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

[Alt History Buff]

1879

Manhattan

For the past several years, a pair of American inventors had been suing one another through the Royal Patent Office. Finally, in 1879, Elijah Gray would be granted the official patent for the telephone over Alexander Bell. However, Bell would be granted several improvements to it. Though Gray would go down in history, Bell would eventually win the war as his telephone company, in the 1880's, would be become dominant in the industry.

His Majesty Henry II himself would attend Gray's demonstration in 1879 and awed the King with the advancement.

A similar conflict would be waged between George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison over the type of electrical current used for future power generation.

Observers would not that the King appeared somewhat haggard. His weight was down and he wore his collar unusually high. Naturally, this was becoming the style but by the end of the year it was apparent that the King was ill and rumors of the tumor on his neck confirmed.

Athens

1879-1880 would see a great deal of social friction in Europe as demands for increased representation in the local Parliaments (assuming there were such things) from the lower classes to the upper classes demanding that their respective sovereigns relinquish power to them. Union leaders suddenly became powerful foes.

Perhaps the most violent act was in the Greek shipyards. Greece tended to be behind most of Europe in technology but still managed a thriving mid-sized shipyard. However, the workers would determine to march on the capital in 1879 to protest harsh working conditions (usually 60 hours +) per week if one wanted to keep his job. Many of these workers were, in fact, the descendants of Egyptian Copts which had been "advised" to depart Egypt by the then-Khedive and carried away via Russian intervention. Effectively foisted upon the Greeks and other denizens of the Balkans (mainly Russian satellite states), the Copts did not receive the warmest welcome. Many would only use the Balkans as a stepping-stone to the Americas (mostly British North America but the French and Spanish American Empires as well).

The Greek shipping industry, though, was rejuvenated by the Coptic ship-wrights. But poor working conditions would lead to unrest.

While the Coptic-Greek workers remained largely peaceful beyond a few broken windows, the Greek police were merciless. Dozens were injured and three killed in the ensuing brawl.

This would be echoed from Bordeaux to St. Petersburg, from Lisbon to Copenhagen.

Malayan Peninsula

The Sultan of Johor had solicited Marathan aide against their northern neighbor, Penang, a few years before. However, Penang turned directly to China. By 1879, there were two armies squaring off on the Malayan Peninsula.

Northern Siam

In northern Siam, the "advisors" and "observers" of the Maratha and Chinese Empires would give up any pretense over neutrality. A free-for-all for control over the remote region would tear northern Siam apart.

South China Sea

With the delivery of four new and modern American ships in 1878, the Chinese Empire had now a full 30 ships squadron of steam-ships though these represented an enormous spread between modern and obsolete designs. Though some members of the Chinese Admiralty cautioned against effectively pitting the entirety of their most modern ships, other recommended using numbers to overwhelm the Maratha fleet reported to be controlling the Malacca Straights.

The Malacca Straights between Malaya and Sumatra

Much like China, the Maratha Empire had actively sought to build a modern navy as they deemed control over the Indian Ocean as the key to their hegemony. It seemed unlikely that the Subcontinent was any longer in great danger of an invasion from west, north or east. But with only a few ships more modern than the best of the Maratha Navy, a foreign power may utterly disrupt Maratha world trade and lay waste to her port cities.

Thus, with a combination of internal production and foreign purchases, the Peshwa had built up a large fleet of 20 ships guard the vital pass as well but the rapidly changing designs would see an eclectic mix to dozens of different technologies being utilized by both the Martha and Chinese Fleets.

The fragility of these fleets would be in evidence when several ships on either side suffering mechanical errors. Three Chinese ships would see burst boilers or other major engine failures and be forced to retreat north under sail. Similarly, one of the Maratha ships was so poorly constructed that the jarring of the waves opened up several sheets of the metal hull and the ship sank while in harbor. The engineers of both fleets, attempting to maintain control over the diverse ships, would struggle mightily just to keep them running. Many of these ships had not been time-tested while others had been relegated more to brown water (coastal) duties in the past.

The ensuing clash would be considered a haphazard affair which would be explained by later naval historians as the natural result of the rapid evolution of naval technology at the time. As the closest example of large-scale steam-ship warfare in recent decades had been the East India Company defeating the Dutch Navy a half decade (and arguably the Russian defeat to China long before that) prior, this was, in fact, perhaps to be understood.

Both Admirals, though considered progressive in utilization of technology, retained several aspects of the old Age of Sail tactics which would prove ineffective. The Chinese, with the numerical advantage as well as some of the most modern ships, would make the mistake of attempting to keep ALL of their ships in the old "Line of Battle". As there was a significant discrepancy between arms, armor and, most importantly, speed, keeping this formation would greatly reduce the maneuverability of the Chinese fleet.

The Marathas, on the other hand, utilized tactics first used by steam-ships captains when they faced sailing ships. Rather than abide by any major formation, the Marathas opted to break up and attempt to engage the enemy in single file. This was highly effective....forty years ago...when a steamship had a huge maneuverability advantage over sailing ships and could easily emerge onto the unarmed bow or stern of a ship dependent on sail.

For hours, the Chinese Fleet maintained their line and attempted to engage in a standard formation. The Marathas seemed to be attempting to engage in a general melee at sea.

After nearly 12 hours, both fleets would withdraw for the night to lick their wounds. One Chinese vessel had been lost to Maratha fire while another had been forced to be abandoned when, undamaged by the enemy, a fire broke out on ship and she was abandoned. The Marathas lost no ships but two had been so badly damaged that they had to be withdrawn north. Another two ships apparently got lost in the night and decided to sail for home (their captains were executed a month later).

Worse, the extended maneuvers of the previous day had exhausted much of the best coal of both fleets. While the Chinese had brought a pair of coaling ships with them, these were so far south that the supply ships could not be utilized.

The following day, the two fleets formed again, uncertain of the proper strategy. Certainly yesterday no one could claim victory. The weather had turned from partly sunny the previous day to light drizzle that swept in throughout the day. It was still a month away from Monsoon season but a storm was hardly out of the question.

Circling one another like a pair of alley cats, the two fleets sought some sort of advantage. However, the "wind gauge" no longer mattered in the age of steam. Finally, after five hours, the two fleets would form up in a line and make a complete pass. One Maratha ship was sunk, another had her rudder stripped and she was forced to circle helplessly at full speed. On the other side, one of the modern Chinese ships took a shell near a powder magazine (fortunately, mostly empty) which tore off the main forward cannon. Two of the smaller and older Chinese ships near the end of the column were destroyed by accurate Maratha fire.

Having wasted much of the day and a large share of their coal and powder reserves, both Admirals knew that they could only expect another day of combat at most. Just before dusk, through the now driving drizzle, the Chinese commander saw eight large forms emerging from the south. As he knew that the Marathas were to the north, he immediately feared he was being pinned between two forces. The lead ship's outline began to form and the Chinese commander identified the shape as belonging to the same class of vessels comprising the French-built cruisers of the best of the Maratha fleet.

Believing himself outmaneuvered, the Chinese commander opted to retreat east and then south.

Only later would it be discovered that the ships arriving into the battlefield from the south was a large East India Company convoy sailing from Bourbonia. The lead ship WAS indeed of the same design as the Maratha warships but had been utilized for years by the EIC as a cargo and passenger carrier (after extensive renovation).

Though a tactical draw, the Marathas claimed the first victory.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1879

Manhattan

Unofficial Royal traditions by the 1870's held that the King typically did not hand out more than a few knighthoods per year. Several different orders of Knight existed, each with a nominal maximum quantity of titled men (and women as the same Orders offered "Damehoods" as well as Knighthoods.

As it so happened, a number of Knights and Dames had died in recent years and multiple Americans were honored for service of their country in the realm of government, military, science and the arts.

Among the honorees this year were the famous medical reformer Dame Florence Nightengale (who was born in Tuscany in 1821 and whose merchant family would later move to America), Sir Edward Allan Poe (the eminent author), Sir Elijah Gray, inventor of the telephony system, Sir John Wilkes Booth (the famous Actor whose brother Edwin had already been Knighted a few years prior), the retiring politician Sir John A. MacDonald, the Lakota tribal chieftain Sitting Bull who had successfully negotiated peace with a number of Plains tribes, retiring Admiral Sir Raphael Semmes and the talented Irish-born painter Dame Eliza Pratt Greatorex (who was a personal favorite of the Queen and the first female official court painter).

What was typically a spontaneous assembly of joy would take a darker turn in 1879 as the King's visage had notably become gaunter in just a few weeks. It was obvious the man was dying but Henry II managed to make it through the ceremonies before retiring to his chambers leaving Prince Alfred in command of the afterparty.

Having publicly admitted to the nature of his tumor, it was widely speculated that the King did not have long to live. Sure enough, by December of 1879, the King would die in his wife's arms and his twenty-one year old son would ascend to the throne.

Beijing

While typhoon season is generally held to be from April to December, the deadliest months tend to be May and November. Thus, when the Chinese Admiral explained why he chose to retreat from the Malaccas in October for fear of losing the entire fleet to a typhoon, there was reason to it. However, the fact that the Chinese fleet failed to crush the Hindus completely was utterly unacceptable.

The Admiral was nearly dishonored but instead merely "promoted" to a desk position and a younger, more aggressive Admiral placed in command of the fleet. Secretly, the younger man agreed with his predecessor's decision to retreat. Having served as the Rear Admiral of the line of older ships, the sailor was convinced he knew the mistake his predecessor had made. He should never have tried using both the fast and slow ships in the same line. This only reduced the capacity of the more modern ships while adding little to the overall strength of the fleet.

Already planning the next battle, the Admiral saw to refurbishing his damaged ships with the intent to strike again in a few months.

In the meantime, both the Maratha and Chinese Empires continued supplying their respective Burmese, Siamese and Malay allies.

Adelheid, Van Diemensland Territory

Fleet Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan had risen swiftly through the ranks less as a sailing man than as a theorist and staff officer who concentrated on overall trends on the seas. For as long as he had the ear of his commanders, Mahan had pressed for both more and better ships for the navy. He was even writing a book on the topic in which had concluded that the control over the sea would dictate Empires. He used the example of a petty trading company based in the East Indies had come close to bringing both China and large parts of the subcontinent to their respective knees. Without domination over the waves, this would have been impossible.

In 1878, Mahan had been "promoted" to command the westernmost American port, that of Adelheid in the remote island of Van Diemensland (as was the common spelling in 1878). Only a handful of American naval vessels called this remote location home. In reality, this was a glorified harbor-master position. Mahan had not even been granted the title of "Royal Governor" at the onset of his position. He only received the post of "Lieutenant Governor" which became "Acting Governor" when the old man finally died and Manhattan didn't seem to care about promoting another in his place.

Mahan, having few actual Naval affairs to deal with beyond controlling a few patrol and customs frigates (and most of those seldom in service or crewed at once) would find dealing with the territorial Assembly tedious to the point that he delegated most of the day to day affairs to the friendly and popular leader of the Assembly. This worked well for everyone as Mahan hardly cared about petty local affairs.

What Mahan COULD do was sail about a bit in the region with the intent of "surveying" the local military landscape and by happenstance would view the battle between the Chinese and the Marathas. Indeed, several polities including France, East India Company and, of all things, ETHIOPIAN, ships (Mahan had no idea that the Ethiopians HAD a navy and suspected this one steamship was the only one of its kind) had gathered to witness the event from afar. As a naval strategist, Mahan saw more than any other observer and would swiftly add several entries to his manifesto.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1880 - Spring

Hudson River

While the notoriously penury American Parliament was not in the habit of handing out money to anyone, including their King (who received a generous 1% of American national government coffers to pay for his court), an exception had been made to refurbish the main Royal Residence on Manhattan as this was deemed too notable by foreign envoys to scrimp. However, the cunning Henry II had actually earmarked money for these funds which were then available to upgrade his "summer residence" up the Hudson River near the base of the Catskills.

In her grief, Queen Adelheid (now Queen-Mother Adelheid) would retreat her daughters, daughter-in-law now-Queen Alexandrina (Drina), several grandchildren and, of all things, her mother-in-law Queen-Mother Rhiannon. Oddly enough for any class, the three Queens had always gotten along.

"Frederick House" as the summer residence was known (named after the original owner, King Frederick I of British North America) had originally been a getaway for the first native King of America to escape Parliament for a few months. But four successive Kings would expand the original "hunting lodge" until it was somewhat presentable by European standards.

Queen Adelheid had filled the halls with new portraits of the "Hudson Valley Style" while her husband and father-in-law added the occasional European masterpieces. Though only staffed by a hundred and fifty or so maids, cooks groundskeepers, etc (low by European standards), the palace was really quite beautiful and had been partially designed by Sir John Wood, the Younger.

Though Adelheid would mourn for the rest of her life, she was determined to aid her daughter-in-law, a Russian barely into her twenties, in her duties. Indeed, Drina would prove quite grateful for the warmth and support she received from her new family, it being so different from her own cold and harsh mother. Both Rhiannon and Adelheid, who knew exactly what Drina was going through, would give her close-knit family she always wanted particularly in the rigors of the coming years when, in late 1880, the Queen would lose her only son and heir to a childhood illness. Though the Queen was pregnant with her third child at the time, this would turn out to be another girl to be named Catherina.

French Netherlands (Wallonia)

For the past few years, labor and political strife had cropped up more and more often throughout Europe. In 1880, the coal and iron miners of the French Netherlands (Wallonia) had been spurring a technological revolution throughout the nation and were demanding a fair share of the gains.

When a general strike was called in the fall of 1879, virtually the entirety of the coal industry was shut down...just in time for the coldest winter on recent record. When shivering French people demanded coal to light their hearths, the King was forced to take action. He commanded the Unions back into the mines with a promise of "fair negotiation".

