Well, this is my second attempt at a timeline and will focus on a world where the War of the First Coalition goes quite differently. I'll post the first three chapters and leave a poll to see how people like this. If the reception is positive I'll continue this timeline. Hopefully you'll enjoy this!
Das Ewige Reich: A Timeline of Empires
- Thread starter ETGalaxy
- Start date
Chapters One and Two
Chapter I: The Rise of the Jacobins
Ever since the dawn of the Age of Discovery the Kingdom of France had been a great power rivaling the might of Great Britain. However, within the second half of the 18th Century alone France had lost almost all of its American colonies and had fallen into a state of instability following support of the United States of America in its quest for independence. Starting in 1789 the Third Estate of France, the estate of the commoners, would begin to hold meetings separate from the aristocratic First and clergy Second. On July 14th, 1789 the Third Estate’s successor, the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) would storm the Bastille and stage a coup on the current French government transforming them into the official government of France and reducing King Louis XVI to no more than a figurehead.
Symbol of the NCA.
Initially the new French government, now referred to as “Revolutionary France,” was very progressive for its time and for a brief moment things seemed bright for the revolutionaries. Things would take a turn for the worse when the royal family fled north to the Austrian Netherlands out of fear of growing radical movements in France but were recognized by guards and captured. Prior to this King Louis XVI was seen as a supporter of the revolutionaries, however, his public image was now shattered. In 1791 France would invade the King’s former ally Austria which was followed by Prussia siding with its fellow German state sparking the Franco-German War. A year after the start of the war the king’s palace was attacked by the revolutionaries and guards were massacred while King Louis XVI was captured. Within the same year the Jacobin Party, a radical movement, would call for suspension of the French monarchy. Shortly afterwards the NCA would reform into the National Convention and a new constitution abolished the monarchy creating the French Republic on September 22nd, 1792.
Flag of the French Republic adopted in 1794.
In 1793 King Louis XVI was found guilty of high treason and was executed which resulted with the Kingdom of Spain declaring war on France to avenge its fellow Bourbon. Spain had anticipated that other European kingdoms would participate in combating France as well, however, most nations believed that the revolutionaries were destined to fall to some of Europe’s greatest empires and saw the Franco-German War as a waste of time. By now France had to choose a head of state and the leader of the Jacobins, Maximilien Robespierre, would become the first president of France in 1793.
President Robespierre of the French Republic.
Robespierre would begin purges of those suspected of opposing the Jacobins in what became known as the reign of terror and would become an unpopular leader. However, Robespierre would avoid becoming an enemy of the Church for fear that such an action would cause a revolt in France and that it may give him a few more enemies to deal with. Throughout the next few years France proved to be victorious against the Germans, however, failed against Spain. When Spanish forces captured Bordeaux on April 20th, 1797 Robespierre was outraged and became intent on halting the Spanish from traversing any further north. The President would send the young and promising tactician Napoleon Bonaparte to push back Spain and almost immediately after leading soldiers on the southern front Bordeaux was liberated. By July Bonaparte’s forces had pushed the Spanish out of France and was preparing for an invasion of Iberia. Napoleon would first head for Barcelona and after two months of combat all of Catalonia was under the reign of the Jacobins. Up north the entire Holy Roman Empire declared war on France, however, failed at pushing back the revolutionary forces. France would successfully conquer all of the Austrian Netherlands by August 1797 and it was anticipated that the small west German states would be the next to fall. Starting in September General Bonaparte began pushing west and thanks to his ingenious tactics was capable of defeating the mighty military of the Kingdom of Spain. As the French approached Madrid in January 1798 King Charles IV and his family fled for Mexico City in the New World to avoid the fate of Louis XVI. Immediately after the evacuation Napoleon would advance towards the heart of Spain and would only continue to win. Bonaparte’s forces would begin their attack on the Spanish capital, Madrid, on February 17th, 1798, however, the Battle would drag out to last for two weeks. Finally the heart of the Spanish Empire fell into the hands of the revolutionaries and Iberia became another conquered possession of the Republic of France. The rest of Spain would quickly be conquered by Napoleon and by the end of March the entire nation had been kicked out of Europe. After defeating Spain President Robespierre would appoint Napoleon Bonaparte to the position as president of the French-occupied Spanish Republic while Catalonia and the Balearic Islands were annexed directly into France.
