Cinco de Mayo

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Maximilian of Mexico
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    • KingSweden24

    "...the status of Mexico compared to the European legacy empires never ceased to grate at Maximilian, though, and at no time was that more clear than during his younger brother Karl Ludwig's visit to Chapultepec in the fall and winter of 1875. With his son, the future Austrian Emperor Franz Ferdinand, in tow, Archduke Karl was feted with one of the largest banquets in Mexican history, an ostentatious and opulent display that was remarkably out of character for the typically modest Maximilian and also remarkably unpopular with the Mexican street. It was perhaps the first major misstep by Maximilian of reading the popular mood, and matters were exacerbated when a protest on the Zocalo over the expense of the three-month state visit by the Emperor's Austrian kin was broken up violently, overseen personally by Miramon's elite cavalry unit. Maximilian was devastated to learn that the protestors blamed him for the violence, in which two women were trampled under horses, adding to an already difficult year. His second biological son, Jose Francisco, had numerous congenital defects from birth and his health was continuing to suffer, though the poor child would live to the age of forty despite his numerous ailments. The handicaps of Jose Francisco took a toll on the over-doting Carlota, whose marriage with Maximilian had soured. Though the Emperor had taken lovers before, despite his political devotions to his wife, now for the first time Carlota was engaging in adultery of her own, and the rumor at court was that it was the ambitious Miramon himself she had taken to bed to spite her philandering husband..."

    - Maximilian of Mexico
     
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    • KingSweden24

    Nivek said:
    so rudolph still killed himself and he survived...a shame rudolph but nice FF survived.

    well a shame Maximilian live is still a mess even if survived
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    i thought about Rudolf surviving but I didn’t feel comfortable enough with Austrian internal dynamics so figured I’d just keep things simple on that end, especially with so much else changing dynastically around the workd
     

    pathfinder

    Speaking of rumors, I wonder if Maxime Weygand still exists and if he's in Mexico. For a long time, this French general was rumored to be the result of an affair that Carlota had with some French officer, though more recent research says he was actually the love child of one of Carlota's ladies-in-waiting. Maybe he still becomes a general itl, but for Mexico?
     

    KingSweden24

    pathfinder said:
    Speaking of rumors, I wonder if Maxime Weygand still exists and if he's in Mexico. For a long time, this French general was rumored to be the result of an affair that Carlota had with some French officer, though more recent research says he was actually the love child of one of Carlota's ladies-in-waiting. Maybe he still becomes a general itl, but for Mexico?
    Click to expand...
    Since was born in Brussels while Carlota was away from Mexico OTL due to her husband’s deteriorating position, I doubt she’d be his parent ITTL. A Maximo Weygand as a Mexican General is an idea, though!

    (Honestly Carlota delivering Max three legitimate heirs is probably one of my more unrealistic inventions since it’s widely speculated one or both of them were sterile. I’ve tried to incorporate that with Jose Francisco having some disabilities and their daughter having poor health in the future too to tie into the poor fertility of their parents)
     

    Capibara

    This could give a boost to the republican movement in Mexico. Maximilian should appease the population quickly, starting by either firing Miramón or sending him far away (as he did OTL, albeit for different reasons)
     

    KingSweden24

    Capibara said:
    This could give a boost to the republican movement in Mexico. Maximilian should appease the population quickly, starting by either firing Miramón or sending him far away (as he did OTL, albeit for different reasons)
    Click to expand...

    You’ve got more or less an idea of where this is headed... Some updates ago I referenced an event called the “Revolt of the Caudillos” coming up in the future... you’re seeing the seeds of that now.
    Miramon is about to become a MAJOR character in the Mexican chapters of this TL.
     

    KingSweden24

    Nivek said:
    I think Max was Sterile but the failed mexican adventure did put a number on both of them, here being a sucess might butterfly away that
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    Yeah the rumor about Weygand would suggest that it was Max who was the problem rather than his wife, though who knows. There’s not much I’ve been able to find that’s definitive
     

    Nivek

    KingSweden24 said:
    Yeah the rumor about Weygand would suggest that it was Max who was the problem rather than his wife, though who knows. There’s not much I’ve been able to find that’s definitive
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    Some say one, other both, the late robert perkins say was max, i belive max or maybe they just got bad luck
     

    Capibara

    KingSweden24 said:
    You’ve got more or less an idea of where this is headed... Some updates ago I referenced an event called the “Revolt of the Caudillos” coming up in the future... you’re seeing the seeds of that now.
    Miramon is about to become a MAJOR character in the Mexican chapters of this TL.
    Click to expand...

    Very interesting! Miramón is a very interesting character and I'm looking forward where you'll take him and whether the revolt breaks the empire or further solidifies it.
     

    pathfinder

    Capibara said:
    Miramón is a very interesting character
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    Indeed, but it has me wondering about Tomas Mejia. In my head, it's almost impossible to think about Miramon without also being reminded of Mejia, mostly because of them being together during the Siege of Queretaro and their subsequent execution.
     