The Unions considered the offer...and rejected it, turning the generally apolitical King away from their cause. Eventually strike-breakers came in. When the unions beat them back, the police and military were called in. Eventually, between scabs and those miners who desired to keep their jobs, the mines began producing again. The Unions were closed by government order for the time being until the Labor Minister (who, like the King, had often sympathized with the Unions) came up with a workable solution which did not involve Frenchmen freezing to death for lack of coal.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1880

Manhattan

King Alfred I would be crowned in early 1880. Though some would recommend changing his name to "Henry" or "Frederick" or some other recent Kingly nomenclature but Alfred was quite content with his own name and rejected any such advice. As the Abbott Ministry didn't care much either way, they let the matter drop.

In the meantime, the first international crisis were already cropping up as traders were increasingly concerned about prospect of warfare in southeast Asia.

Then there were the ongoing disputes with the French over American colonization of several islands which the French had laid claim some centuries ago...but had done very little with other than abscond with their native populations.

By 1880, arguably only Samoa, Fiji and Kanakia had identifiable populations to ever refer to the people as a unified culture and even these were severely reduced in population via "recruiting" and disease. American whalers, loggers and traders seeking water and other goods began stopping in these islands over the years, apparently forgotten by the French.

Several islands of the Northern Maori's (OTL Cook Islands) even maintained permanent settlements, often on the deserted towns of the "recruited" Polynesian peoples. Smaller islands like Christmas Island and Tonga also now maintained American population.

However, it was the American probing of Samoa in 1879 which drew French ire. A pair of French warships arrived and, in no uncertain terms, ordered the Americans away from Samoa.

Complaints were issued by both parties. The American position, led by Foreign Secretary Benjamin D'Israeli, was that France had abandoned these islands generations before with no discernable interest since then. Why SHOULDN'T America claim them?

Exactly WHAT D'Israeli was planning to do with some remote islands, most of which did not possess any particular resources or potential for naval base, was left to the imagination. The American appeared to believe that America must expand to every remote region of the world regardless of conceivable benefit.

The French, meanwhile, relied on precedent. They had claimed the lands. They gathered up the population. Most importantly...THEY had the firepower to enforce their will.

Was America actually willing to pick a fight with the most powerful nation in Europe?

Madrid

King Carlos VI would not see the same unrest occurring throughout much of Europe....largely as Spain possessed relatively few large industries which possessed Union sentiment.

However, what could NOT be doubted was that Spain was among the first nations in Europe to see a squeeze in money supply via two reasons:

1. Increased population and wealth per capita would see demand for gold and silver currency across the whole of Europe (and, well, most of the world).

2. The slow drain of specie from the west to the east continued over the years as silk, tea, cotton, porcelain and other goods produced in the east would find vastly greater markets in Europe than any European goods would have in the East.

The balance had been met for centuries by the influx of gold and silver from the Spanish Empire. But the mines of the Americas were in decline after decades of resurgence utilizing new technologies.

The inflation resulting from this imbalance would soon begin to affect the nations of Europe one by one.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1880

Southeast Asia

While many sailors over the generations would win acclaim via great decisive victories, in truth the history of naval warfare tended to be relatively conservative. The existence of Navies, like Armies, were primarily a deterrent from aggression. If a Navy (or an army) was unleased....and loses a decisive battle, then the entire war could be effectively lost in a single day.

In the late 19th century, this was no different. If anything, the anxiety was multiplied as new technologies consolidated real power under the masts (and engines) of just a handful of modern ships, the loss of which in a great battle may see a huge empire be placed at the mercy of as few as one or two powerful ships which could lay waste to coastal cities and destroy the commerce of the losers. It was not out of the question, theoretically, that had China or the Marathas not upgraded their navies, one or two of the petty, poor and lightly populated European nations might even bring the mighty Asiatic Empires to heel by virtue of superiority of a few ships. Naturally, this was dismissed as absurd by some (though not by the governor of Van Diemensland, Alfred Mahan, who was writing a book on the subject).

Thus, when the Maratha and Chinese fleets dueled in 1879, it was assumed that the damaged ships could be repaired in a few weeks or months at most (and, for the most part, were) and then sent back into battle. But the confidence (or desperation) which compelled the first battle would dispel and both Empires suddenly determined to see how the war plays out on land before risking a winner-takes-all battle at sea.

Both nations continued to pour manpower into Malaya, Siam and Burma with the intent of vanquishing the enemy. In the meantime, the East India Company, seated in Batavia, would see the "requests" of the Peshwa for martial assistance turn to "demands" and, ultimately, "threats".

Though the EIC had spent years attempting a diplomatic resolution as a "disinterested third party" and loudly proclaiming their neutrality, it was a fact that the battlefield of Malaya was across from the EIC holding of Sumatra. The priceless Straights of Malacca determined the war at sea and the Peshwa had not interest in the EIC not contributing. While no longer a political power on the Subcontinent, the EIC still did a great deal of business in Company factories, held many Maratha government contracts and, perhaps most importantly, the Maratha Empire effectively pointed like a dagger at virtually all direct EIC possession in the East Indies and Southern Africa. The Peshwa's intervention in the Horn of Africa proved without a doubt the Maratha's capacity to interfere further in Africa should they be irritated.

While the EIC was hardly defenseless, the demographics spoke for themselves. The Marathas could destroy the EIC completely. At the moment, it did not appear that China could (though losing the China trade would hurt a great deal as well).

Eventually, an agreement to "loan" much of the EIC fleet to the Maratha's (under EIC officers, of course, with secret orders from Batavia as to what they could or could not do) as well as Maratha agreement to defend Sumatra, Java and the other EIC East Indies should it be necessary. Of course, the Directors most explicitly DID NOT want this to be necessary as it was uncertain just what a Maratha Army might do should they arrive on East Indian soil. Would they ever leave?

However, what the EIC Directors, China and the Marathas had forgotten was the fact that other nations were becoming interested in the region. Russia had long since dominated the Near East north of Arabia politically and wanted to secure their own trade. France had long done business in the region and had been especially interested in Southeast Asia. With the opening of the Suez Canal, both could dispatch large fleets of modern steamships in a fraction of a time than in the past when wars at such a remove were virtually impossible logistically.

The last thing either the Marathas or the EIC wanted was the great nations of Europe suddenly taking an interest in the goings-on of the Indian Ocean. While no major incidents had taken place, tension had been building for years as France looked increasingly interested in the EIC holdings in Africa, particularly the rubber trade. All the European nations (well, all developed nations) were eagerly purchasing rubber from the Congo, from the Viceroyalty of Brazil (which was already exceeding Spain in population and wealth) and wherever else it could be raised. There was talk that the assorted nations of Southeast Asia may become prime exporters if their croplands could be converted over to rubber. Already, the EIC was doing so in Java and Sumatra and Malaya seemed an even better candidate.

Being at the mercy of the EIC or Brazil did not sit well with some European leaders and any new avenues for growth were being explored. To prevent this, the Marathas and EIC would effectively declare the Indian Ocean a warzone and close their ports temporarily to foreign traders who not only lost customers but coaling, watering and victualing stations. While this was explained to be "temporary", the action was viewed as heavy-handed at best, outrageous at worst. While foreign ships were not officially "stopped", the withdrawal of most of their ports in the region would effectively kill trade for months, maybe years.

The EIC, deeming themselves more wise in the politics and diplomacy of the west, would immediately offer to mediate with the white men for the Peshwa. This seemed reasonable but the EIC Ambassadors would prove unexpectedly inept in the role. They effectively looked at a map and noted former regions of conflict and sought to exploit this.

First, they approached the Russians with an offer of Maratha aid against China should Russia seek to regain their far eastern territories lost in the last Chinese war. What they did not take into account was Russian contempt for a "mere Company" seeking to negotiate with a Czar as an equal or the fact that Russia, in 1880, was far more concerned with access to the Indian Ocean now than potential access to the Pacific at some undetermined and vague point in the future. After all, the two major reasons for Russia's expansion to the Pacific in the first place were:

1. Ensuring another supply line to Russian North America....which was now under their own King.

And 2...........Trade with China.

Thus making war on China didn't seem to make a great deal of sense. Given the costs of the previous wars with China and the obvious (and insulting) EIC belief that Russia could be manipulated into an expensive war for EIC and Maratha benefit did little to endear the Maratha/EIC coalition to the Czar.

Similarly, the EIC would temporarily reassign an American officer, one Governor-General George McClellan of EIC East Africa, on a special mission to Manhattan to meet with the King's Ministers. Naturally, as an Ambassador, the man was received by the King first to present his credentials. However McClellan, who had come to think of himself as both a military genius and effective King in his own right by virtue of governing millions of Africans, would act with such oafishness as to offend the King, a young man of general good humor who often laughed at the eccentricities of others.

Naturally, the King said little to McClellan and directed him to his Foreign Secretary. Here, McClellan would do little more than present a secret offer: Should France take a stand AGAINST the Peshwa and Company....then the EIC and Marathas would happily aid British North America in gaining some of those disputed Pacific Islands the nation had been pining for. While the American Foreign Secretary, Benjamin D'Israeli, might have been willing to make such a deal, the First Lord and the King most certainly were NOT. Both were disgusted by this crass and transparent attempt by McClellan (though entirely formed by the Directors of the EIC) to get America to do their "dirty work" for them and promptly agreed that the written offer should be known to the French. The French Ambassador, Giuseppe Garibaldi, would be summoned immediately.

Garibaldi was the scion of an Italic-speaking family in Nice (handed over to France generations earlier) who had longed for his home region to be reunited with Italy. However, the French influence was great and, even in his lifetime, Garibaldi would see the local language reflecting more and more French influence. Seeing his boyhood dreams as unreasonable in middle age, the soldier would apply for a position in the diplomatic corps and, surprisingly, get one. Eventually, Garibaldi was stationed in the 1860's in America and became fast friends with then First Lord Abraham Lincoln. His relationship with Abbott was less close but still warm. However, Garibaldi considered D'Israeli an unprincipled opportunist.

When John Abbott and Benjamin D'Israeli showed the French Ambassador this letter, the usually calm and collected Garibaldi reddened with rage. He managed to stutter out a word of gratitude to the Americans and requested a few days to communicate this to Paris. As it so happened, the first trans-Atlantic cable between France and America had been laid and tested a few months prior and the information speedily conveyed (yet another modern convenience as previous generations could expect 6-12 week delays instead of hours).

While the King of France would not do anything precipitous like declaring war, the immediate effect was to turn French public opinion...and that of the King and government....even further from the Maratha/EIC.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1881

Paris

The decade of the 1880's would go done in European history as an era of political agitation. Kings willing to move with the times, such as the King of France Louis XVIII, would quietly and, perhaps more importantly, INCREMENTALLY, support the union movement and moderate pace on reform internally to expand the franchise for Parliament. While Parliament was hardly a powerful body, the fact that the King was publicly supporting expansion of the franchise made him popular and, as more French proved eligible to vote, the King would surrender bits of power here and there to the body.

King Louis XVIII would die in 1881 and his grandson (his son had predeceased him) would assume the throne at the tender age of 28. Raised for several years by his grandfather to support the natural progression surrounding him, Louis XVIIII would prove an adept politician who knew the hearts of the common man better than his Ministers.

In one of the most astonishing acts in modern European history, the King would order an almost revolutionary speech printed and read in every town square and church in the nation. He gloried in the name of his ancestors and what they had accomplished for the people of France but pointed out that the nation and her economy had expanded so much that one King and his chosen Ministers could hardly be expected to make all decisions wise and true. He stated that some power MUST be handed over to Parliament....but ONLY if it were certain that every man in France held the vote and provided his wisdom to the Elective Body.

For a King to say such a thing was viewed in some corners of Europe as almost heresy. After all, France was the most powerful country in western Europe (though some called the Eastern Power of Russia more powerful than France), the other nations of Europe had long expected France to uphold the status quo. Instead, the King was virtually BEGGING his subjects to aid him in ruling them.

Even many members of Parliament would object to this. The French Parliament was, like most European nations, a group of oligarchs, hardly a true representation of the people. THEY didn't want every man to have a vote, only the minority which constituted the elites. Men who had called themselves "republicans" were suddenly fighting the King not to expand the franchise but maintain it.

France would enter an era of internal turmoil rarely seen and hardly conceived by her neighbors in Spain, Italy and Germany, most of who remained largely autocratic regimes (with Oligarchic control).

In the meantime, French public sentiment was rapidly flowing AGAINST the EIC and Marathas.

Manhattan

Alfred, the young King of British North America (often, in common parlance, just called the "American" King) would be slightly disappointed that no territories would be ready in the early years of his reign for Dominion-hood. This was often seen as a mile-marker in a King's reign (Henry II saw "X" new Dominions added while Henry I saw "Y") and failure to do so was seen by the young King as something of a measure of his own worth.

Still, America continued to grow exponentially.

The nation had already reached 55,000,000 souls in 1880's census, above any European nation (or American) save Russia and they hardly counted. But somehow America retained a sense of inferiority.

But the nation continued to develop. In just two years, the King had personally inaugurated a dozen new Universities (usually with a Royal Donation of a College within it), half that many Museums throughout the nation and snipped the obligatory ribbon for canals, roads and ports.

America was viewed as perhaps the leading nation for science and technological innovation. The Royal Navy was competitive with Russia and France while probably ahead of the Maratha Empire, Chinese Empire, East India Company and Spanish Empire.

While certain Royal embarrassments periodically cropped up (like the Grand-daughter of Henry I eloping with the son of his would-be assassin), the nation was rapidly becoming respected. In the past decade, a half-dozen of the King's aunts and sisters had been married to foreign Princes (perhaps a measure of their fertility as much as high-status). King Alfred's next two sisters in age would be married to the Kings of Romania (a widower) and the Prince and Heir of Greece. Two of his younger aunts married petty German Princes though a match with the widowed King of Sweden fell through.

The new Queen would bear her third child in 1881, bringing another Prince an heir into the nation's heart after the death of the first-born son. However, this boy too would perish in infancy, once again making Princess Anastacia the next in line for the throne (America had never followed Salic Law). Fortunately, the Queen would bear another daughter in late 1882, Princess Tatiana.

As Royals were hardly in short supply in 1881, it seemed likely that a King would eventually inherit. After all, the King and Queen were young and quite fond of one another (as four children in five years could attest).