Flag of the Spanish Republic.
President Napoleon Bonaparte of the Spanish Republic.
Despite being the occasional critic of Robespierre’s actions (such as declaring martial law across France until the end of the Franco-German War) Napoleon was now France’s sole ally and a key figure in defeating the Holy Roman Empire. However, Spain was not gone yet and was still carefully holding onto the New World.
Chapter II: Freedom to the West
When Charles IV fled to Spain’s American colonies he had anticipated that the New World would remain loyal to the Spanish crown and participate in the fight to retake the homeland from the forces of Bonaparte. Instead secessionist factions would take advantage of the weakened Spanish government by forging their own independent states. The first to leave was Venezuela under the leadership of Francisco Miranda when his forces staged a coup in Caracas and declared the Republic of Venezuela in April 1798.
Flag of the Republic of Venezuela.
While the crown did not recognize the independence of the Republic it was powerless to do anything against Miranda and Charles IV was forced to watch as Spain’s grip on South America slipped. The first nations to actually recognize the legitimacy of Venezuela were actually the two revolutionaries in Europe, Spain and France, who wanted to weaken the Spanish crown as much as possible. The United States, the nation Venezuela had copied their political system after, was surprisingly reluctant to recognize Miranda’s new republic out of fear that doing so may harm relations with the Spanish monarchy and if the Germans would reach Paris then Charles IV would return to Europe and the United States would have a powerful kingdom at its border seeking revenge. After seeing the King’s inability to stop revolts a nationalist movement would overthrow the government in Bogota and declare the New Granada Republic on June 10th, 1798.
Flag of the New Granada Republic.
Seeing that he was cut off from the rest of his colonies, Charles IV began to consider relocating to South America, however, decided that New Spain was far more valuable. The King soon learned that he had made a mistake when Creole radicals attacked a carriage that he was touring in on June 27th, 1798. The King was critically injured and died a week after the attack and was succeeded by his 14 year old son, Ferdinand VII. The new king fled south and turned Buenos Aires into the new capital of the exiled Kingdom of Spain. His age prevented him from being a capable leader and in a situation of crisis was useless forcing the colonies to become self governing. Now isolated from South America the Viceroyalty of New Spain was forced into self governance and for many independence seemed inevitable. In August 1798 New Spain would create its own military when most Spanish soldiers had deserted the Viceroyalty for Peru and La Plata. One of the most significant turning points in the fate of New Spain was when the viceroy Miguel José de Azanza announced to his people that the Spanish king had given up on New Spain and that the people of the Viceroyalty would have to decide their own fate without the influence of Ferdinand VII and his regency. While de Azanza had not officially stated that New Spain was going to declare its total independence it was obvious that secession was on his mind. By the winter of 1798 popularity for an independent Mexico was at its peak and de Azanza finally declared that independence was being considered and was the most preferable option. Azanza would come to his final decision on December 12th, 1798 and decided that New Spain would declare its independence as Mexico. However, much still had to be done to achieve the new state, most notably developing the government. Azanza would model the Mexican government after that of the United States, however, would replace the executive position with a monarch rather than an elected figure. Despite not having a monarch yet, the Mexican Empire would declare itself independent on December 20th, 1798 with de Azanza as the temporary head of state.
Flag of the Mexican Empire.
It wouldn't take Mexico long to find its monarch and, Joseph, the brother of the Grand Duke of Tuscany would be crowned Emperor Joseph I of the Mexican Empire.
Emperor Joseph I of Mexico.
Many nations were quick to recognize Mexico, which many believed was destined to become a great power thanks to its grasp on resources. As for Spain and her allies the hope of defeating the French was beginning to slip away, however, in 1799 the tides of the Franco-German War would turn.
