Bismarck Triumphant: The Hohenzollerns take Spain!

Curt Jester

Banned

Prologue

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London, United Kingdom - February 1st, 1934

[A tape recorder clicks on.]

"So, you're saying you have information that could discredit the 'Royal Family'? Cough it up then." The first voice said, easily identifiable as a man, and with a clear English accent.

Another man coughs. "Ja. Secrets kept since the War of Strasbourg." The man spoke with a heavy German accent, but his English was comprehensible, at the very least. "My great grandfather fought in that war. I've got a collection of letters he sent to poppy - what we called my great grandmother - from the time."

"So," the Englishman began to speak again, "What did the letters say?"

"Nothing of importance. Mostly just the musings of a young man in love. Not anything related to what i'm about to tell you."

"Ah, well get on with the story then. If this information is going to be used to help diffuse a continent on the brink of war, I would to have it as soon as possible, chap."

"Yes, that is wise." The German gave his cigarette one last drag before throwing it on the floor and smashing it under his foot. "As we all know, the Royal Family gained power after the Bourbons were basically given the boot from the officials in Madrid. The people of Spain very narrowly voted to continue with the Monarchy, and so the officials began searching for candidates for the job."

The Englishman rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. This is common historical knowledge, but what is your point?"

"You cannot understand what happened unless you listen to the whole story!" The other said with a sigh. "Like I was saying. They were looking for candidates from the job - that is when old Leopold was first cast into the spotlight. He was from a well established royal family, and a catholic, everything the Spaniards needed. He was elected by the people, gained his position, and the Hohenzollern have ruled Spain ever since, but..."

"But what, son? Go on!"

"But it was a farce. The devil himself, von Bismarck, had arranged it himself."

"How so?"

"He, for one reason or another, realized that in order to gain his wishes, a Hohenzollern must be on the throne of Spain. He took a card out of the Habsburgs deck, and tried to cage France in as much as possible."

"Why would he do that?"

"To provoke the French into war! Why else? To scare the proud Germans that were not part of the Prussian beast into pledging their allegiance to the Hohenzollerns! Except, it didn't work!"

"Well, why not? Come on, my good man, this information, if true, could be used to blackmail King Joachim into backing down!"

"Hmph." The German hesitated; even if he was helping stop a war that could plunge the world into chaos, he was betraying his King to do it. He was a native of Spain, even if he was a German, and both his Spanish and German loyalties said to stick with the King. Eventually, common sense prevailed over nationalism and loyalty, and he continued. "Time is of the essence, no? But to fully understand the situation, I must paint you a picture of Europe, back in 1869..."

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Curt Jester

Banned
Howdy! Here is the beginning of a timeline that I hope will interest you all. Although the prologue is in 1934, the main bulk of the timeline is in the 1800s, so please don't kill me! :rolleyes::rolleyes:

The premise is that Leopold von Hohenzollern becomes King of Spain, due to more meddling by Bismarck (hence the title). However, the story is told from the viewpoint of a German who'd been told stories, found documents, sneaked around and etc, that proves the Hohenzollern take over of Spain (aka election of King Leo) was largely artificially and set up by Bismarck in order to get what he wanted. Now he's selling his country out to a Englishman to stop a looming war. The story will mostly take place describing the actual TL, but from time to time we will find out more about the mysterious man and why he's selling out his country.
 

Curt Jester

Banned

Part I

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London, United Kingdom - February 1st, 1934

The German lit another cigarette. 'Damn, that's the third one in the past hour!' The Englishman was rather appalled, but didn't say anything, instead opting to keep his thoughts to himself to avoid offending the man. He needed to stay on the German's good side in order to finish this story. It was an interesting lead, and one that had fallen into his lap fully by chance... they'd met in a bar less than three hours ago! But when you're looking for dirt of a monarch, and a subject of that monarch gets drunk and states they have 'old family secrets' that include that very same dirt, you question the dirt right out of them! He waited for the German to pull the cigarette out of his mouth to continue his story. "Yes, well. I guess we should start at the beginning, right? And the beginning of this story starts with one man - General Juan Prim. He was one of the leaders of the coup against the Bourbons, and at the time, de facto ruler of Spain; while he looked over potential candidates to take the throne in Madrid, of course."

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Madrid, Spain - April 1st, 1869

General Juan Prim really was de facto ruler of Spain at the time. The regency of the entire country had been placed upon his shoulders - not something that the man took lightly.

'Maybe it would've been easier to just propose a full on republic!' Prim mused to himself. It certainly would've been easier, but it also would've been absurd. Spain had literally been created by monarchs, and the long history of royalty and the Kingdom was inseparable. Republics might work for the Republicans up north in France, but the Spaniards were proud of their heritage, and not so eager to betray what they already knew. At least, that was Prim's view on the subject. Many of the revolutionaries would be just fine taking down the crown for good - luckily enough, they settled for a constitution-abiding Monarch instead. Still, though, the paperwork piled up on the General, and it was rather exhausting. There were just so many royals to choose from! For a people that represented less than 1% of the population, there did seem to be a vast number of young princes who'd be eligible for the job. Hell, he himself had been basically offered the position. However, Prim did not want the throne for himself. 'And what kind of royal house is named Prim, any how?'

Besides himself, there were three other princes set in the view of the revolutionaries: Prince Amadeo of Savoy, Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, and Prince Leopold von Hohenzollern. There was also Prince Alfonso Francisco - son of the former Isabella - who was ripe for coronation, and the former heir to Spain in all actuality. Prim considered proposing him for the job, but he knew better - the revolutionaries would not accept a Bourbon on the throne, not with Isabella well and alive in France.

Personally, his favorite candidate was Prince Leopold. The Hohenzollern family was distinguished and powerful enough to matter, yet not quiet powerful enough where it would be widely protested. France was the biggest problem here - they would hate to feel surrounded by Hohenzollerns, and might be provoked into war. That wasn't something Spain could handle, not at a time like this. The second candidate was even worse: a Saxe-Coburg on the throne would almost certainly turn Spain into a British puppet! Prince Amadeo was a decent choice, with the Savoys never amounting to too much, he couldn't imagine anyone causing riots over it. They had more of a blank slate compared to other ruling families. And of course, there were other Princes that could be considered, but most weren't even in the peripheral. The Bourbons were out, the Wittelsbach were irrelevant, and even if God himself came down and ordered it, there was no way in bloody hell they'd allow a Habsburg to sit on the throne. The last time that happened was centuries ago, and with all the drama it entailed, it wouldn't happen for centuries to come.

In the end, the General decided that he would be in contact with all three; he still found Leopold as the most suitable candidate, and at the moment the Prussians didn't seem to worry too much about provoking French ire (they'd been straddling that line for a long time before any issues about Spain had popped up). And even if the French did get all riled up, who was to say they'd actually step the boundaries of declaring war?

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London, United Kingdom - February 1st, 1934

"I must say, i'm not quite understanding how this relates to what we're dealing with now. This is just historical nonsense, and has nothing to do with the Hohenzollerns or their dirty laundry!"

"Patience." The German shook his head. "Patience is the virtue of a wise man. And any wise man would understand to fully understand a story, you must start at the beginning. Are you ready to listen, or not?"

The Englishman grumbled under his breath and nodded as the German lit yet another cigarette.

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