Between the Lion and the Eagle

I plan that TL to be written following an elliptical construction, so to have an overall description and leave imagination of the readers filling the voids; that also avoids that TL to take too much of my time, busy as I am, and allows guest updates.

I hope you will enjoy that reading.

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Chapter I
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The disgrace of Nelson



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In 1798, how the French army led by General Napoleon Bonaparte managed to take Malta and invade Egypt under the nose of the Royal Navy under RearAdmiral Sir Horatio Nelson was a matter of incredible luck for the former, and of great misfortune for the latter.
After the fall of Malta, Nelson was informed of the French fleet sailing eastwards and correctly assumed Egypt to be its target, but overestimated its advance so he ordered to sail right to Alexandria. By the way, the British fleet passed not far from the French fleet but without noticing its presence in the darkness. The Royal Navy arrived in Alexandria on June 28th but the French were not there ...
The French fleet arrived in Alexandria on June 29th, less than a day after the British fleet had left.

It wouldn't be until a month after that Nelson learned of the French attack and ordered his fleet back towards Alexandria, arriving there on August 1st, only to find the French fleet already gone.
Rear Admiral Armand Blanquet who had taken over the French fleet after Admiral Brueys died from malaria [POD] had left with the fleet the day before, sailing towards Corfu.
Only there would Nelson catch the French fleet. Still, the British fleet could only blockade Corfu. Unfortunately, that came too late.

The perceived British failure to catch the French invasion force persuaded the Sublime Porte to accept the fait accompli. Effective control of the province had already been lost to its Mameluk governors and the French takeover didn't make a great difference, explaining so why General Bonaparte was able to negociate a settlement with emissaries of Sultan Selim III, the Treaty of Cairo in which the French officially governed Egypt in the name of the Sultan.

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In 1799, the invasion of Neapolitan Kingdom by the French under General Championnet and the defeat of Cardinal Ruffo's Sanfedisti in Calabria threatened the British position in the Mediterranean Sea, forcing Nelson to alleviate pressure on Corfu to protect the Royal Navy bases in Sicily, giving Blanquet the occasion to break out when storm came over the Ionian Sea.
The French fleet did not escape unscathed, losing several ships to the pursuing British fleet, mostly during the evasion from Corfu and near Malta where the runaway fleet was caught; it did finally reach the safety of Toulon from where it would assist French operations in Liguria.
Corfu wouldn't be taken until 1801 after a lengthy siege and its status would later be the pretext for the demise of the Treaty of Amiens.

In London, such strategic setbacks, such an humiliation was deeply ressented and that wasn't hard to find a scapegoat. The memory of Admiral John Byng fate was still there, but the disgrace of ''Unlucky Nelson'' fell short of it, the rear admiral being demoted and forced into retirement.
 
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Thanks for your support.

As for the USA, let's say that Alamo might not be fought against Mexicans, but that before, the US would play their role in bringing London to peace table.
 
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I reckon Britain's support for the Venezuelan rebels would certainly be frowned on by much of Europe, no one likes republicans after all :D that must of lost them a fair bit of support in the royal courts
 

TFSmith121

Banned
The Louisiana Purchase has already gone through, presumably, given

The Louisiana Purchase has already gone through, presumably, given the point of departure.

Spain holds Florida, so there's the possibility of the US intervening there, depending on when and how far the Spanish Empire rebellions progress. Miranda is certainly a different generation than Bolivar et al, and that may have some impact on how the Latin American rebellion(s) is/are perceived by Jefferson et al.

Of course, the British hold BNA, so there's that; and the Quasi-War is past, as well, so the possibilities of US intervention in the conflict as it currently shapes up is probably 50-50 vis a vis the British OR the French.

Whichever European power plays their cards right may gain a significant ally in the Western Hemisphere, and the departure of Napoleon from the scene allows something of a reset for all sides, including the US...

Be interesting to see which contestant sees the opportunity and seizes on it.

Best,
 
I reckon Britain's support for the Venezuelan rebels would certainly be frowned on by much of Europe, no one likes republicans after all :D that must of lost them a fair bit of support in the royal courts
The irony of (alt)history is that after Napoléon's death, Great Britain becomes the troublemaker, but I would explain in a later update on the current Anglo-Spanish war why.

The Louisiana Purchase has already gone through, presumably, given the point of departure.

Spain holds Florida, so there's the possibility of the US intervening there, depending on when and how far the Spanish Empire rebellions progress. Miranda is certainly a different generation than Bolivar et al, and that may have some impact on how the Latin American rebellion(s) is/are perceived by Jefferson et al.

Of course, the British hold BNA, so there's that; and the Quasi-War is past, as well, so the possibilities of US intervention in the conflict as it currently shapes up is probably 50-50 vis a vis the British OR the French.