Chapter Three: Dusk of a Dream
Chapter III: Dusk of a Dream
When the exiled Kingdom of Spain began to collapse in 1799 the Franco-German War had been raging on for seven years and despite the expectations of Europe the French revolutionaries were winning. One of the most vital factors to the surprising strength of France was Napoleon Bonaparte, the young tactician who had shocked the world by wiping the Kingdom of Spain out of Europe and was rewarded with control over a new revolutionary state to replace the exiled Spanish monarchy. However, Bonaparte was far more interested in defeating the Holy Roman Empire in the east rather than controlling Iberia and his vice president and brother, Giuseppe Bonaparte, was usually in control of the Spanish Republic. When Napoleon was in control of Spain he wasn’t nearly as authoritarian as Robespierre and allowed people to live their lives freely only really cracking down on the numerous juntas that claimed to be fighting for the Spanish crown. Thanks to Napoleon it seemed as though victory was close for France, however, on April 8th, 1799 disaster struck the French war effort in Madrid. Bonaparte was captured by a junta and executed shortly afterwards. Giuseppe became the new president of Spain and handled the chaos that rose out of Napoleon’s death well, however, the effects of Bonaparte’s death were much more significant on the eastern front. The German armies were now far more capable of pushing back France and by the July of 1799 the Holy Roman Empire had pushed France out of all of its member states excluding the Austrian colony of Belgium. Chaos emerged across France and the popularity of the Jacobins significantly decreased. In order to return to having an advantage in the Franco-German War President Robespierre demanded that Giuseppe Bonaparte send the majority of his soldiers north. Bonaparte was reluctant, but had no choice and Spain was left only about one eighth of its military by September. Those loyal to the King of Spain were quick to take advantage of the Republic’s weak position and began to revolt against Giuseppe. On October 5th, 1799 militias claiming to fight of the King of Spain rose up in Madrid and with little men to fight them off the capital of Spain fell and Giuseppe was forced to retreat south and established Murcia as the new capital of Spain. However, the president could not escape the royalists and on October 13th, 1799 another militia uprising would take over Murcia and this time Giuseppe was not so lucky. He and several of his fellow Frenchmen would be killed in a public execution resembling the ones the Jacobins had done to the aristocrats of France when establishing their control over the nation years earlier. Without a leader the Spanish Republic descended into chaos. In December Spain had fallen under complete control of the royalists and the royal family finally returned from South America to rule in Europe. By the end of January 1800 the French had been kicked out of Belgium which returned to Austria. Slaves in the French colony of Haiti would seize the opportunity of the government falling in Europe to overthrow their masters and declare the Empire of Haiti.
Flag of the Empire of Haiti.
The Austrians pushed into France under the leadership of General Alexander, the Duke of Württemburg, who had studied the tactics of French leaders such as Napoleon and intended on using France’s very own strategies against them. Alexander would occupy the cities of Amiens, Reims, and Rouen by the end of Winter proving himself to be a valuable leader of the Austrian military.
General Alexander of Austria.
Alexander would eventually surround Paris in May imprisoning Robespierre and other significant Jacobins. After many long days of conflict and bombardment Paris was occupied and France capitulated to the Holy Roman Empire. The belligerents of the Franco-German War met in Nantes to negotiate a treaty with the goal to eliminate the revolutionaries and prevent any similar movement from ever rising in Europe. Spain was returned land that France had annexed in the war, however, the unstable state was granted nothing else. The Germans would be the ones to gain far more France and the Holy Roman Empire used the treaty to severely weaken France and send it into their sphere of influence. France granted independence to Alsace-Lorraine, Normandy, Brittany, and Corsica, all of which also had to join the HRE. Austria would annex Monaco and Paris and partitioned the French colonial empire with Prussia excluding Guiana which would remain under control of France. A new Kingdom of France was created with the Emperor of Austria’s brother, Archduke Charles, becoming the new king of France.
King Charles I of France.
As the ink dried on the Treaty of Nantes Europe was once again at peace, however, was far from recovery. In the post-war world a strong hatred between the people of Spain and France grew while the monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire were eager to expand their influence and transform the Empire into the ruling force of Europe. With the revolutionaries gone a new era had begun for Europe that issued in the new powers destined to rule the world.
Map of the World in 1800.