    Capibara

    pathfinder said:
    Indeed, but it has me wondering about Tomas Mejia. In my head, it's almost impossible to think about Miramon without also being reminded of Mejia, mostly because of them being together during the Siege of Queretaro and their subsequent execution.
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    You're right, maybe KingSweden24 could tell us something about the current whereabouts of Mejía.
     

    KingSweden24

    Capibara said:
    You're right, maybe KingSweden24 could tell us something about the current whereabouts of Mejía.
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    It's funny you mention Mejia, since I only turned him up in my research *very* recently. I'm still developing what role he will come to play in the Imperial court intrigue to unfold between he, Miramon and von Benedek once Vidaurri is no longer First Minister in a year or two (as foretold in earlier updates).
     
    The Gathering Storm: The Prelude to the Eastern Crisis 1856-1876
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    • KingSweden24

    “..the arrival of the conflict was as much based not just on the specific circumstances of Russia and the Ottoman Empire but also the inaction of the other Great Powers. In this sense, it was specifically France’s diplomatic and strategic coups in the aftermath of her embarrassing loss in the Third Unification War that isolated Germany and influenced Russia’s path to war.

    Germany, and arraying a “Iron Triangle” against her to prevent an even worse loss in the future, was an obsession to the French political class composed primarily of veterans of the prior war. Germany, however, did not substantially concern itself with such aggressive moves - Bismarck was confident that there was no cassus belli that could thrust Germany into a three-front war, and was aggressively committed to a neutral pathway in dealing with other Great Powers. To this point, by 1876 he had a working relationship with Bazaine based on mutual respect even where it lacked trust, and he viewed Napoleon IV as substantially less belligerent than his father. To this extent - and due to his deep skepticism in Italy, home to fractious Cabinets flipping between staunch paternalist conservatives and anticlerical liberal radicals - he was satisfied with his relationship with Russia being purely defensive in case of Austrian aggression, and his bigger concern was diplomatic gambits to position Sweden-Norway against Denmark to outflank the Triangle.

    Due to Germany’s inward focus and lack of interest in affairs to her East, Russia had one singular friend in Europe in a mere defensive alliance, and as the Bulgarian uprisings began she found herself joined in furor at the shocking Ottoman atrocities yet alone in her zeal to defend Orthodoxy in the Balkans...”

    - The Gathering Storm: The Prelude to the Eastern Crisis 1856-1876
     
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    • The Land of Plenty: Southern Africa in the 19th Century
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    • KingSweden24

    "...the 1875-77 drought was easily the worst in the history of the region, and it plagued every statelet in Southern Africa from the Cape Colony to the youngest settlements north of the Transvaal. A minor skirmish between tribes on the Cape frontier led to a declaration of war by the hungry, aggressive Frere, egged on by the Colonial Office and, in particular, Carnarvon. Though the 9th Frontier War was a quick affair, Molteno still protested the escalating tensions in Southern Africa, particularly after learning that Frere had requested, and been granted, additional ships to station at Inhaca across from Delagoa Bay. The Cape's elected, liberal government remained an obstacle to Confederation with hostile states of both native kingdoms and the illiberal Free Republics.

    Portuguese East Africa's Governor Guedes sent message by haste to Cape Verde, where his younger brother served as colonial governor [1], to lodge his express disapproval of British saber rattling on the Indian Ocean. As for the Boers, having established a robust presence now in Lourenco Marques and building their future seaport at Oostburg, they were already preparing for what they anticipated would be a life-or-death struggle to retain their independence, and even as the drought deepened, President Pretorius dispatched militia commanders to the frontier states of Basutoland and Zululand to discuss mutual strategies and arm and equip the natives..."

    - The Land of Plenty: Southern Africa in the 19th Century

    [1] This is factual
     
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    • The Wolverine in the White House: The Presidency of George Armstrong Custer at 100
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    • KingSweden24

    "...the Battle of Nowood marked the effective end of the Sioux insurgency, with a crushing defeat exacted upon Crazy Horse's war parties and ending with the death of the war chief himself. As was Custer's wont, journalists dutifully took notes and photographs from the sidelines of the battle. Pulitzer's article about the victory was effusive and bordering on hagiographic, and when Custer returned from the frontier in 1878 when he was transferred to command the US Army post in Cincinnati, he had a new nickname granted him for his ferocity and the namesake of his state: "the White Wolverine." As for the Sioux deported to reservations where they were to be "civilized" in mission schools and encampments, stripped of their holy Black Hills, he had a different name: "the Great White Menace"..."

    - The Wolverine in the White House: The Presidency of George Armstrong Custer at 100 (University of Michigan, 1992) [1]

    [1] As you can see we're getting something of a look-ahead with this book title.
     
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