 

[Alt History Buff]

1882

London, Wessex

In 1882, the aging William V of Wessex died of a massive coronary while out on his morning constitutional. His son Charles III would be crowned a month later. Over his long life, William V had managed to reconcile with his British neighbors and push for more integration with the rest of the island. Canals, railroads, telegraphs, telephones, etc, would unite the British Isle in ways never imagined centuries before when ruled by the same monarch.

The Hague

After the humiliating defeat to the East India Company years before, the Dutch Republic had long possessed leaders desirous of regaining the lands east of Cape Colony. As the war between the Maratha and Chinese Empires expanded, the Dutch began to wonder if the Maratha ally was vulnerable to attack in southern Africa.

The Dutch would press their "allies" in Paris to act on their behalf but France hardly cared about Dutch concerns. If the EIC was to be pushed out of Africa, WHY hand any lands over to the Dutch? Why not just keep it for themselves?

But the weak Dutch Central Government lacked much in the way of wisdom and continued to press their Catholic neighbor to fight their battles for them. In an almost unprecedented event, the Dutch even authorized payment for four new French-built warships to challenge the EIC in Southern Africa.

Paris

Though the King of British North America and his First Lord, John Abbott, had declared they would not act as the EIC's surrogate in a war against France, that did not mean Foreign Secretary Benjamin D'Israeli intended to allow an opportunity to slip past. With the relations between France and America warming, D'Israeli would renew his attempts to gain title to some Pacific Islands. Overseas colonies were considered an ornament of powerful nations thus even useless Pacific Islands mattered to D'Israeli.

Quietly, D'Israeli would lay claim to minor to flyspeck islands which the French had ignored for years, even generations. Niue, Tonga and others were sought, most of these islands depopulated by the French over the years. Exactly what America would do with these island....well, no one knew.

Finally, in the wake of the diplomatic reapproachment with France over America turning over the EIC's blatant attempt to turn America against France, D'Israeli went for the big prize: Samoa.

Like most islands of the region, disease and "recruitment" had resulted in over a 90% loss of population in Samoa. The culture was largely destroyed and what islanders were left remained in remote regions in a sustenance lifestyle.

D'Israeli determined to make the acquisition of these islands a cornerstone of his legacy to the Crown. While First Lord John Abbott hardly gave him a blank slate to do what he wished, D'Israeli had influence and was determined to use it.

If France wanted to KEEP America as a friend...and potential ally....the cost would be clear.

Athens

In a first of modern diplomatic history, the Sublime Porte of the Ottoman Empire (what was left of it in Anatolia) would pay an official State Visit to Greece, a nation which it had once suppressed. The Porte had been brought up in a wave of modernization which precluded the old practices of the past, including religious repression or prejudice. The King of Greece...and his American wife....would greet the Porte in a show of friendship in hopes of hearkening a new age of peace.

The King was mildly concerned about receiving the Turk without "consultation" of the Czar but this concern would prove unwarranted. The Czar hardly cared.

Palestine (and Sinai)

Over the 1870's and 1880's, a new wave of migrants deposited along the shores of Palestine. Hundreds of thousands of Russians, Russian Jews and Polish Jews arrived with tens of thousands of European Christians of all denominations. Adding to the mix of local Arab Muslims, Arab Christians, Copts, Egyptian Shia's, Balkan Muslims (Greek, Turkish, Albanian, Bulgarian and Bosniak) and others, the Kingdom of Palestine would see no group with a majority in her shores, much like Syria to the north which was also seeing lower levels of Russian, Jewish or European migration.

The problem was that the Kingdom of Palestine lacked a King. Finally, the Russian Czar with dispatch one of his younger sons to Palestine as the new monarch with express orders to respect the religious orders.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1882

Northern Siam

After years of bitter warfare, the disputed regions of northern Siam were decimated, the peoples seeing their lands burned under waves of battle. Tens of thousands of Maratha and Chinese soldiers augmented the Burmese and Siamese armies waging see-saw war. Eventually, the Maratha-Burmese forces would be driven out of northern Siam by a determined Chinese offensive.

Malaya

Within a few years of battle, the warring factions of Malaya effectively ceased to exist as their "allies" of China, the Maratha Empire and the EIC had utterly consumed the Peninsula, absorbing the local rulers' lands directly.

King Mahesh I of Nepal (house of Wesley) would follow his father and grandfather into the service of the Maratha Empire. Placed in command of the EIC and Maratha forces (mostly EIC from Java, Sumatra and even Africa), the King would, In a devastating series of maneuvers, crush his enemies and push them south into the "neck" of the Malayan Peninsula. The EIC threw itself into this particular fight as secret agreements with the Peshwa would see the Malayan Peninsula as falling to the IEC. The Peshwa, apparently, was not interested in gaining another nest of Muslims anyway and would be satisfied to seize "influence" over the rest of Southeast Asia.

Just as Mahesh I was preparing to celebrate a great victory, the Chinese turned the tide. Still controlling the eastern shore of Malaya, the Chinese managed to sail behind Mahesh's lines and disembark 25,000 Viet "volunteers" generously provided by the puppet King of the Viets. The EIC/Maratha commander was forced to split his forces and rush back to southern Malaya to blunt the invasion.

Paris

Over the past two years, several diplomatic incidents between the warring nations of Asia and those of Europe had taken place. French, American, Russian, Dutch and other neutral parties had seen their ships stopped, searched for contraband, etc, while sailing through the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Benjamin D'Israeli had personally sailed to Paris to discuss the matter with the French Foreign Minister. While none of the incidents alone was deemed enough of an outrage to warrant a declaration of war of any form of hostility, still SOMETHING must be done.

The two diplomats agreed to not only cut off all war material (including ships) in trade with the warring nations but also dispatch a great combined fleet on a "diplomatic" tour. Both men were certain that the Asiatic fleets could not possibly defeat the two most modern fleets on earth.....but weren't THAT certain. Thus, the two would invite other European nations to partake.

The Dutch had long stung at their defeat to the EIC a generation before in southern Africa and agreed to send their three best ships (really the ONLY three that could be called modern). At length, the Russians were contacted and proved interested in "scouting the region" as the Russian Admiral put it. This made everyone uncomfortable but the offer could not be withdrawn.

No other European nations proved interested and the assorted fleets were to be assembled in Bordeaux in February of 1883 and prepared to sail for the Orient. A French commander was nominally put in charge but, in all reality, virtually every aspect of the tour was agreed upon in advance with the diplomatic personnel assigned to the mission to agree any any deviation.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1883

April

Bordeaux

Though it had been agreed that the combined French, American, Dutch and Russian fleets would depart in early March, they indeed would not leave Bordeaux until late April as the Russian fleet in St. Petersburg was iced in during late winter and only made it to Bordeaux by April. This was, however, easily communicated via telegraph and the fleet agreed to wait at the urging of the Russian Ambassador to France.

Though the steam-ships were vastly faster (and increasingly more reliable) than the previous sailing ships of a bygone era, it still took the convoy several weeks to reach the Indian Ocean. It turned out that the extra time at anchor in Bordeaux was put to good use as the convoy's naval commanders and diplomats had additional time to plan their journey.

In an attempt to intimidate the East India Company, the fleet would actually sail past the Congo and well as southern Africa stopping periodically in various ports of EIC control plus the Cape Colony as a show of force. They would then sail northwards along Eastern Africa before arriving at various stops Southeast Asia. Though some advocated "visiting" Maratha ports, this was deemed too provocative.

By May, the fleet arrived along Eastern Africa, stopping in Zanzibar. Then they sailed north to the Suez, as if to remind the nations of the Red Sea of their presence. Then, the fleet sailed in June to Bourbonia. By July, they were in Adelheid, Van Diemensland where they were greeted by "Fleet Captain" Alfred Mahan, who was more than a little nonplussed to not have been invited on the mission (despite his post not possessing a particularly impressive ship to take as his flag).

By August, the fleet was sailing again West with the intent of threading through the EIC's possessions in the East Indies.

Among the fleet were six French vessels, four Russians (originally five but one was left in Van Diemensland for repair to her engines), six American and three Dutch. Most were the among the most capable on earth and, should a pitched battle break out, it was likely that this allied force would wipe out either the Marathas or Chinese fleets which challenged them (maybe BOTH Maratha and Chinese fleets).

Isthmus Canal, New Granada

After nine years of construction, huge expense and thousands of lives despite frenetic attempts to eradicate disease-bearing mosquitoes near the worksites, the "Isthmus" as it would become called in common parlance, was complete.

The King of Spain himself would arrive for the opening ceremony. Within weeks, there would be mechanical problems but these would only delay the traffic between Atlantic and Pacific for a short time. For the most part, the Canal would be a resounding success.

 

[Alt History Buff]

August 27th, 1883

Sunda Straight between Java and Sumatra

Having paused briefly in July in French Bourbonia and Adelheid, Van Diemensland, the "White Fleet" as the European-American "good will mission" would depart westwards this time intent on passing near, but not directly through, the war zone as a sign of their united strength. It was nearing the end of typhoon season (a reason why the ships had sailed west to east at a very southerly route) and it was determined to hug the coasts should a late storm strike the region. Another American ship, the BNA Cruiser "North Zealand", was added at the request of her new master, Governor-General Alfred Mahan of Van Diemensland who simply could not imagine missing the event. Stuck in administrative duties he hated, the sailor would "volunteer" his new post flagship just to get the hell off of Van Diemensland for a few weeks.

First, the convoy would travel slightly north along the eastern coast of Malaya, controlled by the Chinese Navy. The Qing commander looked upon the shimmering ships of the western fleet and, having received reports of the improvements of in armor (French), artillery (American) and speed (Russia) of these latest ships, he ordered his own ships only to fire if fired upon. Instead, the Admiral steamed only his flagship forward under a flag of truce, leaving the rest of this fleet 10 miles northward.

The Admiral was met with courtesy by the French flagship (which held the assembled diplomatic delegation of all the assorted nations comprising the "White Fleet") and was assured of the allies' good will and neutrality. The diplomats would also be quite direct in reminding the Chinese Admiral of his own nation's responsibilities towards neutral nations. Quite certain that his own forces would be crushed by the assembled might of the most modern ships on earth (which he could tell at a distance were a probably half a decade more advanced than China's best offerings, including those recently bought from France and America), the Admiral knew better than to reply in anything beyond pleasantries through gritted teeth.

Having made their point, the fleet would sail southwards along the coast of Malaya and turn towards the Maratha-EIC joint naval base at Batavia, the administrative center of the East India Company. They would sail into the city on August 16th for yet another unannounced "good will visit". The EIC governor would receive the allies in the expected formality in the European fashion. Impromptu balls were held for the unwelcome guests and speeches of past trade relations were brought up. Open threats were not made...nor were necessary. It was quite obvious that the combined firepower of the White Fleet could decimate Batavia's defenses in days....maybe hours.

Again proving to the locals of what would await them should a conflict with the western powers break out, the allies departed after taking on water, supplies, coal, etc (all "gifts" from the Governor) and sailed northwards. If there was one disappointment over the visit to Batavia, it was the fact that there proved to be few EIC or Maratha warships in harbor. Evidently, sometime in the past six months, the Peshwa's sailors determined that protecting the Straight of Malacca far more important than defending the EIC headquarters and ordered their "ally", the EIC, to dispatch most of their navies northwards to their superior harbors in Rangoon and northern Sumatra. They would have preferred a location adjacent the Malacca Straight itself but no harbor existed which could have served the Marathas as well and thus they were forced to keep much of their ships a disturbing distance from what every party considered the primary battle zone.

The EIC was of two minds on the matter. They hated being ordered around and seeing their eastern Capital so slightly defended (though the Chinese had given few indications of invading Java) but were also glad to see no major Maratha presence on EIC territory. In the end, the latter was the lesser of two evils. EIC governance in the East Indies was hardly universally popular and the Javans could hardly be counted upon to rally to the EIC colors should either the Marathas or Chinese invade.

The White Fleet considered their path:

While they could sail up the Malacca Straight, there was the chance that they may run head-long into some sort of battle. The Fleet's presence was intended to be provocative but possessed no active plan to partake in battle. The Diplomats were quite clear on this and, short of a direct attack by an enemy force, there was no agreement for the Fleet to act aggressively. Thus the fleet determined instead to sail through the Sunda Straight between Java and Sumatra, then sail north past the western coast of Sumatra before arriving in Rangoon.

This seemed a reasonable accommodation and was swiftly agreed by the diplomats (after about two days of discussion, naturally). Once they departed from Rangoon, they Fleet would sail for the Suez Canal and home. Though confident in their invulnerability, the White Fleet's constituent members determined that arriving directly at a Maratha (or Chinese) home port would be seen as an open insult which may bring the parties into a war most didn't really want.

What happened next would be seen by some as Jehovah's Punishment or Karmic Justice, depending upon the nationality of the respective party.

Throughout early August, local EIC governors had noted that the volcano of Krakatoa, an uninhabited island in the middle of the Sunda Straight, had commenced smoking. By late August, it was estimated that the pillars of smoke were as high as 20 miles. A century or so before, the volcano had erupted, killing everything on the island. By August 26th, when the White Fleet was passing through the straight, a series of explosions could be heard for hundreds of miles. Seeing the smoke against the western sunset on August 26th and hearing the explosions, the White Fleet wondered if they were hearing some sort of great battle. The diplomats immediately commenced debating if they should alter course to avoid the possibility of unintentionally arriving in the middle of an active conflict. However, diplomats being diplomats, the men circled the issue for hours before coming to effectively no conclusion. They determined to wait to see what the next day would bring.

This would prove a fatal error as the fleet sailed past Krakatoa just after midnight.