No. The Austrians want a French king loyal to them and the Jacobins stayed in power longer in this timeline so it's safe to assume that less French royalty are alive than OTL. Although, Charles I isn't that popular and I'm sure there's some Frenchmen out there that think they're the legitimate heir.
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Flag of post-war France
I know this hasn't even been out for a day but thank you so much to everyone who has read this and has given it positive reception! It makes me really happy to see that people enjoy my creation! Anyway, I just got an idea for the flag of France after the Franco-German War. A bit bland in my opinion but still fine-looking. White represents the monarchy and peace while the red cross represents Christianity and those who were killed by the Jacobins.
Chapter Four: The Divided Era
Chapter IV: The Divided Era
Flag of the United States from 1796 to 1803.
As Europe was rebuilding from the Franco-German War the United States of America was experiencing an alteration in politics that would define the entire nation during the earliest years of the 19th Century. Ever since the abolishment of the Articles of Confederation the United States had been divided between two political factions, called “parties.” This system, now called partisanism, was later utilized by both Venezuela and New Granada, however, Mexico would have no political parties until 1809. For years American politics were divided between two parties, the Federalists, who supported a stronger federal government, and the Democratic-Republicans, who wanted to avoid giving power to the government and instead supported granting more power to the states. After the failure of the Federalist president John Adams, the Party would significantly lose membership to the Dem-Reps. The former leader of the Party, John Jay, would decide to leave the Federalists and create a new party that would follow the legacy of them by supporting a stronger federal government, however, would be more progressive in some aspects as Jay was a staunch abolitionist. The party, called the Unionist Party, would be formed on May 19th, 1801 and would begin to attract many Federalists and even a few Democratic-Republicans. Almost immediately after forging the Unionists Jay would begin to promote his new party and planned to run in the 1804 presidential election. As the time until the next election ticked the Federalists descended further into chaos while the Unionists prospered. However, the Unionist’s popularity was especially low in the southern states who feared that should Jay become president slavery (which was a crucial part of Dixie’s economy) would be abolished. The southerners would find little satisfaction with Democratic-Republican President Jefferson, who was reluctant to take a position on the issue of slavery out of fear of destabilizing the United States. When the 1804 election campaign began the Dem-Reps would be split between Thomas Jefferson and the Attorney General of Georgia, David Brydie Mitchell, who would divide the Party.
David Brydie Mitchell.
The Federalists would nominate Charles C Pinckney to be their candidate, however, by this point the party was too small to win and it was Pinckney would be lucky to win even one state in the electoral college. Surprisingly the Unionists would win the majority of northern states in the 1804 election while Jefferson and Mitchell would fight each other the south. The Unionists would win the election by emerging victorious over all states north of Virginia and on March 4th, 1805 John Jay became the fourth president of the United States with John Marshall as the vice president.
President John Jay of the United States.
Just as the south feared Jay pushed for abolishing slavery, however, was careful at avoiding negative outcry from Dixie and would focus on preventing the Indiana Territory from holding slaves and would succeed at outlawing slavery in Kentucky and Delaware. President Jay would repeatedly attempt to make Georgia let go of its western lands, which the Unionists and many northerners wanted to transform into new territories in order to keep power balanced between the states. However, Georgia refused claiming that the federal government was attempting to steal rightful Georgian land and that the state had the right to maintain the western region. However, the federal government and Georgia did come to a compromise by permitting Georgia to hold onto its western land but as the population of that region would increase Georgia would not be granted more electoral college points. Many would still be frustrated with the treatment of Georgia including David Brydie Mitchell, who would decide that the northern Democratic-Republicans had little interest in sticking up for Georgia against the Jay Administration. Mitchell would break off from the Dem-Reps in 1803 and form the Anti-Federalist Party as a faction that represented the wishes of much of Georgia and the rest of the south as well. In the 1808 election Mitchell once again failed at winning the presidency and John Jay was reelected for a second term, however, did win his home state of Georgia in a landslide through the electoral college. The Dem-Reps would nominate Aaron Burr Jr to be their candidate, however, were no match against the Unionists especially after ex-President Jefferson left the party in 1806 claiming that the Party was becoming too radical and was especially disturbed by Burr’s duel with Alexander Hamilton. After the 1808 election the Anti-Federalists would only continue to grow and become the dominant party in the south replacing the Democratic-Republicans. John Jay’s second term would oversee the Era of Divisions, a period of time in American history when the ideologies of the north and south would clash politically. President Jay would also oversee the dawn of one of the most influential wars for not only America, but the world as well.
