home to face the wrath of his family. But Henry and Tara would instead approach the Company as an investor and offer to head up the new bank himself...under Company auspices. THIS would prove to be acceptable and eventually Henry would consolidate virtually all company diamond production into a single holding company (owned by the EIC) which would effectively control the supply and pricing of the baubles by the end of the century.

Naturally, Tara was never again spoken of in public by King Henry II and Queen Rhiannon. However, several of Tara's sisters would maintain a life-long correspondence with her and their letters would eventually become important records of the era in both North America and Southern Africa.
 
Last edited:
No, what was shocking was that the somewhat flighty Princess Tara had married.....Henry Smith.
1601624280530.png

The Legend Continues. What do you want to bet that his son inherited ALLLLLLLLLLLL of the legendary Thruston luck?




(Not my meme)
 
Chapter 340
1876

Southern Africa (EIC control)


The population surge into Southern Africa continued unabated. Indeed, despite Dutch attempts to lure Dutch or Protestant settlers to the Cape Colony, the East India Company controlled Southern Africa would see nearly 100,000 migrant inflow per year, nearly 10x that of the Dutch. By 1876, the political situation with the native Africans had largely stabilized as most of the actual powerful tribes (largely Xhosa) had been pushed northward en masse into the northeast where they met a hostile reception by local African tribes supported by....the East Africa Company.

While much, indeed a bare majority, of the influx since 1874 had been Jewish, the remainder had been a mix of peoples from throughout the world. Plans to turn over many of the mines to Javan or Sumatran contract workers (or even Indian or Chinese, both ideas being presented) were met with resistance from the Jews who were becoming demographicly dominant or the non-Jews (largely European Christians) who represented 70% of the company workforce. A massive strike in 1876 across several major mines had forced the Company to cancel plans for mass-importation of Asians to do the work (presumably at a cheaper rate). While several mines managed to form a union, the Company managed to get them back to work without directly recognizing the Union. However, the labor clashes would grow ever more threatening and the Company began to wonder if they'd made a mistake putting so much of their power in the hands of the Jewish farmers and townspeople and the European miners. With most of the native tribes pushed out, the miners managed to gain concessions from the Company to ensure that people of colour would not be hired. This "black-balling" as it became known would be particularly effective as, even if the Company managed to regain control over the mines, it would be years before adequate hands could be imported (at great expense) to Southern Africa.

Just as the EIC managed to seize more and more power from the Cape Colony, the Company began to realize that the Jews and the Unions were doing so to them. However, the loyalty of the hireling army was perhaps less than desired despite the EIC having a reputation of paying on time. With large desertion percentages every year, the EIC Army would always be understaffed and many Directors would bemoan the cost despite the profitability of the colony.

By 1876, a unique political tension had erupted and the Company feared that the residents of their territory were becoming less and less eager to tolerate Company rule.


Witwatersrand

By 1876, the American Nathan Bedford Forrest was getting increasingly frustrated with his luck as a merchant and, having been rejected by the Company to reinstate him as a General, was considering retiring home to America. But going home would mean going home nearly broke and a failure. This seemed unacceptable.

However, the arrival of new train lines in 1876 to the Witwatersrand region allowed Forrest a reprieve as these trains carried south huge amounts of gold and other metals from the Witwatersrand to the coast. Forrest, now aging, would gather up a gang of six men (ironically four of them black as Forrest was reknowned for hating Africans in America and almost as much in Africa) and commence a series of daring robberies of stage-coaches, trains and banks.

The local garrison commander, Brigadier George Custer, would be tasked with assembling a posse to hunt these men down. With thirty cavalry soldiers and another twenty-five volunteers including the five Earp brothers, the EIC Cavalry gave chase. When the trail went cold, the General decided to break up his force into four groups and dispatched them in several directions.

At a remote trading outpost named Rorke's Drift, the Earp Brothers and their friend John Holliday could up to Nathan Bedford Forrest and gunned down Forrest and three of his men as they frenetically attempted to saddle their horses and load their ill-gotten gold. Virtually all of the gold was recovered and, as a reward for their work, the Earps were given a 5% commission for the recovery, enough to purchase their own plantation near their friends the Custers.