By the morning of August 27th, three massive explosions occurred just before dawn, each so loud as to deafen every person within 10 miles and rupture eardrums of hundreds of the White Fleet's sailors now 20 miles northwest of the island. Vast clouds of ash filled the sky, up nearly 50 miles, which would swiftly circle the earth bring about an atypically cold fall in the northern hemisphere. Fist-sized pumice stones rained down upon the ships even at this distance to such an extent that dozens of sailors were injured and every Captain ordered their crews under cover for their own safety. On one notable instance, a French ship was immediately crippled when a carriage-sized piece of coral was thrown 20 miles and happened to smash into her prow. Even the glancing blow was enough to crumple the ship and throw the entire crew into the bulkheads surrounding them. Nearly half the crew was immediately killed, virtually all the others suffering severe injuries. Rescue operations commenced at once by the nearest allied ships but only four men could be retrieved as the vessel swiftly fell below the waters (one of these men dying from internal injuries within hours).

The delay would prove catastrophic as the first major Tsunamis arrived in the aftermath. Scientists would later calculated that the collapse of the seabed surrounding the island of Krakatoa had displaced huge amounts of water triggering the Tsunami. Usually ships far enough out to sea were relatively safe from tsunamis as their destructive power magnified when hitting coasts. However, THIS series of tsunamis would send waves up to 50 feet high even out at sea and the stationary ships were particularly helpless targets. Had they been fleeing directly FROM or TOWARDS the tsunami, many of the ships may have been saved. Unfortunately for the sailors, several of the idle ships were effectively broadsided by the waves and swiftly capsized.

The southern tip of Sumatra and northern tip of Java saw the tsunamis reach nearly 150 feet. Whole villages were wiped out. The nearby island of Sebesi saw its entire population of 3000 people killed.

The island of Krakatoa would effectively collapse into the sea in a massive landslide. Even with magma building up calderas over the coming months, the island lost nearly 70% of her surface area. The huge undersea expansion of lava would later be estimated at 21 cubic kilometers of land material deposited by the volcano upon the ocean floor, killing off the local sealife in huge swathes.

Hundreds of local fishing vessels and trading ships were capsized, sunk or damaged. The White Fleet would see all but three vessels utterly destroyed. Without functioning relief vessels, most of the crews would be lost (including the French flagship with all hands among these being the diplomatic party). The three remaining ships were so badly battered that they were forced to rig sails to maintain any control over the vessels and were unable to offer significant relief to their stricken fellows. Several life-rafts would, months later, reach Africa bearing the bleached bones of allied sailors.

The three remaining ships now under command of Fleet-Captain Alfred Mahan would recover about 200 sailors before giving up rescue operations. So badly damaged were these vessels that it was apparent they they must reach a safe harbor immediately. The trio attempted to sail around Java to reach Batavia but contrary winds actually forced them south to Bali. Here they found the local facilities adequate to patchwork repairs of the ships.

Mahan himself was shocked ANY of the ships survived the tsunamis. By happenstance the BNA cruiser North Zealand had been particularly well designed for stability. More importantly, he would later conclude in his memoirs of the incident that the North Zealand was one of the few ships actually under steam when the first tsunani approached and he was able to turn the ship INTO the coming waves, thus saving her.

The North Zealand would sail from Bali back to Van Diemensland where the fastest ship in Mahan's local squadron (a small courier) was immediately ordered to sail for the Gulf of California to report the news. The other two survivors, the Dutch Republic Ship (DRS) Rotterdam and Russian Cruiser Paul I would carry the European survivors west through the Suez Canal to report the terrible news. Even this journey would prove treacherous as a late typhoon hit the western Indian ocean in mid-October forcing the fleet into an Ethiopian harbor for weeks.

By happenstance, the telegraph messages would reach Manhattan, the Hague, Paris and Moscow on the same day informing the respective nations of the destruction of the flower of their navies.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1883 - October

Batavia

Sanjay de Godoy was the mixed race scion of Manuel de Godoy, whose line had been serving as Directors of the East India Company for the better part of a century. A somewhat eclectic mix of Marathi, Punjabi Sikh, Spanish, Portuguese and even a bit of Persian from a Parsi ancestor (de Godoy would actually follow the Zoroastrian faith), de Godoy had climbed the company hierarchy and managed to achieve a prime position in command of Batavia province on Java where he comfortably housed his wife and four teenage Javan mistresses.

For nearly ten years, de Godoy held this position and generally saw good economic times. There were relatively few internal rebellions in the East Indies as the Company was not inclined to tax the subsistence farmers to any great degree and certainly no one attempted any form of conversion of the locals. There were, of course, foreign soldiers hired to maintain control, mostly Indian, African, European, etc, who actively supported the administration.

Up to the start of the war, the Governor had things comfortably under his control. Even AFTER the war commenced, trade remained generally good between the East Indies and the west as the EIC's ships travelling west were seldom harassed by Chinese navy vessels. Yes, the loss of the Chinese trade hurt Batavia a great deal but it was hoped this would be a short term situation. At least the spice, rubber, palm oil and other exports continued without significant interruption.

However, the August eruption of Krakatoa (the EIC had sent observers to the region who reported that the island had largely disappeared and enough underwater volcanism was readily apparent that the party dared not attempt to alight the smoldering remnant of Krakatoa. The nearby island of Sebesi appeared at a distance to be intact....but everyone on the island was dead.

Governor de Godoy would personally witness the landing of a house-sized boulder impacted near the Batavia shoreline which had been thrown nearly 40 miles. Uncountable smoldering pumice stones landed in the region but, fortunately, the humid climate prevented many large-scale fires.

Reports of tidal waves wiping out small villages were received. Several dozen EIC ships had been sunk or damaged (or had just disappeared). Many neutral ships arrived in Batavia seeking repairs. It was obvious that a disaster had struck and de Godoy did not know what to do about the matter. Fortunately, the EIC Directors resident in Batavia would immediately consult with their ally, the Peshwa, and "recommend" that some sort of armistice may be made with the Chinese.

In truth, the Peshwa was rethinking this war. The attempt to expand his power into Siam and Malaya had largely failed. The costs of the conflict were growing higher and higher with limited expectation of ultimate victory. Discussions would take placed via intermediaries but the immediate Chinese response was to demand full Maratha from Southeast Asia, including from the lands of the Peshwa's allies in Burma and Malaya. This was unacceptable and the war would go on though it had largely stabilized everywhere except the Malayan Peninsula were war continued to rage. Both China and the Marathas would plug more and more men into the festering hellhole of Malaya.

However, both China and the Maratha Empire proved somewhat gun-shy about pitting their fleets against one another after the astonishing events at Krakatoa.

Manhattan

Like New Haven, Brooklyn, Trenton and other eastern cities, the previous weeks saw repeated bells of the fire brigades rushing west towards the massive flames on the horizon. The obvious conflagrations always seemed just over the next hill, just over the horizon. However, one by one, the fire brigades realized that the smoggy orange sunsets in fact were NOT caused by local fires.

No one in living memory had seen such apparitions and it was easy to assume the reddish haze bore the remnants of entire towns and forests gone up in flames. Frustrated, and often embarrassed, the firemen would return to their homes uncertain of the cause of the grim visage.

While a few scientists would immediately propose volcanic activity in September, it would not be until word arrived of the tragic loss of the "White Fleet" amid a volcanic eruption that, by Christmas, the haze (and uncommonly cold fall) would be blamed upon ash blocking the sun (and leaving a ring of particulates in the sky which made the sun look as if it had sprouted a "halo").

While these short-term panics were eventually overcome, the loss of most of the best ships in the fleet could not. Granted, Russia, France and even the Dutch Republic had lost their own modern vessels, the fact was that Americans were not accustomed to losing so many men at one time. Indeed, it was not since the Spanish War two generations past that so many American servicemen lost their lives.

While Parliament would immediately agree to the Admiralty's demand for additional vessels beyond the current budgets, some felt America had not been so vulnerable in years.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1884

Manhattan

With a great deal of solemnity, King Alfred of British North America dedicated the "Frederick" Monument to his great grand-father, the first King of British North America, in the middle of "Frederick Park". Though hardly a dynamic figure, the late King was still revered for his contribution to maintaining the monarchy in America after the vile coup of the usurper William III of Great Britain (later just Wessex).

Though Alfred thought the monument somewhat derivative of the old monoliths one found in Rome and Egypt, he expected the tall, featureless monument would stand the test of time.

It would turn out that he was wrong as the monument would collapse in a strong wind just four years later much to the architect's mortification.

Bedloe's island and Ellis Island, New York Harbor

After years of debate (some Parliamentarians recommended putting some sort of monument on these islands or at least defensive fortifications), the decision was made that an inspection station for the hundreds of thousands of migrants entering the nation would be paced upon Ellis Island. Those found to be carrying contagious diseases would be housed on Bedloe's Island nearby until they were deemed to be healthy or arrangements could be made to return them to their nation of origin.

Paulgrad

Sam Clemons would publish a great novel in Paulgrad (both in Russian and English) of a young Russian boy who escaped from his boring life and travelled north to the goldfields of Alyeska. It would gain worldwide fame and expand his reputation as a wit.

Khartoum

After years of defacto siege, the final Egyptian presence in the northern Sudan was all but wiped out in a terrible conflagration of Mahdist fanatics. Tens of thousands of Egyptian residents were massacred.

Already, one Egyptian Army was swallowed by the Sudanese Muslims who had taken their religious leader as the new "Redeemer". Now known only as the "Mahdi", he would proclaim all Muslims who failed to support the austere lifestyle of the nomadic peoples (oddly, the Mahdi himself was not a nomad by origin) common to East Africa and, of course, Arabia, as heretics. He then promised to overrun Egypt, Mecca, Mesopotamia, the Ottoman, Syria....and any Muslim nation which dared stand in his path.

In 1884, over seventy-five thousand "Mahdist" warriors drawn from the tribes of the Sudan commenced riding north towards Egypt.

Paris

Foreign Secretary Benjamin D'Israeli knew he was on thin ice with First Lord John Abbott, much of the Ministry and, of course, King Alfred. However, the aggressive American was determined to put the tragic ill-luck of the previous year and somehow gain advantage for his nation in the simmering war in Southeast Asia.

The loss of five good ships, each were at least in the ten most powerful in the American fleet, could not be denied. But France, Russia, the Dutch Republic and, it appeared, even the East India Company, the Maratha Empire and the Chinese Empire lost ships as well in the freakish timing which led to an international "Good Will Tour" blundering directly into an erupting volcano.

As the chief supporter of this ill-fated incident in Manhattan, D'Israeli nearly was obliged to resign but neither the King nor the First Lord of the Treasury were inclined to opine that the loss of the ships were directly his fault. But the stigma would stay with D'Israeli and he knew he must do something to regain his good name in order to survive the coming election cycle. Rumor had it that, even if Abbott was retained as First Lord, that the man was tired of D'Israeli and would call for his replacement.

Thus D'Israeli moved quickly to the only ally he could think of: the French. Rumor had it that the French were increasingly interested in Southeast Asia, perhaps to the point of desiring to conquer the whole of the East India Company possessions in the East Indies. This was naturally a very ambitious and unlikely scenario as things stood but perhaps not out of the question. D'Israeli was willing to support this provided America could be...compensated.

America and France had been at odds over the horde of Pacific Islands which France had previously emptied over the past century to man their sugar plantations in Bourbonia. Only a few had any significant population left after "recruiting" and disease. After a few initial attempts to exploit them without much in the way of native labor, mostly logging, the French had effectively abandoned the region except for a few remote Naval Bases.

France needed support against the EIC should an incident bring France and the Company to war. Only America was likely to provide this in any depth as China rarely bothered allying with heathens and the Dutch....well, it had been a while since the Dutch really mattered.

Armed with an alliance within the Ministry of Raphael Semmes, the First Lord of the Admiralty, D'Israeli would swiftly act and reinforce the southern Pacific with American forces. In 1884, he would travel on his own "Goodwill Visit" to Paris to discuss the situation in Southeast Asia with his counterpart, a similarly ambitious and aggressive man.

In the meantime, a series of events in the Indian Ocean would bring France and the EIC (and THEIR ally the Marathas) to the bring of war.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1885

Detroit

Emil Jellinek was born in Austria thirty-two years prior. The son of a Rabbi, Jellinek would show little interest in formal schooling and eventually his exasperated parents would arrange a clerk position in a local railroad. However, within a few years, the young man would be fired for organizing late night locomotive races. Eventually, the young man would enter the sales world and travel to Oran in the Berber Kingdom. Here he would meet his future wife and join his future in-law's firm exporting Berber tobacco to Europe.

Bored with the business within a few years, Jellinek would eventually move his family to Detroit, Michigan in British North America where the copper and iron boom in the Dominion of Marquette was proving to have a greater impact on the American economy than any of the gold or silver rushes of the west (and more sustained). Detroit, at the confluence of two of the Great Lakes, would be the primary export region for the mineral wealth of the region.

Detroit bore a highly diverse group of citizens ranging from "British", Irish, German (many of those both Protestant and Catholic), French, Poles (one of the first great Polish destinations), Scandinavians, Mestizos, Africans, Albanians, Greeks, Lebanese and many, many others including a not insignificant community of Jews. While Jellinek was hardly the most observant Jew, he immediately gravitated to the community for support even more than his co-linguist Germans. Indeed, Detroit bore more Jews than any city northern city but Brooklyn and Philadelphia.

In his early years in Detroit, the Austrian form a company with friends to export copper (of which 90% of America's supply was mined in Marquette) to Europe, North Africa and the Near East. His many connections made him a good business partner. However, Jellinek was soon bored with the trade and went looking for something more interesting. As it so happened, many of the great engineering advances were being made in the German Confederation. Schools seemed to churn out brilliant engineers, draftsmen, mechanics, etc in the German lands but jobs seemed to be scarce. With a nearby supply of metals, coal, transport (the Great Lakes), etc, Detroit and its environs were perfectly positioned geographically for the mechanization of future decades and the arrival of a technically competent class and large numbers of unskilled laborers would swiftly propel the city from an unremarkable backwoods dominion capital to an industrial powerhouse.

Aided by funds from his friend and mentor, the sixty-eight year old Hiram Walker, himself a successful whisky distiller in Detroit, Walker was able to buy controlling interests with his friends in several ventures including an insurance business which would, by his mid-thirties, make him a very wealthy man and among the social elite of Detroit. This allowed the Austrian to involve himself in new trends. While touring a new Edison Illuminating facility powering the city grid, Jellinek would witness one of the steam engine technicians entering the facility on what can only be described as some sort of rickety, steam-powered, four-tired bicycle.