1804 Electoral College
Here's an electoral college map of the United States in the 1804 election.
Blue: David Brydie Mitchell (Democratic-Republican) 30 total points
Orange: Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican) 40 total points
Green: John Jay (Unionist) 106 total points
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Chapter Five: The Irish War
Chapter V: The Irish War
To many, Ireland was considered the first colony the now mighty and vast British Empire. The island had been under the authority of England since the 12th Century, however, a cultural divergence between the two regions was clear regardless of their distance from each other. Perhaps one of the most notable differences was that the Irish were mostly Catholic while Great Britain was Protestant. The United Kingdom had many rivals which were also colonial powers, one of which being Spain. The Spanish had been an enemy to the British ever since the Seven Years war and had even aided the Americans in their quest for independence. After the Franco-German war Spain had found itself in a weakened position. Spain also regarded itself as one of the last great Catholic empires of Europe (France had an Austrian as its king and wasn’t much of an empire by this point anyway) and Ferdinand VII saw it as his duty to defend and spread Catholicism. After Henry Benedict Stuart, the last Catholic to claim the British throne, died in 1807 Ferdinand VII knew that he would have to take action quickly if he wanted to restore Catholicism to Britain. In 1810 Spain would sign a non-aggression pact with the United States as an attempt to gain an ally against the forces of Great Britain despite America not being a Catholic majority state. Spain was also reluctant about aligning with a republic after just defeating radicals, however, was more concerned about defeating the British than who their allies were. On May 7th, 1811 the opportunity to strike occurred when Archibald Hamilton Rowan led former supporters of the Society of United Irishmen in rebellion against Great Britain by attacking and later occupying Dublin. The Spanish-American Pact would not hesitate to take advantage of the United Kingdom’s sudden instability and the two nations declared war on Britain within days of the Dublin Uprising. Britain and Spain would battle each other in the Bay of Biscay which became the main source of defense of the two empires as in order to invade each other passing through the bay would almost certainly be a necessity. The French, who had become reliant on the Bay as a source of ship transportation were frustrated by the sudden conflict and had almost decided to join the war, however, the French people did not want to side with either Spain or Britain and remained neutral throughout the Irish War. Without aid from Spain Rowan’s men, who had termed themselves the “Irish Republican Army,” were forced to fight Britain by themselves. However, with the British focused on the Spanish and Americans the Irish found fighting Great Britain far easier than in 1798. Even better for the Irish was the terrible leadership of the British monarchy as George III was mentally ill while his son and regent, Prince George of Wales, was also a terrible leader who was constantly afraid of Spanish sympathizers while also stubbornly insisting on awful strategies and also spent too much money on things unrelated to the war effort. The United States was intent on conquering Canada and invaded up into the colony of Quebec. While the British were nowhere nearly as defensive of Canada as they were of Isles loyal citizens of the King were willing to fight the American military and Britain and the United States constantly clashed with each other in the North Atlantic.
A naval battle between America and Great Britain.
John Jay would not remain president for the rest of the Irish War despite how much his party wanted him to run for a third term. President Jay instead chose to retire after the end of his second term and the Unionist Party selected Jay’s vice president Stephen Van Rensselaer to be their candidate in the 1812 election against the Anti-Federalist candidate who was (once again) David Brydie Mitchell. The 1812 election’s candidates would focus on ending the Irish War and how America would look in the post-war world. As of 1812 the Americans were emerging victorious in Canada and it was anticipated that American forces would captured Quebec City by the fall so how to defeat Great Britain wasn’t as focused on. However, what would be decided as the fate of the United States during peace negotiations was where the debate between Van Rensselaer and Mitchell was most heated. While the Unionists supported continuing to ally with the Spanish in the aftermath of the Irish War while Mitchell wanted to end the non-aggression pact claiming that the United States should not ally with a Catholic state and should instead remained isolated from European politics all together. While the Anti-Federalists had won more states than in 1808, taking Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee with them, the Unionists would once again win the vote and Stephen Van Rensselaer became the fifth president of the United States of America.