Whichever European power plays their cards right may gain a significant ally in the Western Hemisphere, and the departure of Napoleon from the scene allows something of a reset for all sides, including the US...

Be interesting to see which contestant sees the opportunity and seizes on it.

Best,
Lousiana is still sold to the US ITTL. Even if Joséphine's influence was noticeable, I don't think it decisive in the way up to Haitian War and the underlying factors would be still there (Haitians would like too much the taste of de facto independence to abandon it); so, I decided to keep the events running their OTL way here.

As for Latin America, given the French have not invaded Spain, the government of Ferdinand VII has no problem of legitimacy and there is no pretext for declaring a junta or rising up. Still, the underlying factors responsible for the OTL wars are still there and would have consequences, albeit it would be later than IOTL and with Spain in a better position to deal with that. But that could become hard if the citizens of some expansionnist country north of New Spain decided to help their ''brothers in freedom'' ...

With British support, Miranda's Republic will last instead of crumbling but the Royalists are still strong; you can expect Bolivar in the number of Miranda lieutnants.

But before that, there is still a situation in the Great Lakes region that will surely help London to accept a peace settlement with France and Spain.
 
Note : After the redaction of my last update, I've decided to reorganize the order of chapters and cut the second one to make an update entirely for the transition between Napoléon I and Napoléon II.
I will insert another chapter over Russian invasion of Finland that will affect the position of Russia in the game of alliances, before remaking and expanding the Spanish update (I will leave the current chapter online until the next is achieved), after which I would make one on what happens in Egypt.




Chapter II
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Love and Death

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While General Bonaparte was conquering Egypt, rumors in Paris sprung up over his wife's infedelity, rumors which reached Egypt and which decided the General to begin divorce procedures through the intermission of his brothers in France. Upon his return, the proceedings were complete and the divorce pronounced.

In the years after the divorce and until her death, Joséphine de Beauharnais would live in the Chateau de Malmaison. In spite of the divorce, the First Consul and then Emperor didn't abandon his affection to his adopted children, Eugène and Hortense. Although the independent minded Hortense would go her own path, Napoléon did support Eugène's military carreer, bestowing upon him honours and dignities, making him Marshal and Viceroy of Italy.

Although Napoléon took several mistresses, he wouldn't reconsider marriage until after his victory of Austerlitz. At the suggestion of Talleyrand, his marriage to the 14 years old Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria was arranged along with the Treaty of Pressburg. If the engagement was celebrated in Vienna on January 1st of 1806, the marriage was celebrated by Cardinal Fesch in Paris two months later.

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Concerned about the health and youth of the new Empress, Napoléon decided to refrain from consummating the marriage for at least one year and actually didn't consummate it until his return from Poland, after the signature of the Treaty of Tilsit.
In early September, the Empress was announced pregnant.

Unfortunately for the Emperor, he would not live to see the child birth. On December 5th, during a military parade celebrating the victory of Austerlitz, the Emperor was mortally wounded by a shot. For years, Royalists had tried to assassinate him and new attempts were expected from them, but unexpected was a young German poet, afflicted by a love affair and deeply angered, who found in the French Emperor an easy culprit for his misfortunes: Ludwig Achim von Arnim had just killed the most powerful man of Europe.
 
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Chapter III
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The Emperor is dead, Long live the Emperor​


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The assassination of Napoléon I came as a shock to Europe.
Some celebrated it, others thought about possibilities that the disparition of the ''Corsican'' would open and the last, mainly those who had enriched themselves and amassed power thanks to France and Napoléon, feared what would come next.


The wounded Emperor was being brought to a hospital when he succumbed to his wounds. Meanwhile, Paris had been locked on orders of Police Minister Joseph Fouché to prevent the news from spreading. 5 December 1807 was a very confused day.

For Fouché and his fellow minister Talleyrand, the urgency was to safeguard the state. Few people were taught of the Emperor demise, including the Imperial family and the high ranked officers of the Imperial Army who were ordered by Marshal Berthier, Imperial Chief of Staff and acting commander in chief of the Imperial armies, to return to their respective commands and prepare for the worst.
For those kept out of the secret, the Emperor was only wounded and was on recovery. Such a claim couldn't last long before rumors of death spread, especially when the foreign ambassadors were repeatedly denied the occasion of invalidating such an hypothesis.

The death of Napoléon was only announced after three days, the time needed to organize a transition. The problem was that none of the Emperor's brothers were in France at this time and that only the Empress was fit for the regency, but Marie-Louise was barely 16 years old and had the disadvantage of being a foreigner. At the insistence of Talleyrand, to keep the appearance of a functionning and continuous state, the child of Empress Marie Louise was proclaimed Emperor in utero, despite all the uncertainty over its sex, and its mother was proclaimed Regent, receiving the oath of fidelity from the Imperial Guard and from the present Marshals. But, the actual power resided in the Regency Council controlled by Marshal Berthier and Murat and Ministers Fouché and Talleyrand, waiting for the arrival of the Bonaparte brothers who hurried up when taught of the news.