While George Custer by law as the commanding officer would have been entitled to a share, he gallantly opted against and instead recommended that the Earps choose some charitable endeavor for his share. They Earps would choose to fund a hospital in Witwatersrand, later to become world famous as the Earp Hospital, ironically known by the 1970's as

Much of the Earp Ranch would be purchased from land the Custers had never used and the two families would remain friends for generations until, nearly a century later, an Earp and a Custer would run for the same office, commencing a bitter feud.

The Congo

Governor-General John Rowlands had, by 1876, ascended to Governor-General of not only his far eastern district but the entire Congo. Young for his rank, Rowlands was famous for getting the job done and harvests collected according to forecasts and promises. The cotton, palm oil and, most importantly, rubber production remained high as his pseudo-military tribal police ensured that the other tribes provided enough labor no matter the cost. Any resistance was put down brutally.

Indeed, unlike other regions of Africa, the Congo would see a net DECREASE in foreign residence over the 1870's as fewer white and Asiatic soldiers were required to maintain control. Instead, privileged tribes would be granted police powers over the others under Company auspices.

Despite every bump in production, demand increased even further, driving up prices. By 1876, only Brazil provided competition for sales and there was enough demand for great profits for both regions. Unlike Brazil, however, the Congo was never to see the benefits that the Amazon cities would see. Instead, exploitation would remain the order of the day as thousands were slaughtered on a regular basis to ensure a docile workforce.

Zanzibar

Though a predominantly Muslim island, Zanzibar had swiftly profited from the multi-cultural and multi-religious East India Company conquest. Zanzibar would prove a depot for all of East African trade. Ivory, ground nuts, furs and whatever else could be gleaned from the soil on the mainland (maize, grains, sugar, tobacco, and expanding coffee industry, etc). There were even exciting finds of gold in the northern regions though these would turn out to be less productive than in Southern Africa.

Brigadier General George McClellan would spend years pining for his promotion to Full General, which finally arrived in 1876. He was also promoted to the role of Governor of all of Eastern Africa (with local Lieutenant-Governors reporting to him).

It would turn out that McClellan was more interested in the forms of his office than actual political control and McClellan's few major disputes with his subordinates centered around personal vendettas rather than actual policy. While McClellan was surprised when several of his landward subordinates were from the Subcontinent or Java, he didn't evoke much discrimination against them provided they offered adequate admiration of their esteemed leader (which Indians or Javans were accustomed to doing in the EIC ranks).

The newly formed EIC region of "East Africa" would not prove quite as profitable as metal rich Southern Africa or the cash-crop rich Congo but nevertheless would prove a steady earner. The expected (and expensive) wars were relatively few and far between in East Africa as local conflicts were usually relatively easily resolved by alliances of local tribes and technologically superior company forces. On several occasions, McClellan would be forced to march inland to put down some tribal revolt and defeat them easily.

As a great honor, McClellan saw his name given to the northern highlands city (OTL Mombassa) under auspices of friendly tribes, European traders, Company officials and assorted Javan or Sumatran laborers.

However, the expansion inland was hindered by the sleeping sickness epidemic of the "Great Lakes Region" at the time as well as other areas of inland Africa. Animals were felled by a similar blight and the Company influence tended to occur in regions not afflicted by what would later be applied to the tse-tse fly. Under Company protection, Christian missionaries (deemed an aide in pacifying the natives) would convert most of inland central and southern Africa during the late 19th century).

While there was some conflict by the various Christian congregations (the company hardly cared if it was Catholic or Protestant), the proselytizing continued. Had the Company believed that Muslim preachers would have enhanced their power, they would have been happy to send Imams. However, given that the Maratha Empire still tended to frown upon Muslim power figures (and the Maratha Empire remained a profit center for the Company) and the leadership of the EIC remained largely Christian and European, the preachers allowed (or even funded) to move inland tended to be Christian.

The Horn of Africa

Over the 19th Century (and before), the Horn of Africa had seen great climate change and the once-thriving Ethiopian Empire had constricted. However, with European, EIC and Maratha aid, the Ethiopian Empire was armed with modern weapons and allowed to push her people east into the once-homeland of the Somalis. By 1876, the Ethiopians outnumbered the Somalis in the region and by 1886 would significantly outnumber them. Most of the migrants would be Christians and the Horn of Africa would see a new ethnic stewardship.