President Stephen Van Rensselaer of the United States.
While the Americans made advances in the New World Spain and Britain remained stagnant and continued to clash off the coast of Europe. However, the two nations had expanded their area of conflict and occasionally a naval battle occurred Celtic Sea. Eventually the Spanish would break the stalemate on April 20th, 1813 off the southwestern coast of Ireland. Afterwards the Spanish conducted landings on Ireland to help aid the Irish Republicans. Surprisingly Mexico would declare war on Great Britain on July 7th, 1813 as an attempt to gain British colonies, most notably Australia, which wasn’t very colonized despite being titanic in size. The surrender of the government of Quebec would become another significant point in the war as the governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, Joseph Berens, fled to Rupert’s Land where he declared the colony as a sovereign state on August 12th, 1813 out of fear of the United States occupying Rupert’s Land which would almost certainly end the HBC. Berens named his new nation the Republic of Rupertia with himself as the head of state.
Flag of the Republic of Rupertia.
Despite referring to itself as a republic Rupertia was barely a democracy and was instead completely run by the Hudson’s Bay Company. The nation was sparsely populated and would encourage the immigration of Canadians loyal to the British crown who now found themselves under the authority of the United States of America. The remainder of 1813 would be a time of progress on the Irish front thanks to assistance from the Spanish. The Bay of Biscay and Celtic Sea were also slowly falling into the hands of Ferdinand VII. On January 15th, 1814 the British had finally been kicked out of Ireland and the Irish Republic was declared with Archibald Hamilton Rowan becoming president of the new democratic state, the first of its kind in Europe.
Flag of the Irish Republic.
President Archibald Hamilton Rowan of Ireland.
The United Kingdom would offer peace after the fall of Ireland, however, Ferdinand VII made it clear that Spain would not stop fighting until a Catholic was on the throne of Britain. Following the January of 1814 the Spanish would begin a blockade of Great Britain and began bombarding the nation’s coast. The Austrians took advantage of the situation by occupying numerous British ports in Africa in order to expand their growing colonial empire without actually going to war with the United Kingdom. Britain was frustrated with Austria but when facing the forces of Spain was completely incapable of doing anything. The Irish War would come to a sudden end when Spanish forces entered Great Britain’s capital, London on March 23rd, 1814. The battle over the vital city lasted for several days, however, the exhausted British soldiers were incapable of holding back the mighty Spanish military. On April 2nd, 1814 London would fall and Great Britain would capitulate within minutes of their defeat. At the Treaty of Bilbao Britain’s colonies were mostly partitioned between Mexico and America and Joseph I’s dream of controlling Australia became a reality. India would fall into the hands of the Spanish becoming one of the empire’s most valuable colonies. The former British monarchy would be replaced by Ferdinand VII’s brother Carlos, who was crowned Carlos I of Britain. The former British government would also be replaced by an absolutist monarchy called the Holy Kingdom of Britain that would be under Spanish military occupation until 1824.
Flag of the Holy Kingdom of Britain.
King Carlos I of Britain.
In the aftermath of the Irish War one European power had risen while another had fallen. Mexico’s colonial empire had been born and the fate of America was slowly being carved. Meanwhile the Austrians had once again expanded their power.
Alright, I know that this last chapter was a bit unrealistic with the Americans and Spanish defeating the UK, but in my defense I don't think that George IV would handle a national issue like an Irish rebellion all that well. Anyway, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter regardless and hopefully you can suspend your disbelief and enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Also, if you have any ideas on how to make this chapter more realistic while keeping the outcome the same please tell me. I always appreciate any help or suggestions! 