King Louis of Holland was the first to arrive, followed by King Jérôme of Westphalia and finally by King Joseph of Naples who only arrived at Paris in early January 1808.
The arrival of King Joseph was waited to finalize the transition. It had been decided that he shall be Regent, only to leave when the Empress would be experienced enough to take the mantle of regency or if her child came to be born a girl, in which instance Prince Charles Napoléon, son to King Louis of Holland and his wife Augusta of Bavaria, shall become Emperor and his father be the Regent.

On 5 January, the official funerals were finally made in presence of foreign ambassadors, following which Empress Marie Louise abandonned the Regency to King Joseph, citing health concerns over her pregnancy.

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While the Regency was being organized, the main concern was still to avoid that the peace that Napoléon had built died with him. Talleyrand left Paris the day after the funerals were made to begin a diplomatic tour of European capitals, beginning by Vienna.

Speaking with Emperor Francis, he called for the father to support his daughter and her child who would ''very likely'' be Emperor of France, and hadn't difficulty to convince him that the hour of endless wars had past with Napoléon, that a more pragmatic government was now in power.

Passing through Berlin, he evocated the same arguments of the pragmatic attitude of the Regency Council but didn't hesitate to use the stick, subtlety reminding King Frederic William of the nearby presence of important contingents at his borders, in Poland, Saxony and Westphalia.

Saint Petersburg, the next step, was the most important one. Russians had hardly accepted the Treaty of Tilsit and after the death of Napoléon, Tsar Alexander had begun to reconsider his options. To Talleyrand, this was especially more of a concern as London hadn't missed that situation and that his British counterpart, Foreign Secretary George Canning, had also launched a diplomatic offensive but which so far had failed to produce results.
That was thus easy for Tsar Alexander to get the provisos of Tilsit treaty revised at his benefit, something Talleyrand was already prepared to do since before the beginning of his tour and for which he managed to get the authority to negociate. France would still support Russia designs on Finland and more actively support Russia's war against the Ottomans by invading from Egypt, also backing Russian claims on the Danubian principalities.
Moreover, and still with the consent of the Regency Council, Talleyrand proposed to the Tsar that the future Napoléon II shall marry Grand Duchess Elizabeth Alexandrovna. Although it was agreed that it was too early to make formal agreements, the idea didn't left the Tsar uninterested.


Talleyrand's tour of Europe had succeeded in fullfilling his minimal objectives, namely keeping peace afloat and foiling the British diplomatic offensive. Napoléon's legacy was safe for the time being.

Finally, on May 5th, Empress Marie Louise gave birth to a healthy boy named Napoléon and proclaimed Emperor for the second time as Napoléon II.

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Chapter IV
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Missed opportunities



The death of Napoléon was widely celebrated in Great Britain, but the ecstatic atmosphere soon calmed down.

As the Regency Council was set up in France, British Foreign Secretary George Canning launched a diplomatic offensive to convince Europe of resuming another coalition to force a weakened France to finally submit, but that efforts were hampered by several factors. The death of Napoléon had lured London into a false sense of strength as the legacy of the French Emperor didn't actually crumble upon his death and proved more solid than expected. Also, Vienna and Saint Petersburg prefered first to wait and see.
Berlin was tempted but the presence of an important French-Saxon army under Marshall Ney at Prussia's border did compell King Friedrich Wilhelm III to stay neutral unless guaranteed Russian support.
Russia was actually the key for both the British and the French, able to tip the balance on a side or another. And so, while French Foreign Minister Talleyrand went to Saint Petersburg, the British diplomats were also busy in the Russian capital with courting the Tsar.

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Tsar Alexander did intend to make profit of the situation by extracting the best deal he could have, and while he intended to have the Treaty of Tilsit revised more in his favour, he did plan to bring the issue of Finland on the table to test British resolve. Russians had for long designs on Finland, mainly due to their will of protecting Saint Petersburg northern approach. Officially, Russia was at war with the United Kingdom since previous october due to British attack on Copenhagen and had sent an ultimatum to Sweden to close the Baltic Sea to ''foreign warships''. In the aftermath of Napoléon's death, Swedish King Gustaf IV Adolf had felt secure enough with the French to reject outright Russian demands, compelling a war declaration by the new year's eve.
This was followed by the invasion of Finland in late January by 20,000 soldiers under General von Buxhoeveden, opposed by an almost equal number of Swedish troops under General af Klercker which had the disadvantage of being spread between several garrisons. Fortresses in southern Finland soon fell one after another, excepted the fortress of Sveaborg which was one of the more important in northern Europe and that Russians had to put under siege.