Immediately Jellinek inquired of the contraption and the proud young man stated he had built it himself in his personal workshop from surplus parts. Impressed, the Austrian immediately determined to investigate the idea. Motored tricycles had been common on the streets but four-wheeled vehicles....well, ones that WORKED well enough to carry a man through muddy streets to work, remained rare. Jellinek had heard of races being put on in Manhattan and Boston. Perhaps Detroit may have their own?

He thanked the young man, who bore the forgettable name of Henry Ford, and immediately set about forming his own mechanics shop to build better, stronger...and most importantly, FASTER....motorized vehicles. Indeed, he would demand that his employees produce one within a year worthy of travelling east to face the best of the nation. He would later send a messenger to offer that Ford lad a job but the messenger, who barely spoke English, only stated that the man had no interest in working for a Jew who was financed by a booze-monger like Walker. This was a bit of a shock. Jews were hardly universally popular but work was work.

In the end, Jellinek put the young man out of his mind and proceeded with his new hobby. Soon, half a dozen skilled mechanics were producing vehicles every year and "Jellinek Motorsports" would become famous in the "horse-less carriage" racing industry. While insurance and metal exports remained his primary business, Jellinek would also grow his interests in the machined parts business.

Eventually, Jellinek would learn that the uncouth Ford would take a position in Thomas Edison's unique "inventions lab" in downtown Detroit. Jellinek would shrug, assuming he would never hear the name again.

Madrid

On a year over year basis, the decentralization of political power was hardly notable but, taken in the context of nearly a century, the difference could not be ignored. "Home Rule" had been granted to virtually all Spanish colonies of sufficient size. Indeed, even the governance of some petty islands in the West Indies like the Virgin Islands, St. Christos (St. Kitts) and others were foisted upon the new Vice-Royalty of Puerto Rico just to get the out of the Spanish Colonial Minister's hair.

But, by 1881, Carlos VI had suffered several minor strokes and was clearly incapable of continuing as an effective monarch. His eldest surviving son Miguel effectively took over most regal duties. Perhaps the most intelligent, hard-working and ambitious Spanish Royal in centuries, Prince Miguel had been raised by his father to accept that the old ways of colonial domination over the colonies was long since dead. Miguel agreed that any attempt to force the issue of "Home Rule" on the colonies was utterly doomed to fail.

Perhaps more importantly, the Prince realized that the Empire was more important than Spain itself. The colonies generated far more in taxes (even if spent locally) than Spain, bore a much larger population and, despite ardent efforts at modernization, Spain remained behind not only other European nations but behind SOME OF HER OWN COLONIES in manufacturing.

For the first time, a Spanish Royal began to see the Metropolis as but a figurehead of a greater nation across the sea. Thus the Prince set about to reinforce the cultural/economic/political ties between the entire Empire, not just of colony to Spain.

Being delegated great power from his father, the Prince personally (economics was a hobby of his) would bring to an end the centuries old banking system which had repeatedly failed the Empire and form a new version based upon a new premise: an IMPERIAL one. Instead of mere subsidieries of the main bank in Spain, the new bank would truly be international in character. Subsidieries were placed in all the major Vice-Royalties, a longtime demand of the colonials.

Similarly, a line was drawn between "Spanish" taxes and responsibilities, "Vice-royalty" taxes and responsibilities and joint "Imperial" taxes and responsibilities. As part of the most recent cessation of power, the Crown organized a new Parliament, one which was dedicated to joint concerns like defense, common external trade laws, internal trade law, oversight of the Imperial bank, etc. This was a radical move to Spanish eyes. It had long been viewed that such matters were controlled by the motherland. Instead, the King's Imperial Parliamentary "Advisors" would be formed by representatives selected from throughout the Empire. While local matters were dealt with by the regional governments, the "Imperial" matters....and some of the taxes....were controlled by this new body.

Prince Miguel would also take the near unprecedented step of visiting all of the major colonial regions on what would become viewed as a hugely successful "goodwill" tour. He listened to local concerns, granted honors (on his father's behalf) and generally aligned himself with those reforms popular in the colonies. As Spain no longer had the power to maintain her Empire by force (and probably hadn't possessed this for over a century), it would be the loyalty of the people which would sustain the Empire.

Miguel would look towards the democracies like America, the assorted British Kingdoms, Ireland and to an extent even France, and note that the monarchy in these regions, where power had long been devolving from the Crown to the people, were more popular than in the more autocratic regimes like Russia, China, the Maratha Empire or even oligarchies where an elite pulled the strings like the Habsburg domains, Brandenburg or Spain itself. It had long been held as axiomatic that a monarch was propped up by elites be they a few favorites or even a Parliament or Diet which only answered to a tiny fraction of the population. These people were believed more likely to uphold the throne as a symbol of social order (and status).

However, Miguel would see the resentment building in Spain and other nations by the people against the Oligarchy for their corruption and, reasonably, against the monarchs themselves. However, in nations where the King's held titular power, any public resentment was against the Parliamentarians THEY elected, not the King who did not set policy. Thus Miguel would see, somewhat paradoxically, that the survival of the Spanish Empire and even the Spanish House of Bourbon Monarchy as dependent upon EXPANSION of the franchise, not its withholding.

Carlos VI was a wise man in his own way but was unable to see beyond simply accepting what the people of Spain and the colonies wanted. Miguel was determined to stay ahead of the cultural transformations.

What Miguel DID NOT believe was that this new fact of life must by necessity result in the stagnation of an Empire. He believed that common farmers, merchants and laborers were inclined to be as assertive and proud of their Empire as the elites which increasingly found themselves marginalized on a seemingly inexorable tide of reform. Democracies could, as the Americans proved, be no less aggressive than dictatorships, something which few of Miguel's era seemed to comprehend.

Did not the average American celebrate the expansion of America west (largely at Spanish expense but the past was the past) as much as the gentry?

Is it unreasonable to suppose that the Russian peasant would happily support domination of the Near East, political control of the Balkans and the effective cleansing of the Turkic peoples from Central Asia as much as the highest Russian Duke?

No, in what many philosophers, political theorists and intellectuals would never fully understand, Miguel knew implicitly.

People were the same all over.

Thus the long American tour would see the Prince espouse radical ideas which had long seen common people put in prison. Again, using his aging father's words as a mouthpiece, the Prince would openly speak of expanding the franchise and publicly ordered the Viceroy's to press their regional Parliaments to follow suit. Some would be appalled, many astounded....but many others came away elated that the Prince was "their man" and, while many of these reforms were technically not under the purview of the Crown, they would nevertheless seen swift action in several Viceroyalties (Miguel was wise enough never to use the term "colony" as was common in Spain) while certain others would see their election officials balk. But the support of the crown lent great impetus to the movement and it became almost accepted that massive changes were inevitable in ALL of the Americas.

When the Infante returned to Madrid, he was ushered into his father's presence and informed by the King (who was exhausted after months of doing his own job and feeling fortunate not to have had another stroke) that Carlos intended to abdicate the following month in favor of his son. Miguel respected and loved his father but this could not conceal his eagerness to reform the Empire in the manner he desired.

Indeed, the new King would even begin to consider EXPANDING it.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1885

Upper Egypt

Khedive Hussain was not, by nature, a decisive man. His immediate predecessor (his grandfather) was prudent enough to retreat from HIS predecessor's (his brother) policy of expansionism and Sunni supremacy as it had run Egypt afoul with most of their neighbors and shattered the Egyptian economy. Eventually, the worst of the tensions were reduced and trade resumed with the Mediterranean region always demanding Egyptian products like cotton, wheat, dates and some manufactured goods. The construction of the Suez Canal along the Egyptian border (the other side of the Sinai belonging to Palestine) brought in annual revenues without Egypt having to spend funds it didn't have (Egypt and Palestine provided the land while Russia and France provided the Capital).

The Canal had largely changed the Egyptian outlook to the world and, more importantly, the way the rest of the world looked at Egypt. While yes, Egypt WAS largely a waystation now, it was at least a waystation that the entire world utilized. That gave the nation a status it had not possessed in centuries. Now under the control of a native dynasty after thousands of years of foreign rule dating back to Alexander the Great, Egypt was at the forefront of the Muslim world.

The impressive modernization of Egypt had led to a degree of optimism which allowed the nation to expand southwards into the northern Sudan a generation prior claiming land which had not really been under Egyptian rule since the Pharoahs (and very often not even by THEM). However, a new religious movement led by a fanatic calling himself the "Mahdi" (Redeemer) would rise up in revolt, killing at least 50,000 Egyptians in Khartoum alone. Two attempts by the Egyptian Army to reassert control or at least rescue the Egyptian civilians would lead to disastrous defeats and the slaughter of much of each army.

The Khedive, seeing little revenues from the region and no one left to rescue, was by this point prepared to call it quits on the whole idea of Egyptian control over northern Sudan. However, the "Mahdi" had other thoughts and, against any logical expectation, actually rode northwards to attack Egypt!

By 1885, it was held as axiomatic that modern weaponry made the fierce cavalry warriors and conquerors of the past like the Mongols, Parthians, Turkics, Huns and Arabs effectively obsolete. The defeats to the Mahdi in the Sudan were viewed as exceptions as the Sudanese tribesmen each time cut off a slow moving army in the remote desert and cut them to pieces. This was considered a matter of Egyptian military incompetence combined by unique conditions unlikely to often be matched in the modern world.

However, the tribesmen travelled hundreds of miles through the deserts, along the Nile with little to no opposition. At least 75,000 warriors accompanied the Mahdi along with 25,000 to 50,000 camp followers (women, servants, etc). The Khedive had never considered that the nomads would leave the desert and had no plan in place to repulse them. The two armies which had been destroyed in the desert carried most of the best trained, best armed and best led of the modest standing Egyptian Army.

The Mahdi initially kept his forces in check, chiding them to treat civilians as civilians. He reminded them that these were Sunnis who failed to heed his word due to their ignorance, not their innate evil. Eventually, however, several fortified towns managed to resist long enough to bring the Mahdi to a rage and slow the entire advance. More importantly, high-ranking Egyptian officials leading the defense would alternately mock or condemn the Mahdi as a heretic, apostate, infidel and whatever else they could think of.

This led to the Mahdi commanding his forces to slaughter anyone who opposed them and eventually to anyone who refused to acknowledge his status as Redeemer of the Muslim people. This was rare. Most Muslim agree that there would be no further Prophets per Muhammad's word and reacted to the Mahdi's claim as Christians would if confronted by a man claiming to be the reincarnation of Jesus. Further, the cultural differences between the sedentary Egyptians with 5000 years of civilization and the black nomads of the south ensured that few Egyptians were inclined to think of the Mahdi as anything but a barbarian and a fanatic.

Swiftly, the procession slowed as the Sudanese cavalry proved ill-equiped to seize walled fortifications or towns. Most successful attempts resulted in the slaughter of entire towns, something which the Mahdi had not conceived. After weeks and then months of this slaughter in Upper Egypt, the Mahdi finally reigned in his forces and commanded them to listen.

He reminded them that his intent was never to fight for every pitiful village. He wanted to seize control over the (what he viewed as) APOSTATES of Cairo, Alexandria, Istanbul, Medina and Mecca. Once in command of these cities, he planned to force the Muslim world to accept God's will. Then he would deal with the Christians, Animists, Buddhists, Hindus...and anyone else who dared defy the word of God.

But first he opted to concentrate on "reforming" the Islamic world and that could only be done in Mecca and Medina. Therefore, the Mahdi ordered the bulk of his forces north towards Lower Egypt. In weeks, he was before the gates of Cairo (again with little opposition). Seeing the walls and hastily thrown up barricades, the Mahdi knew that it would take months or years to take the city and he assumed the other large Egyptian cities would be the same. Instead, he surprised the defenders and opted to travel northeast, towards the Sinai and the gateway to Arabia.

Leaving behind only a small portion of his force to protect his supply lines (most of these men would just spend the time looting in defiance of the austere leader's wishes), the Mahdi would race towards the Suez Canal. While the Sudanese leader had hoped to reach Mecca and Medina by sea from some Egyptian port, his scouts provided intelligence that this was impractical as the Egyptian Red Sea towns were small and lacked the necessary shipping to carry huge numbers of warriors across the Sea. Besides, many of his desert and mountain nomads held no desire to make a sea voyage and the Mahdi accepted he'd have to cross the Canal and then the Sinai to reach Arabia.

What the Mahdi was NOT prepared for was the presence of a large army before the Canal. Here he found nearly 3500 Egyptian soldiers augmented by 8000 Russian troops, mostly drawn from the Levant, with another 10,000 Muslim (mostly the descendants of Balkan Muslims now the dominant Muslim group in Palestine), Christian and Jewish soldiers drawn from the Levant's armies. Beyond that, 2500 French soldiers had been dispatched to protect the Canal.

The Suez was deemed too important to allow some nomad fanatic to disrupt trade and the Mahdist Army's diversions in Upper Egypt had given Egypt's "partners" time to prepare a defense.

To the shock of virtually everyone, as the Mahdist Army slowly assembled to face the entrench Euro-Asiatic Army, another group of 3000 soldiers arrived from...of all places....the OTTOMAN Empire. Over the past generation, the Sublime Porte had realized that the seemingly inexorable litany of defeats of the past 200 years were a result of their failure to modernize. Thus the Ottoman had given up their former aspirations of Empire over the Levant and Europe and instead opted to economically and socially reform. Instead of an adversarial relationship with Russia and the Near East Lands which they once dominated, these places soon became key trading partners as Anatolia's resources and central location would give the Ottoman a key advantage over competitors in key industries. Indeed, the Ottoman would prove a source of stability rather than a threat to the region in recent years and relations with Russia improved correspondingly.