Coptic Christian emissaries (those of the Ethiopian Church) would not only flow towards the southern Sudan (mostly animist) but southwards into the lands of the high-plains tribes where they contested with Protestant and Catholic denominations funded by the EIC. Indeed, happy to see the Christian faith advanced without cost to them, much of the EIC funding to missionaries was removed and the Ethiopians allowed to spread the Coptic faith throughout East Africa on their own costs.

Northern Sudan (Nubia)

Muhammed Ahmad had spent most of his twenties in study of Allah. By 1876, he was so entrenched into the word of Allah that he realized that the Egyptian domination over the region of Nubia that he could not allow this to go on any longer.

In 1876, seeing the oppression of the Egyptian authorities of the Nubian (Sudanese) peoples, Muhammed Ahmad would declare himself the Mahdi, the Redeemer akin to Isa (Jesus). This was naturally and immediately denounced by the orthodox Sunni majority in Egypt but the mystic and Sufi oriented Sudanese swiftly transferred their loyalty to the new Mahdi. While, for some, this was a political decision as they desired an end to Egyptian dominance, others saw this as a natural outlet of their own long-standing faith.

With the Ethiopian Empire dominating the south, the Mahdi would first determine to free his people from the oppressors of the north. The Somali people, who had largely been resettled over previous years, were among the most fervent converts to the Mahdi's words. They formed the core of the Mahdi's army as it formed and turned first against the Egyptians of the north who denounced Muhammed Ahmad as a heretic.
 
Chapter 341
1877

Big Hole, Southern Africa


The arrival of an American princess and her wealthy husband would cause quite a stir in the rustic and somewhat free-wheeling city of Witwatersrand. However both were welcomed (no one had ever heard of an "Inuit" in Southern Africa before and most assumed that Henry Smith was a "Topass", (a half European and half Asian).

With aid of an Englishman named Cecil Rhodes, the new American-born Director of the EIC would swiftly purchase up all remaining northern lands adjacent the "Big Hole" as well as similar diamond production mines and consolidate them under the name of the East India Company (which he was a significant shareholder).

Indeed, by the end of their lives, Henry and Tara Smith would see revenues which rivaled the tax revenues of America allocated to the Royal Court of Henry II and his successors. Henry would organize what could only be described as a "cartel" and dominate diamond production for centuries. Eventually, when northern South Africa lost her dominant production position, the "cartel" would buy up diamond mines in the east as well as other parts of Africa (eastern Africa) and continue to control the price of the precious gems.

Naturally, Henry wanted to find a fitting name for the EIC Cartel and determined to name it "Princess Tara Diamonds" after his wife. Even a century and a half later, advertisements would use "Princess Tara" as a byline for quality.

As the EIC cared little about such petty issues as names, they did not object especially when the profits rolled in. It turned out the half-Inuit bastard son of a regicide had a keen business sense.

And what else mattered?

St. Petersburg

Alexander III would personally dedicate a new canal in St. Petersburg. The Czar had seen much since his childhood including a humiliating defeat to China which cut off the Empire (effectively) from the Pacific and a great expansion into Central Asia. Via the Trans-Continental Railroad, millions of Russians, Ruthenians, etc had moved eastwards into the lands taken from the Turkic peoples.

The advancement of transportation technology had greatly (and effectively) allowed this and canals were seen as another outlet for modern technology.

Indeed, the Suez Canal, of which the Czar was a 1/4 owner, would see the Russian Empire gain greater power over Mesopotamia, Arabia and southern Persia than ever before.

However, the Ottoman Empire (now located solely in western and central Anatolia) was offering a truce to their long-term adversarial relationship. The Empire wanted technology. This previous Russia Czars would refuse given their long-time mutual hatred. But the political situation had changed in the past century and the Turks could be seen as much as an ally as an adversary in 1877.