Chapter Six: An Age of Imperialism
Chapter VI: An Age of Imperialism
The collapse of the United Kingdom had issued in new colonial empires to replace the fallen power. One of the most powerful new colonial powers was Austria, which was already the dominant force in Central Europe. The Austrians had been constructing a colonial empire ever since the Franco-German War by annexing ports from its fallen enemies, however, these ports had not yet been expanded into larger colonies. Emperor Francis I was intent on forging large African colonies and decided to focus on the Gold Coast first. Starting in fall 1814 Austria would conquer multiple West African states through a series of conflicts called the Golden Wars which lasted to the spring of 1816. In the aftermath of these wars the Gold Coast was partitioned into two Austrian colonies. In the east the Austrians formed Ashantiland which was placed under the authority of the famous Grand Duke Alexander who had led the Holy Roman Empire to victory during Franco-German War. In the east was the colony of Sahelia which was governed similarly to Ashantiland. In between the two colonies Austria’s fellow German state, Prussia, would begin colonization around the same time as the Golden Wars. While Prussia never actually went to war with any African nations there would be conquest of numerous tribes. In 1817 the Prussians finally established their own African colony, which was simply named the Prussian Gold Coast. South of the new German colonies the Dutch and Portuguese were focusing on expanding their own colonies and would begin to rapidly expand. Portugal had plans to connect its two colonies of Angola and Mozambique together into one large colony dominating the southern portion of Africa while the Dutch encouraged further colonization of the Cape Colony by Dutch settlers. Despite having its own governor like its northern counterparts the Cape Colony had been under the authority of the VOC ever since its formation. As the Cape Colony grew the new settlers of the colony became more opposed to the VOC and wished for increased autonomy from the government in Holland. Eventually the demand for autonomy boiled over to a point where the Dutch Republic would have to give into the demands of the Boers or face a potential revolt. On July 5th, 1817 the Dutch separated the Cape Colony from the VOC and reformed the Cape into the colony of Boerland.
Flag of the Boerland colony.
The new colony had its own democratically elected parliament and colonial minister, however, it was the governor-general, who was selected by Holland, that was the leader of the colony with the minister merely serving as a second in command. Under the leadership of Governor-General Willem Frederik van Bylandt Boerland would make significant expansion up north while the Portuguese colonized the land between Angola and Mozambique. In order to avert a potential rivalry and even war between the two growing empires the Dutch and Portuguese governments would meet in Lisbon on December 15th, 1817 to partition Southern Africa between themselves. The Lisbon Conference would grant both the Netherlands and Portugal the right to large swaths of African land and despite irritation from other European nations with colonial ambitions the treaty was universally recognized. However, those most angry at the Lisbon Conference were the Zulu people who now found themselves under the authority of a foreign empire. The king of the Zulu, Shaka, would ignore the Lisbon Conference much to the dismay of the neighboring African tribes that the Zulu were currently invading.
King Shaka of the Zulu Kingdom.
The Boer government, which was irritated by Shaka and wanted to eliminate him before the growing Zulu Kingdom became a threat, offered several of the tribes assistance under the condition that they would be annexed into Boerland as provinces. These native-led provinces would be controlled by the tribal king and would have representation in the Boer parliament. The tribes would have preferred independence, however becoming part of a foreign state but having representation in their government and westernization in return wasn't a bad offer. Besides, it was better than the alternative of being conquered by the Zulu. On January 7th, 1818 the provinces of Xhosa, Ndebele, Hlubi, Ngwane, and Mfengu were created, many of which claimed to have a right to land under the control of the Zulu. Shaka would not back down from fighting the tribes and was now at war with Dutch territory meaning that he was also at war with the mighty Dutch Republic. Despite the odds being stacked against him Shaka was overconfident with his kingdom’s capabilities and believed that his tactics that had allowed him to succeed thus far would easily overpower some colonists. While the Zulu’s encirclement tactics helped them succeed in some cases the large Dutch navy proved to be the decisive factor to who would win the Zulu War. Bombardment of the Zulu coast including their capital, Bulawayo, would significantly harm the Zulu war effort and in the June of 1818 the Dutch even began to conduct naval landings. The Dutch occupation of Bulawayo would be the fatal blow to Shaka’s