While the Porte was less than worried about some black tribesmen riding up through the Levant to conquer the Ottoman (as the Mahdi promised), he realized that a show of unity both with Russia and his fellow Muslims of the Levant may diplomatically go a long way. Thus the Porte sent 3000 of his best men (armed with the latest weapons from France) to the Sinai with an offer to help. No one had been expecting them but were hardly inclined to turn them away.

Thus nearly 30,000 well-armed men were prepared to defend the Sinai even as the Khedive hastily threw together an army of 30,000 moderately well-armed and supplied men and dispatched them eastwards.

The Mahdi's army consisted almost entirely of horsemen, perhaps among the best in the world, but limited in their function. They'd failed to take even modest walled fortifications due to lack of artillery or organization. In truth, the Mahdi was worried that the "Western Army" as he dismissed the mixed force, would simply retreat beyond the Canal and dig in upon the opposite shore. He did not see how he could possibly cross given the limited number of drawbridges over the canal and no experience with "water landings". Indeed, the Mahdi was elated to find the allied army apparently content to engage him in battle on the west side of the Canal. At least here he could initiate battle and, after countless defeats of the Egyptian Army, would feel more than confident that Allah would be on his side as he had so many times before.

Their backs to the sea, the allied army dug in, formed trenches and pits and prepared for battle. Lacking any other real strategy, the Mahdi would order his massed cavalry forward, assured that they would crush their outnumbered enemies as they always had.

However, this was not the haphazard armies dispatched by Egypt to the Sudan. These were well-trained and equipped forces with weeks to dig in. At sight of the Mahdists, the artillery opened up, cutting large swathes in the Sudanese lines. But soon the cavalry raced through this only to be confronted by rifle-fire at a distance previous armies would have marveled at. At five hundred yards, canister and rifle fire tore through the attackers....but still they rode on.

At one hundred yards, the artillery switched from explosive to cannister. The long-distance rifles were joined by repeating rifles. And it was here than the Mahdists learned of something called "Maxims" and "Gatlings", dozens of them. The Maxim was only a few years old and the brainchild of an English-American inventor. He found swift backing by industrialists in Philadelphia and the Russians would order 100 of them as an experiment in the Levant. Firing over 600 rounds a minute (when they didn't jam), the guns were devastating at short range.

The initial Mahdist wave effectively disappeared and the second wave, still unsure what happened to their predecessors, were subsequently cut to pieces as well. The Mahdi, positioned the rear, called upon God for help and commanded two more charges against the 5 mile line....with the same results. While exact numbers were difficult to measure, it was estimated that nearly 15,000 Sudanese were killed or wounded in these attacks.

Only now did the religious fervor of the Sudanese balk enough for them to doubt the Mahdi's reasoning. Seeing this for the first time, the Mahdi informed the horsemen that HE would be leading the next charge and any man who refused to follow would face no wrath. He then rode east towards the enemy lines.

Most of the Sudanese opted to follow....with the same results. Dozens of the Mahdi's closest followers refused to leave his side as they charged forth with rifles (not the most accurate cavalry weapon), pistols, swords and lances.

The results did not vary from previous attacks. As if by miracle, the Mahdi not only survived but he and his mount, along among his companions, were unscathed. Weeping in frustration, the Mahdi repeated rode before the enemy lines seeking an entrance. Finally, a young warrior grabbed his reins and led the Mahdi westwards.

The battle was over. And nearly 20,000 Sudanese had lost their lives or suffered the ignominy of capture. Tens of thousands of valuable horse (and camels) had been lost as well, nearly as devastating for a nomadic people. By evening, even the Mahdi knew that the battle was lost....disastrously so.

He had no choice but to retreat. In the coming week, the Mahdists faced another army, the Egyptian forces finally gathered and ready to face the Sudanese. North of Cairo, the two armies clashed, thousands of casualties suffered on both sides...but no decisive result. Unlike the poorly led Egyptian armies swallowed in the desert, the Egyptians were defending THEIR homes and honor and had the advantage of a good supply situation. The modern technology would win out again and the Sudanese would be forced to retreat further south.

By this point the entirety of Egypt had been roused against the invaders and partisans sniped at the Mahdists from every hill and rooftop. Sudanese reprisals were often swift and brutal....but the retreat only expedited.

By the winter (a relative concept in Egypt), the Sudanese had evacuated core Egyptian territory having lost nearly 40% of the warriors and camp followers which had triumphantly entered Egypt.

It was at this point that the Mahdi learned that his two eldest sons, left in command of the Northern Sudan, had ventured south into the Southern Sudan, largely by 1885 a colony of Ethiopia and swiftly converting to the Ethiopian Coptic Church. Finding relatively few southern Sudanese inclined to convert to Mahdism, they reacted with brutality, provoking an Ethiopian response. Armed and advised by their "neighbors" the East India Company to the south and led by their aging General George McClellan, the small Mahdist forces was crushed by 40,000 Ethiopian cavalry and infantry in the Southern Sudan, forcing the survivors northwards. Both of the Mahdi's sons were killed.

The Mahdi, seeing no pursuit into the Northern Sudan by either the Egyptians or Ethiopians, would ordered his followers home with the promise that he would pray to Allah for guidance. Sullenly, his followers obeyed, many rethinking the Mahdi's credibility as "Redeemer". Over the next few years, violence was largely constrained to the Northern Sudan as the "Mahdist" loyalists would severely punish these backsliders in a brutal Civil War.

By 1887, it would be apparent that the Mahdist State was content to remain within their borders.

However, there WAS one particular repercussion to the Mahdist invasion of Egypt. The Arabs of the Levant (mainly Palestine) would hear the words of the Mahdi and a great many would see the sufferings of the past generations as their failure to heed the word of Allah. As waves of immigrants poured into the region including Balkan Muslims expelled from their homelands, Egyptian Sufis, Shia and Copts, Russians, Jews, Protestant and Catholic Europeans, etc until the Arabs were but a petty and poor minority in their own homeland, would actively seek some way or hope to resolve this issue and many would quietly turn to the Mahdi's words for comfort.

The Sudanese nomads had much in common with the Arabs (at least the image the Arabs had of themselves as tribal nomads despite most actually being quite settled for centuries or even millennia). The Mahdist concept of austerity and modesty complemented this self-image as did the idea of Muslims rising up against their oppressors (even other Muslim). Thus many of the Arab tribes increasingly pushed aside from both Palestine and Syria would flock to this new religion, which became as much an ethnic and political symbol as theological.

Having defeated the "Black Fanatic", the diverse peoples of Palestine would look upon this new Arab nationalism with concern.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1886

Detroit

Hiram and Hudson Maxim would file suit against Thomas Edison in 1881 alleging that Edison had utilized a loophole in one of the Maxim brothers' patents for the incandescent lightbulb. Evidently, one of the Maxim brothers' employees filed the patent under HIS OWN NAME rather than the Maxims. When Edison discovered this, he was able to upend the patent making the Maxim designs available for all others. This would bring a life-long feud between the brothers and Edison reaching the point in 1886 when Hudson Maxim (Hiram resided mainly in England at this point) moved from his native New Jersey to Detroit and set up his own workshop down the street from Edison. Utilizing his connections, Maxim was able to recruit not only brilliant men from Europe and the East coast but Edison workers disgruntled by low pay, harsh working conditions and Edison's vainglorious personality which took the credit for so many others' work.

Hudson Maxim would instead offer "partial patents" to men who were particularly instrumental in the creation of new ideas. By the 1890's, the unique invention-focused shops of Maxim and Edison were blood-rivals with each openly accusing the other of espionage normally associated with great nations, not companies.

As it happened, Edison would ALSO find himself in a war for dominance of the electrical power business with George Westinghouse and his new partner, a man who emigrated from the Balkans only two years earlier, the brilliant Nikola Tesla.

Hudson Maxim would immediately seek an alliance with Westinghouse to confront the vicious businessman Thomas Edison and sell the Maxim rights to Westinghouse in an exchange for a large quantity of Westinghouse stock as well as certain rights of first refusal for production of Westinghouse patents.

Virginia Naval Yards

After the disaster of Krakatoa, the American shipyards began working around the clock to upgrade the fleet and replace the ships lost to the Krakatoa eruption. As it so happened, the First Lord of the Admiralty gave a great deal of attention to that Alfred Mahan out in Van Diemensland whose naval philosophies had been expounded in a recent book.

The government agreed to expedite the construction of new ships based on new models and, from 1885 to 1886, no less than eight new capital ships had been produced as well as a bevy of smaller ships. These included new armor, artillery and engines, all three of which seemed to leap forward in quality every few years. Indeed, ships produced as recently as the 1870's were already considered largely obsolete and being relegated to brown water duties rather than frontline defensive responsibilities.

Alfred Mahan was promoted to Admiral (the lowest rank of Admiral but pretty good for a man his age) and placed in command of the entire Pacific theater.

As it turned out, this expansion of his military duties was not a problem as his Governor-General duties in Van Diemensland were about to end.

Manhattan

After over a decade of discussion, it was determined that the territories of North Zealand, South Zealand and Van Diemensland WOULD be accepted into the Kingdom of British North America as full Dominions. All had possessed both the minimum population and demonstrated the capacity of territorial government necessary for this next logical step.

Thus, the appointed Territorial governors were removed upon the vote of 1886 and new governors were directly elected as were the first Parliamentarians of the three Dominions. In a surprise, King Alfred I of British North America would personally arrive to oversee the vote in the summer of November 1886 (as they were in the southern hemisphere, the summertime was in the northern winter.

Some muttered that the King only agreed to the trip to avoid another Manhattan winter but nevertheless the voyage was a spectacular success. Four new modern ships arrived in Adelheid, Van Diemensland to reinforce the local squadron under Mahan.

Several local dignitaries were granted honors including a merchant from South Zealand known for propelling the local wool trade to international renown and a charitable minister to the poor from North Zealand being made members of the British North American Kingdom Society, a famous Van Diemensland artist being granted a Knighthood of the Crown (given to non-military contributors to the nation) and the aging Governor-General James Longstreet of North Zealand being granted a Knighthood of the Sword (for military service).

Accompanying His Majesty was Benjamin D'Israeli, who proceeded to Bourbonia to discuss more martial matters with the generals, admirals and politicians of the French colony. Both America and France were getting increasingly irritated with the loss of trade with China, the Maratha Empire and Southeast Asia. The French, in particular, wanted to open up ALL of Southeast Asia to trade, something currently impossible given the war. The French Foreign Minister was reportedly even eyeing the entirety of the East India Company holdings in the East Indies.

D'Israeli, confident of the British North American Navy's capabilities in conjunction with France's counterpart even AFTER the Krakatoa disaster, was willing to accept this....provided that America was compensated. D'Israeli wanted both access to Southeast Asia as well as the Pacific Islands. D'Israel had also read Mahan's book and, lacking naval experience, came to agree that maintaining naval bases in the Pacific would ensure America's sovereignty.

Actual SAILORS would look at Samoa, Kanakia, Fiji and other islands and point out that the islands hardly possessed ideal harbors for a naval fleet and the "Territorial" Minister (who reported to the Foreign Minister for some reason) would point out the likely high costs of maintaining these islands for decades or centuries ahead.

But D'Israeli was adamant that America expand lest she be vulnerable in the future thus he continued with his potential alliance with France.

In the meantime, a matter of greater importance would be taking place in a territory which sailors and bureaucrats in the American government MOST ASSUREDLY found important.

Hawaii

For years, the King of Tikhookeaskoya had attempted to get his brother, the Czar of Russia, to grant him Hawaii in sovereignty. However, the Czar had another annoying brother he wished to be rid of, the bachelor (and reputed homosexual) Duke Ivan. After hushing up enough of his brother's transgressions with page boys, the Czar finally broke down and granted the Hawaiian islands to Duke Ivan in 1880 as King Ivan. Having given up then-Russian America to Alexei, the Islands had no particular use to Russia and this seemed to work for all parties involved, including the Czar's bitch mother who, somehow, continued to live.

The new King Ivan of Hawaii wasted no time in running up huge debts for his hedonistic lifestyle and, by 1886, the King was already running out of people to support his lifestyle. Thus he came up with an idea: as he was unmarried (and would remain so as long as he preferred young boys to women), he would mortgage the islands to the highest bidder. This proved to be America whose King was willing to support Ivan's rich tastes (the Palace in Hawaii was almost as grand as King Alfred's in Manhattan....at least until it burned down in 1885) for the rest of his life provided the islands would fall to King Alfred afterwards.

Benjamin D'Israeli would enthusiastically support this in the Ministry and, right on cue, King Ivan reportedly drowned while having a pool orgy with a group of young native boys. Immediately, America dispatched ships and soldiers to assume control over Hawaii. As the central shipping point of the Pacific, the port of Honolulu was ideal as a naval base and America, for a few million dollars, received title to the Hawaiian islands, by 1887 a mix of 100,000 Russian and Native peoples who largely didn't want to be America's puppets.

But D'Israeli and the soldiers and sailors dispatched to assume control over the islands didn't give a damn about that.

Malaya

King Mahesh Wesley of Nepal managed to crush the Chinese forces repeatedly invading along the Eastern Coast of the Peninsula. However, the Peshwa's Admirals appeared disinclined to challenge the Chinese as sea. The eruption of Krakatoa a few years' prior had shaken the entire region to the point King Mahesh was stunned that the war was not brought to a swift end. The past two years had accomplished effectively nothing but bring pain to the people of southeast Asia. The Malayan Peninsula had been reduced to ash as hundreds of thousands died of warfare, disease, hunger, exposure and displacement. Many tens of thousands were actually evacuated from the Peninsula to work the East India Company fields in Java.

By 1886, King Mahesh was fully tired of the war. Even if it came to an end today with one side or the other achieving full victory, it was obvious that the costs of the war vastly outweighed any conceivable gain on the part of the Mandarin or the Peshwa.

Mahesh wondered if his European ancestors routinely waged such unproductive wars knowing that nothing could be gained. He liked to think his Irish-English Great Grandfather, Arthur Wesley, would not engage in such a waste but who could really say?