The Ottoman was seen as a trading partner in recent decades and the wealthier the trading partner, the more likely they would be useful to Moscow. Hence, the Ottoman was given more access to the Levant and Southern Balkans than previous generations. No longer a "military" power, the Turkish peoples of Anatolia were rapidly advancing under their most recent Sublime Porte and becoming an industrial power which benefited the region.

As it was, the most difficult decision Alexander III had to make in 1877 was the distribution of the Hawaiian islands. These central Pacific Islands were uniquely distributed to support the former Russian America. Now that these mainlands were offered to his younger brother Alexei, there seemed no reason to hold onto the Hawaiian islands. Alexei was hinting via letter than he would be appreciative of gaining these islands. However, the Americans were willing to pay.

This would be something Alexander III would consider deeply.

Burma


The King of Burma, facing internal rebellion, had opted to gain Maratha technology rather than Chinese support against these rebels. This would lead to great consequences to the region as the King of Siam would seek out Chinese help given the apparent Burmese acquisition of arms in the 1870's.

Malaya

The Malay Peninsula was comprised of a number of petty Sultans and assorted potentates, almost entirely Muslim in character. Both China and the Maratha Empire were actively courting these peoples as proxies in 1877.

Manhattan

John Abbot, First Lord of the Treasury, had no particular affection for the African man but the reports from his own sources would lead him to believe that electoral fraud had been common in several districts in 1876's election. This the First Lord could not allow thus he ordered civilian and military personnel to monitor elections in these Dominion districts in 1878's election with a promise to the King himself that no further fraud would be tolerated.

Thus the First Lord publicly declared his full support of the Suffrage Act of 1874.
 
Chapter 342
1878

Manhattan


Though still in their teens, Prince Alfred and Princess Drina would welcome their first child, the Princess Anastasia (yet another foreign name soon to become popular in America). King Henry II would not be particularly pleased with this but realized his own sisters were named via Welsh names and daughters were named after Germans. Why not Russian names for his Grand-daughters?

It was apparent that Prince Alfred, like his father, was quite taken with his bride. Thus perhaps the family lineage would extend a generation further.

As it was, the King was more worried about Queen Adelheid's intention for their mutual son and heir to inherit Oldenburg as well as British North America. He feared the disapproval of Parliament. This had been a long-term concern with his ancestors George I and II of Great Britain when it came to Hanover. No one liked the idea of the King's attention being diverted. Proposals that the asthmatic second son to assume the throne of Oldenburg were rejected by her Majesty.

But the King would sustain his faith in the approval of his subjects and the fact that Alfred had never BEEN to Oldenburg and was therefore unlikely to sacrifice American interests for a modest German Kingdom. Certainly, it was unlikely that Parliament would lift a finger if Oldenburg was threatened and the House of Hanover had long learned to whom they owed their thrones (it was not via legitimate succession but by invitation of Parliament).

Brazil

Having approached the King of Spain for years seeking assistance in enticing labor to Brazil, the Viceroy would finally break down and summon funds from his constituents to pay for passage himself.

The Brazilian economy remained strong and only required investment and labor. For the rest of the century, the Brazilian government would underwrite the costs of transportation to Brazil. Many were Italian and nearly 40% of these would return to Italy after their contracts but most would remain in Brazil long term.

Oddly, the Brazilians would not pay for Irish immigration or non-Catholics but plenty of these peoples would arrive anyway over the coming decades.

Beijing

The Mandarin would look upon the Maratha interference with the King of Burma first with disdain, then with alarm. For the first time, the largely Buddhist southeast Asian nation may be influenced by a nation other than China.

This was unacceptable.

Cairo

The Khedive of Egypt would get increasingly tired of this "Mahdi" and get his Imams to condemn the man as a heretic. As if Allah's messenger would be some wretch from Nubia. It was time to put an end to this nonsense.

And to think the Egyptians had taken in the Somali peoples as a Muslim charity.

Something must be done with these people, no doubt. An army must be assembled to regain control over the Sudan.


Persia

Having been defeated by the Russians a few years prior, the Persians had seen most of their remaining tribute states and peoples stripped away. Within a few months, rebel Persian forces would split the nation in two.

The southern region would fall under sway of a local warlord.

Moscow would look favorably upon this development as Persia remained arguably the most dangerous potential foe in the Near East.
 
Last edited:
Top