At this point, the British were in a delicate situation, having allied with Sweden in the aftermath of the raid on Copenhagen, actually to defend Sweden against Russian and French threats, but that alliance had become a liability in the aftermath of Napoléon's death as George Canning was trying to ally with Russia. Although the British tried not to intervene directly in the conflict between Russia and Sweden, they could not avoid it.
In April, an expeditionnary force of a 10,000 men under Sir John Moore landed in Skane but was actually only intended to protect southern Sweden from French forces based in Denmark; this move had been the object of a serious dispute between Lord Castlereagh, war secretary, who supported it and George Canning who feared it might impede his efforts to turn Russia into an ally. The presence in southern Sweden of British troops indeed allowed to free up reinforcements for Finland and ultimately to relieve Sveaborg in June, pushing Russians back to the border.
Much to the fear of George Canning, Tsar Alexander felt humiliated and began to openly side with France, marking his move by a state visit to France in August, visiting the newborn Napoléon II, and further discussing with Talleyrand marriage projects.


Back in Great Britain, the perceived responsibility of Lord Castlereagh in this ''diplomatic disaster'' led to a renewed feud between him and George Canning which almost paralyzed the government of Lord Portland . Canning, threatening to resign, got the secret approval from the Prime Minister to replace Castlereagh with Lord Wellesley as soon as possible, but Lord Castlereagh found out about the deal in September. In a series of events which echoed the death of Alexander Hamilton in the United States, Lord Castlereagh challenged George Canning to a duel which he accepted : George Canning didn't survive.
Lord Castlereagh political carreer ended with this duel and the scandal caused the resignation of Lord Portland. King George III did appoint Spencer Perceval to set up a new government, essentially Potland's with Lord Wellesley as Foreign Secretary and the Earl of Liverpool as War secretary.

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Meanwhile, in South America, the last project of George Canning was bearing its fruits.

Portugal had been invaded by the French in November 1807 with support of Spain, and all resistance had ceased by December. The death of Napoléon didn't change the situation in Portugal and Spain remained allied to France. After the Russian fiasco, the British turned again on the much more vulnerable Spanish empire. After repeated failures in Rio de la Plata the previous years, a 9,000 men strong expedition under General Arthur Wellesley, Lord Wellesley's brother, was gathered to ''free'' Venezuela and support the establishment of an independent Republic under Francisco de Miranda.
In July of 1808, that army landed near Coro in central Venezuela. Local support for Miranda and his British backers was limited but the uprising of Llaneros under the former smuggler turned revolutionnary Jose Tomas Boves in August overrun southeastern Venezuela, trapping Captain General Juan de Casas in eastern Caracas province in the aftermath of his defeat at Valencia against Wellesley. The capitulation of Caracas one month later was followed by the official establishment of the Republic of Venezuela. However, popular feeling was mixed at what was perceived as a British intrusion, although the Criollos were particularly receptive; a noticeable exemple is the figure of Simon Bolivar which would prove one of Miranda most trusted and skilled lieutnants.

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To add to the uncertain public support, Viceroy Amar was gathering an army in Maracaibo both to defend the last Venezuelan province under his control and to prepare for a reconquest of the others.

In Spain, the loss of Venezuela was deeply resented. For years, Manuel Godoy, Prime Minister and the King favourite, had made himself unpopular by his policy of allying France, one that had brought nothing to Spain: the loss of Venezuela was the last straw. In late October, a few weeks after the news of Caracas surrender had arrived to Madrid, the Prince of Asturias and his uncle the Infante Antonio Pascual launched a coup against Godoy, forcing King Carlos IV to dismiss Godoy and abdicate.

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In London, Lord Wellesley witnessed this so much waited event, an occasion to free Portugal. In Paris, the coup was greeted anxiously, Spain being expected to change sides.
King Fernando VII did indeed make overtures to British diplomats but his freedom of action was much restrained. Spain wanted its colonies back and London wanted Portugal evacuated and even Spain allied to Great Britain. The British were willing to withdraw from Venezuela and leave Miranda alone, but if Spain may withdraw its own forces from Portugal, the French forces under General Junot still made up most of occupation forces, forces that had been strengthened in early 1808 by the Regency Council as a leverage to keep Spain on the line. King Fernando would have been ready to concede neutrality but couldn't take the risk of refusing to the French transit rights, something he could likely not do without going up to war, and that was an option he refused to take, especially as the French announced they were building up forces north of the Pyrenees in order to reinforce Portuguese garrisons, and given that Vienna, Berlin and Saint Petersburg remained neutral, Spain would face France alone.
That last move from the French did prevent London to consider further the liberation of Portugal, deemed impossible without active Spanish support due to lack of manpower, but France did find in King Fernando a less cooperative ''ally'' than Carlos IV and Godoy.​
 
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Looks great so far! When I first saw the title, I thought it was going to be about the UK vs the USA. I am happy to see that the 'Eagle' refers to the French eagle!
 
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