As it so happened, Wesley was happy to meet one of his distant relatives. While Arthur Wesley, having served the then-Peshwa well, was granted the Kingship of Nepal, the majority of the rest of the Wesley clan remained in service of the East India Company, many joining the ranks of the Directorate. The EIC representative to Wesley's staff happened to be his distant cousin, Thomas Wesley, who himself was something of a mix of Anglo-Irish, Dutch, Topass and Javan. The two got along famously and caught up on family business over the years. Rumor had it that one branch of the Wesley family even ended up in British North America working as poor farmers in some place called West Florida.

Thomas confided in Mahesh that the EIC, which had been pressed into the war by the Peshwa, was getting increasingly frustrated with the conflict and were threatening to pull their support. Naturally, Mahesh doubted this as the Marathas could probably end the existence of the Company without overly much effort but kept this tongue. He certainly could not disagree that the war was unpopular. Reportedly, even the peasants of the subcontinent were protesting the unprofitable conflict.

Finally, in October of 1886, King Mahesh would receive the news he was waiting for: the Peshwa and the Mandarin had agreed to an armistice.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1887 - January

Manhattan

With the death of Queen Adelheid of Oldenburg and Queen-Mother of British North America, King Alfred became direct King of Oldenburg. In 1887, he arrived to be formally crowned, granted several honors under his authority of the King of Oldenburg, visited a few German relatives nearby and generally kept the same governors in place (who were relatively popular) telling them to keep up the good work.

Then he returned to America.

There were some in America who feared that the King would compromise American interests for his European possession. But, in all reality, the idea of a monarch with possession in Europe were generally approved of as proof that America's monarchy meant something in the European social order. It wasn't as if the German Confederation to which Oldenburg belonged was some form of enemy or rival to America. In reality, the relations between America and the predominantly Protestant German Confederation remained warm.

Eventually, the idea that Oldenburg being held in personal union with America by King Alfred was forgotten by the general public.

Southeast Asia

George McClellan Junior, now 22, had never been inclined towards a military career like his father thus he went to school in Batavia and eventually received a commission by the Peshwa as a high-ranking functionary in the Christian region between the Maratha Empire and Burma. By 1887, the Peshwa determined to annex this region but decided that a Christian King (naturally under the Peshwa's thumb, military, taxation policies and bureaucracy) were preferred. Thus, the Peshwa decided that the Protestant McClellan was an ideal choice for King. He was malleable and no conceivable threat. For generations, the Peshwas had been pursuing this policy of local Kings under the guiding hands of Maratha "advisors" and this seemed to work well enough.

McClellan, still unmarried, was quietly "advised" to marry one of his Protestant noblewomen among the native tribes and selected one he found attractive enough. It was to his regret that his wildly ambitious father had died in 1886 after his great victories against the Mahdists. To see his son raised to a Kingly status, even a puppet Kingly status, would have been quite the accomplishment.

In the same time period, the armistice between the Maratha and Chinese Empires would drag on as negotiators dithered over petty details. Sure of the eventual peace settlement which would leave Burma under Maratha "alliance", the Peshwa's minions would determine that the King of unified Burma was getting too big for his breeches and decided to separate Burma into rational regional and ethnic divisions. Thus, local "Kings" were elevated to position in the northern regions and Burma itself was divided into five reasonably sized pieces easy for the Maratha Empire to control and, within the decade, openly annex.

Malaya

As the Chinese withdrew all forces from Malaya, the Peshwa (somewhat surprisingly) agreed to cede the region to the East India Company. Immediately, the Company took over all political functions as they had in Java and Sumatra. Palm trees, rubber trees and other valuable export goods were immediately planted and the company directed the people to commence work. The old Princes, Sultans and other Royal families of the region were disinherited without compensation and removed to Sebesi, the island which had been depopulated after the explosion of Krakatoa as their new "homeland".

All of this was somewhat surprising given the decline in relations between the Maratha Empire and the East India Company. The latter was bitter to have been dragged into this unprofitable conflict while the Peshwa was sick of the EIC's dragging their feet on everything.

This collapse in relations would lead to Maratha indifference as the relations between the EIC as France (and America) fell apart in 1888.

Southern Africa

George Custer would almost retire in 1887 but was talked into maintaining his military career by his family, who was accustomed to being granted preferential treatment in EIC's Southern African colony.

By 1887, the Jewish contingent of the colony was so large (particularly in the west) that these peoples made up the large majority of militia. Custer would maintain good relations and happily arrange for the EIC to provide modern weapons for the militia and small standard army (one of the few areas the Company happily spent money upon). The diamond, gold and other mining concerns remained steadily profitable and the company also saw an improvement agriculture and other sectors of the economy as the population increased past 1,000,000 souls (over 5 times that of the Dutch Cape Colony to the West).

It would turn out that Custer would swiftly require this good will among the Jews as war was about to engulf Southern Africa, a war (like the one with China) that the EIC didn't want.

The Indian Ocean

In all reality, the final straw in the war between France and the EIC would be little more than a minor incident in which an EIC sailor struck back at a French merchant captain who struck HIM with his cane during an unwelcome "inspection" of the French merchant ship's cargo. In the end, the vessel was allowed to cross the Indian Ocean without further molestation but the incident was played up in Paris to the point that the French government, already eager for conquest, would call for war.

By 1888, the French were assembling a huge fleet of warships, supply vessels and troop transports (indeed, a large portion of the French modern military and civilian steam-ship fleet) towards Southern Africa.

Naturally, the French Foreign Minister would call upon his American counter-part, Benjamin D'Israeli, to follow through on his part of the bargain negotiated in secret behind closed doors over the previous years.

 

[Alt History Buff]

1888

March

Southern Africa

The French commanders of the 25,000 strong French Army alighted upon East India Company soil had long expected to be supported by the Cape Colony to the West. However, after being humiliated by the East India Company on land and sea the previous war, the Dutch had gravitated to the French. When the French failed to do much to support the Dutch, this left the small European nation feeling isolated and weak, a feeling which was expanded when the Dutch ships of the ill-fated "White Fleet" (named for the color of the ships and the color of the sailors) had somehow managed to sail by an erupting volcano.

Unlike the Americans, French and Russians, the Dutch could not replace their capital ships so easily. When the war in Southeast Asia waged, the Dutch were informed by the EIC Ambassador in the Hague that, should the Dutch act against the EIC again, then they better damned well win else the Cape Colony would be forfeit.

There was some hope in Dutch political circles that the French would prove to be their sponsor but instead it appeared that the French were far more interested in expanding their own Empire in the Southwest Pacific around Bourbonia than protecting the Dutch (no terrible surprise there). In the end, the Dutch declared "neutrality" when the French began throwing their weight around diplomatically and preparing for a war with the EIC obviously intended for aggression.

Pune

While the Peshwa protested, the Prince would insist on marrying the daughter of George McClellan, the beautiful Christian "May" McClellan. Tall and attractive like her mother, Ellen McClellan (who as the widow of the late General McClellan of the East India Company), May was intelligent and refined. Ellen herself was quietly considered smarter and more practical than her vainglorious husband, now dead over two years.

Finding her son the new King of a region of Asiatics converted to Christianity over the past century, Ellen McClellan would depart East Africa in 1886 to receive the Honors the Peshwa intended for her husband for defeating the Mahdi. Despite overthrowing the last of the Mughal influence over a century before and casting out all but the most minor of Muslim Princes from their thrones, the idea of Muslim domination over India remained after centuries of Mughal dominance.

However, a Christian marrying into the Royal Family was hardly as threatening. Yes, the Europeans and their assorted "East India Companies", now merged into one, had gained disproportionate influence on the Indian subcontinent for a short time but this was always peripheral in the eyes of the Maratha public. The closest any of these previous iterations had reached to actual political control was the brief attempt by the now-defunct British East India Company to seize the wealthy region of Bengal.

Most Indians (as the majority of the people of the subcontinent tended to call themselves rather than "Marathas" which referred to the ethnic group of the Imperial Dynasty) would deem the Europeans as parasitic at most and irrelevant at least over the centuries. This may be something of an exaggeration to historical facts given the outsized influence of the East India Company and her multi-national fore-bearers but nevertheless was rooted in modern Maratha Empire public opinion and Imperial doctrine.

In the end, it was perhaps not politically impossible for a Peshwa's Hindu son to marry a Christian sister of a Christian King under the Peshwa's influence. Thus the Prince realized his wish and was allowed to marry his Christian wife. What WAS surprising is that the Prince would decline to marry additional wives. While Polygamy was not UNCOMMON among the Hindus or Muslims of the subcontinent, it was not terribly common either among the peasantry. Indeed, Polygamy was tended to be practiced by the Middle and Upper Classes of Hindu and Muslim society with a slight numerical advantage to the Hindus over the Muslims (which would come as a surprise to the general population).

However, Christians were utterly and completely opposed to polygamy and May McClellan openly stated as such before she consented to marrying the Prince. In light of these objections, the Prince would openly promise not only never to marry another woman but oppose any Muslim or Hindu polygamy as well during his eventual reign. Thus the marriage was made and, within a year, a male child was born, this being enough to placate the Peshwa. While it would be years to be felt, May McClellan's influence would be felt as she opposed not only polygamy of all religions but suttee among the woman of the Maratha Empire and other reforms. The Prince would follow her lead on these issues and it was apparent that the inheritors of the Empire would follow a reformist course. Indeed, the current Peshwa himself would already begin supporting most of these reforms in his own lifetime and forged a good relationship with his daughter-in-law for the rest of his life (naturally the male children of this marriage would be raised as Hindu though May would never give up her faith).

Van Diemensland

Admiral Alfred Mahan had been asking for weeks if America had somehow actually declared war on the East India Company. The instructions which he'd received for his fleet (somehow comprising of a disproportionate number of the best of America's modern vessels) seemed to indicate this but no actual declaration of war had occurred.

Mahan had been ordered to "support the French Pacific Fleet in operations against the East India Company" but this seemed unreasonable to the Admiral. Finally, a diplomatic representative under orders from Benjamin D'Israeli arrived to explain the situation. While the more powerful and modern vessels of the American Pacific fleet would sail with the French against the East India Company, the smaller ships would assume control over Fiji, Samoa and Kanakia with French blessing. Indeed, all of the American army forces on hand would sail to these islands with the agreement that they would take over any French fortifications which existed in these islands (effectively none as it would turn out).

But the matter of a declaration of war, which Mahan viewed as a matter of honor, remained. Was America to sail "with the French" without a declaration of war, effectively acting as base mercenaries. While Mahan understood the military and political objectives, the means seemed utterly dishonorable for a major nation such as America which claimed to be a world power by the 1880's.

But Mahan received little such support and was obliged to sail "with the French" as the Bourbonian Fleet (the common name for the French Pacific Fleet) proceeded to attack the East Indies. Naturally, the Americans would take fire as well as they assaulted Bali, Batavia and other East India Company stations and would defend themselves but Mahan would always remember this as a crass attempt to bypass Parliamentary approval for actual war.

Yes, there had been several obnoxious East India Company stoppings of American ships in the Southwest Pacific and the Indian Ocean......but war????!!!

This seemed unreasonable and even the French agreement to cede their vacant Pacific Islands hardly justified the aggression in Mahan's mind. It was obvious that D'Israeli was behind this. Despite his own support for gathering naval bases and encouraging a strong navy, Mahan could not see this as anything other than crass bullying and opportunism unworthy of the British North American Crown.

Still, he did his duty and, having been relieved in 1887 of his political duties as Governor-General of Van Diemensland, would lead his own convoy of eight American vessels in support of the French against the East India Company possessions in the East Indies. Only later would he learn of the French invasion of Southern Africa. He wondered at the time if America would later regret these actions.

But, at least in the initial stages, the French invasion of the "Spice Islands", the small islands of the eastern East India Company, would prove successful. An EIC fleet would arrive to challenge the interlopers in battle only to be comprehensively defeated by the Franco-American fleet at Bali. The islands which had, for centuries, provided a number of valuable spices to the Portuguese, Dutch and then East India Company, fell to the French invasion forces.

However, a battle east of Batavia in 1888, would prove more deadly as the EIC unleashed a new weapon upon the French and American fleet: the torpedo.

While hardly a new idea, the EIC managed to create the next generation torpedo and successfully utilize it as the French and Americans attacked the EIC capital of Batavia. The EIC fleet, with the notable absence of any Maratha support, would face off against the allied ships and immediately suffer several losses. It soon became apparent that the French and American ships were better armed, armored and powered than even the best of the EIC vessels. However, small "destroyer" ships would quickly attack the allied vessels from the side and the torpedoes would cause immediate destruction.

The French ship carrying the Admiral blew up, leaving only five survivors, after a torpedo strike. Another French capital ship sunk beneath the waves and a third smaller ship crippled to the point than another vessel would be forced to tow her off.

The Americans were modestly more fortunate as Mahan's own command ship suffered a broadside and was forced to retreat while another American vessel would suffer a strike by a torpedo to her rudder....but the flimsy torpedo would fail to explode. However, the impact alone was enough to force the American ship to be towed away as well.

In the end, the EIC lost five ships to the allied one....but the allies suffered such damage that they dared not advance further than Bali.

Manhattan

King Alfred I was livid. While he gave Benjamin D'Israeli the freedom to act "per local conditions", this did not mean that D'Israeli was given license to declare war on the part of the nation. More than a little disgusted with the First Lord John Abbott, the King himself took almost the unprecedented step of chastening D'Israeli for his actions though he stopped short of demanding the man's resignation.

The nation was no less split. Many members of the government, of Parliament and the public demanded that D'Israeli be removed. But this resistance was adequately non-centralized that no single group could force the man's eviction from office.

Abbott, who by 1888 was aging and dependent upon the more assertive D'Israeli, would refuse to demand his resignation as well, thus the King could not bring himself to do it FOR his First Lord. The Jewish Foreign Minister retained his office....for the moment.

However, the King demanded that Abbott clarify if he was advocating war by writ as well as by deed.

 

[Alt History Buff]

British North America - 62,000,000

54 Dominions: 1888
Quebec - 1.500,000
Montreal - 1,000,000
Nova Scotia - 590,000
Charlottia (New Brunswick, former Acadia west of the Isthmus of Chignecto) - 350,000
Newfoundland - 240,000
Vermont (including the contested Hampshire Grants and the western portion of the former district of Maine under the colony of Massachusetts) - 1,600,000
Sagadahock (formerly the eastern portion of the district of Maine under the colony of Massachusetts) - 550,000
Massachusetts - 2.900,000
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations - 700,000
Connecticut - 2,200,000
New York - 2,900,000
Long Island -2,500,000
Manhattan - 1,100,000
New Jersey - 2,200,000
Pennsylvania - 3,900,000
Delaware -1,000,000
Maryland - 2.000,000
Virginia - 2,500,000
Kanawha (West Virginia) - 1,200,000
North Carolina - 1,800,000
Catabwa (West North Carolina) - 605,000
South Carolina - 1,250,000
Wateree (West South Carolina) - 600,000
Georgia - 1,800,000
West Florida (South Alabama, South Mississippi and Florida Panhandle) - 1,300,000
Mississauga (Peninsular Ontario) -1,800,000
Maumee (Western Kentucky) - 1.200,000
Shawnee (Eastern Kentucky) - 1,050,000
Westsylvania (Western Pennsylvania) - 1,150,000
Watauga (Eastern Tennessee) - 1,120,000
Tennessee (Western Tennessee) - 1,360,000
Hanover (Louisiana) - 1,250,000
Caledonia (Parts of Northern Texas and Oklahoma) - 1,250,000
Aethiopia (Southern Texas and parts of northeast Mexico) - 1,900,000
Arkansas - 900,000
Miami (OTL Indiana) - 1,250,000
Ohio (Most of OTL Ohio) - 1,800,000
Michigan (Lower Peninsula) - 1.200,000
East Florida and the Bahama Islands (Florida minus Panhandle) - 950,000
Indiana (northern Mississippi and Alabama) - 950,000
Chicago (Illinois) - 610,000
Marquette (Wisconsin) - 350,000
Mauretania (Iowa) - 280,000
Thracia (Missouri) - 200,000
Hibernia (Oklahoma) - 280,000
Baetica (Sonora/Chihuahua) - 196,000
Lycia (Sinaloa/Durango) - 206,000
Pamphylia (Coahuila) - 220,000
Cappadocia (Manitoba) - 195,000
Belgica (Utah/Colorado) - 140,000
Lusitania (Southern Nebraska/Kansas) - 185,000
Moesia (Northern Nebraska/South Dakota) -190,000
Aquitania (West Texas) - 170,000 (received Dominion status in 1874)
Cilicia (Nevada/Utah) - 175,000 (received Dominion status in 1875)
North Zealand - 120,000
South Zealand - 100,000
Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) - 75,000



Assorted British North American Territories (not yet Dominions) - est 500,000
Hudson (Northern Ontario)
Labrador (Eastern Quebec Peninsula)
Laurentia (Northwestern Quebec)
Denedeh (Western Northern Territories)
Inuit (Eastern Northern Territories)
Raetia (Alberta/Montana)
Pannonia (Saskatchewan/North Dakota)
Noricum (Wyoming)
Galatea (Western Arizona)
Iceni (Eastern New Mexico)
Dobunni (Western New Mexico / Eastern Arizona)
Easter Island
Tahiti
Samoa
Fiji
Kanakia
Tonga
Hawaii (60,000)

 

[Alt History Buff]

 

[Alt History Buff]

June, 1888

Southern Africa

While "winter" in the southern Hemisphere is something of a relative concept, there were perhaps fewer fatalities to heatstroke than the French commander was expecting. Having seized two port towns in Southern Africa, the 25,000 strong French invasion force was quite confident of their prospects. After all, the East India Company now bore only a few thousands regulars in Southern Africa (and most of these Asiatics) while the bulk of the defenders were, of all things......Jews!

However, the sheer size of the region would cause problems as the French army marched northwards. The EIC forces cunningly severed the rail-lines ever few miles ensuring that it would take less time for the French to march to the hinterlands than repair them. Now exposed along the roads northwards, the French line proved an inviting target to EIC irregulars and cavalry who sniped at the army from a distance. Within days the triumphant progress was reduced to an agonizing crawl. In over a week, the army had only managed a hundred miles as the retreating EIC forces simply sucked the French further and further inland.

It was at this point that General George Custer and his chief-of-staff (who happened to be the man who did all the work for Custer and planned this campaign), the Mecklenburg officer Helmuth von Moltke, would spring their trap. The more mobile EIC forces (the French had few cavalry) would surround the French Army and swiftly cut off its retreat. The French drew up for battle....only to see relatively few direct attacks, instead being subjected to more sniping. Having used virtually every draft animal they could find to carry the heavy French guns, the French commander ordered them unlimbered to to fire upon any EIC party they could spot. However, this usually took a significant length of time and the partisans usually retreated before the first frustrated volley was returned. Against any expectation, the EIC was getting the better party of the artillery duel despite the French advantage in caliber. The small EIC guns were pulled only by two horses, sometimes one, and could be placed into position, fired a dozens times, returned to the horses and be out of range before the French could even begin to respond.

The weapons of the French infantry were similarly inadequate as the complacent French War Minister hadn't updated their rifles in nearly forty years. Some were still utilizing muskets similar to those in use in the past century. The EIC partisans, on the other hand, sacrificed efficiency and rate of fire important to massed volleys for accuracy and range.

French casualties began to mount despite relatively few major engagements. Rather than frontal charges, the EIC would nimbly attack weakpoints, launch night raids and take advantage of high ground. Their minds set in the tradition styles of European warfare, the concept of such swift attacks and retreats were alien to the French. The EIC, on the other hand, had hard won this knowledge from fighting the Zulus. Occupying the land meant little in such open spaces. "Holding the battlefield" meant less than nothing.

Lacking horses, oxen and other draft animals in adequate numbers, the French had sacrificed non-munition suppliers. Food was already in short supply even before the EIC started to engage. After days....and then a week.....of this conflict, rations were low. Fortunately, there were adequate small creeks and other bodies of water to prevent thirst from being a major problem.

Realizing their danger, the French commander determined to return to the coast after what he decided to call a "reconnoiter" had achieved its objection, namely "scouting the land". Though he had intended to seize the diamond and gold fields of the northern areas, this was plainly not possible at the moment. Thus the French commander would retreat south....only to find the EIC forces stiffening. Desiring a pitched battle, the French would unlimber their heavy guns to push the EIC aside....only for them to retreat another half mile. This would be repeated again and again for days, the French only managing 10 miles in five days. In the meantime, the night attacks, flanking movements and assaults on any exposed invaders would prove devastating to morale. Having failed to bring along any food for the horses (he assumed there would be plenty of forage along the road), the pack animals and draft animals began to weaken and die.

It wasn't until this point that the French commander truly realized his peril and that the full force of the EIC militia and regulars presented itself. Nearly 31,000 EIC loyalists and regulars surrounded the remaining 18,000 of the 22,000 original French forces. The attacks became almost non-stop as skilled snipers crept forward in the grass and rock to take potshots at the French. The French had lost 4000 dead and at least that amount wounded.

Desperate, the French lined up the entirely of the army in a standard formation and marched south. The EIC forces only retreated, sniping along the way. In the meantime, General Custer would take 3000 cavalry in a daring raid upon the now-unprotected French camp and seize much of their supplies, horses, munitions and even the French commanders personal possessions. Dozens of heavy guns were spiked and, over an hour later, when French infantry managed to return to camp, they found few EIC personnel left from the raid.

The act destroyed morale and the hungry soldiers began to mutiny. In one notable case, an infantry battalion killed their own commander and butchered the horses and oxen of their attached Artillery battery. In the meantime, the EIC snipers, cavalry and light artillery would repeatedly sally forth, fire a few rounds and retreat before the French could reply.

Only three weeks after they departed the coast, the French were forced to "break out", effectively separating into small units and fleeing for the coast. Within hours, most of these small units were cut off and surrendered. Only 3000 French, including their commander, managed to evade the swift EIC forces, ingloriously returning to the protection of the French Navy in the seaside towns.

The Congo River

The French had coveted the Congo River for her rubber, palm oil and cotton resources even more than the diamonds and gold of Southern Africa. However, the reputed "white man's grave" of the region was enough that the French were content to simply bottle up the EIC at the mouth of the river and cut off trade.

However, the EIC had long maintained strict neutrality and evenhandedness in trade and the loss of these materials after a few months would swiftly make the French aggression in this war (as it was perceived and skillfully "marketed" by the EIC) very unpopular throughout Europe and the Americas.

King Miguel of Spain (his father Carlos VI having abdicated the Crown and taken to Havana for the "waters" or some such thing) would cunningly inquire if his "friend and cousin", King Louis XIX of France, would like an ally, Spain may be amenable...provided that Spain received the entire Congo as compensation. Rumor had it that the French King laughed so hard that he needed Spanish assistance for ANYTHING that the walls of Versailles echoed for hours with mirth. The caustic letter back to Miguel would scarcely be less politic. Offended, the King of Spain would gather a diplomatic alliance of the German Confederation, the British Confederacy, the Ottoman, Russia, the Habsburg Monarchy and even the Dutch Republic against the French.

To the surprise of everyone, Miguel's pressure and isolation of France seemed to work as the nation would see itself very much unpopular in the eyes of Europe. For over a century, with her enemies laid low by civil war (Britain and Austria), division (the Protestant Germans) and internal decay (Spain), France hardly cared much about what the rest of Europe thought. But to see every power in Europe openly protesting their actions was something of a shock to the young King. The war between the Maratha and Chinese Empires had already disrupted trade a great deal and France's actions only escalated this.

In the meantime, France's only ally in the conflict, British North America, was already in command of what they were promised as compensation, namely the nominal but unoccupied French Pacific islands which France had ignored for over half a century. From that point, America was no longer interested in further action against the EIC and First Lord John Abbott caustically suggested that Louis XIX make an accord with the EIC.

It was at this point that reports of the humiliating loss in Southern Africa reached French shores. Even within France, there had been little press for war and now France's forces were somehow being DEFEATED, a concept that no one expected. Political opinion of all classes were divided. Some wanted to dispatch MORE forces to Africa while others called for a withdrawal.

However, it would be in Egypt where the crisis truly heightened.

The Suez

The Suez Canal was owned by four nominally equal partners: Russia, Palestine (a Russian puppet), Egypt and France and explicitly granted no commercial hindrances to ANY party passing through. Even Egyptian and Palestinian ships had to pay the same tolls as the Maratha or American ships. However, the charter DID allow for warships to be refused entry should three of the four partners agree.

In a move utterly unexpected, the Khedive, the Czar and the Czar's Palestinian puppet determined that French warships not be allowed through the Canal as fears were already heightened that France intended to seize the southern half of Africa from the Congo to the borders of Ethiopia. The Ethiopians loathed the EIC but had forged a working relationship with them. The idea of French domination of Africa was unacceptable however as the minions of Louis XIX would effectively seize control of both routes to Asia.

No only the Africans were opposed to this but most of Europe as well.

As it so happened, the three ship French naval convoy was only intended to transfer materials to Bourbonia. When they were refused entry, the hot-headed commander fired several warning shots in the general direction of the operators' quarters at the first gate of the canal. The shells fell upon Egyptian soil. A Russian cruiser happened to be impatiently waiting for access and steamed forward to confront the miscreants threatening the Czar's property. The next day, several Egyptian ships arrived from the Nile, though most of these were obsolete and, even allied with the Russian, the French could no doubt wipe them from the sea. Also, the flag of the Habsburgs appeared on the horizon. This was, in fact, newly delivered warship which had been temporarily been disarmed to serve as a cargo carrier picking up a large consignment of coffee from Zanzibar. But the French did not realize this.

The nervous French commander, by now starting to heed the warnings of his subordinates, realized he'd crossed the line and, after one final protest, retreated with his ships, recognizing that any action he took would only see blame placed upon his head for an international incident.

By fall, the while of Europe was up in harms. Even nations who held the East India Company in contempt realized that France conquering the vast region of southern Africa and the East Indies would make for a devastating shift in power in the world. France, which had spent much of the past century confident in her security and position, found itslef the focus of a global outcry, condemned even by its allies of America, Spain and the Dutch Republic.

And the Maratha Empire had not even asserted her opinion as yet.

Quietly, the French King agreed to a Russian offer of "mediation" with the relieved EIC.

Pune

As it so happened, the November "armistice" occurred on the same day that the final peace between China and the Maratha Empire was approved by the diplomats. After years of heroic expenditure and hundreds of thousands of deaths, the only territory to change hands was that the assorted petty Kingdoms of Malaya were granted to the EIC. Burma remained a Maratha client state (though one in the process of division into smaller, more "governable" Kingdoms) while Siam remained attached to China.

Within a few years, the Maratha domination of the predominantly Buddhist Burmese Kingdoms would cause friction yet again to the point that local rulers were agitated for China to free them from the Hindu tyranny.

East Indies, the "Spice Islands"

While France's ambitions to stake claim to vast stretches of EIC territory (perhaps ALL of it) had been stymied by internal public opinion and international outcry, the fact was that the Spice Islands of the eastern East Indies (Bali and the smaller islands to the east) had been occupied by France for over three years.

Having put their own reputations on the line, the King of France and his Ministers dared not come away with nothing thus the retention of the Spice Islands were the minimum France was willing to gain from the venture. They would be surprised to find the EIC willing to cede them. While the Spice Islands had, under the Portuguese and Dutch, provided consistent revenues for centuries, they had been eclipsed significantly by the value of the rubber, palm oil and other goods now being extracted from Java and Sumatra. Malaya, similarly, would be expected to provide a bounty of these high-value goods. Losing control over a few pepper islands was not crippling to the EIC. As it so happened, the Company had learned from several years of exploration that Malaya appeared to have large reserves of tin as well.

This seemed an equitable trade for peace given that the EIC's long-standing client relationship with the Maratha Empire was on the rocks, peace was necessary.