conquests and on September 12th, 1818 the Zulu Kingdom surrendered and was annexed into Boerland. The former empire was mostly partitioned between the native provinces, however, a new province was created for the Zulu people around Bulawayo called Zululand. European states were not the only nations to assert their dominance through imperialism and Mexico would begin to make large advancements in it northern territory. Ever since independence the Mexican Empire had claimed northern land formerly ruled by Spain despite there being few large Mexican settlements in this land. Instead it was the Native Americans who had lived in the New World long before any European that occupied northern Mexico. Emperor Joseph I had always encouraged colonization of these northern lands but had also been reluctant and feared that his people would oppress the natives and result with a revolt in the north. The issue had been avoided for many years this point thanks to north Mexico’s lack of resources and in some cases inhospitality. However, not all of the north had been spared from colonization and many had settled on the coast of the Mississippi River. The western coast also fell to colonists and as a consequence several Native American tribes had been pushed from their homes into the unsettled interior. One significant group that had remained safe from the Mexicans was the Navajo who lived north of the Sonoran Desert. The Navajo had never been fond of Europeans and had a history of being attacked by the Spanish. However, ever since independence Mexico had never made any attempts to attack the Navajo people. After the formation of native-led provinces in Boerland Joseph I proposed a similar concept to the Navajo, however, called his autonomous regions “reserves” rather than provinces. Surprisingly the Navajo people accepted the proposition and saw it as a way to preserve their culture while remaining peaceful with their neighbors and on November 8th, 1818 the Navajo Reserve was founded. After seeing the success of their neighbor the Pueblo would negotiate with the Mexican government to forge their own autonomous region and in the winter of 1819 the Pueblo Reserve was also founded. The Mexican Empire also began to send colonists to their recently acquired colony of Australia causing dismay amongst the British Protestants already living on the continent. While Joseph I was mostly tolerant of the Protestants and the majority chose to accept Mexican authority others would seek for secession from their rulers in the west. A pilgrimage of Protestants under the leadership of the former Viscount Sydney, John Townshend, went into the interior of Australia so that the group could be free from Mexico and established the Protestant Republic of New Sydney on July 15th, 1819 with Townshend serving as the first prime minister.
Flag of New Sydney.
The new state remained unrecognized by every nation on Earth excluding Rupertia and Mexico disregarded the state and ignored it for the time being. With a small population New Sydney only survived through growing its population through the religious conversion of natives and maintaining alliances with the rest. As much as New Sydney wished otherwise it was obvious that Mexico was the ruler of Australia just like how many European states had asserted their dominance over Africa. Mexico’s neighbor to the east had remained quiet throughout this period of imperial growth, however, that was soon about to change.
Map of the World in 1819.
If the USA/Spanish alliance persists, I imagine that the US will eventually absorb all of what was OTL Canada and Alaska. Thus making their Pacific access from OTL Vancouver up to the Bering strait. Mexico grabs half of Australia, the Dutch or French get the other half. Mexico's border's will be Panama, the Mississippi River, and OTL Canada.
Eventually I could see a formal US/Mexico economic and military alliance. In the Pacific, the US will be interested in the Russian Far East and Japan. Besides Australia, Mexico grabs the Phillipines and some of the minor central Pacific islands, but their main focus is expanding into South America. I think the US ITTL will also be interested in eventually acquiring Greenland and Iceland. It's hard to tell from the map , but I think they already have Bermuda.
Slavery will turn out very differently I think. With US expansion being north and northwest, slavery withers and eventually gets completely outvoted. There won't be enough of a South to effectively rebel.
Eventually I could see a formal US/Mexico economic and military alliance. In the Pacific, the US will be interested in the Russian Far East and Japan. Besides Australia, Mexico grabs the Phillipines and some of the minor central Pacific islands, but their main focus is expanding into South America. I think the US ITTL will also be interested in eventually acquiring Greenland and Iceland. It's hard to tell from the map , but I think they already have Bermuda.
Slavery will turn out very differently I think. With US expansion being north and northwest, slavery withers and eventually gets completely outvoted. There won't be enough of a South to effectively rebel.
Thanks for being interested! Yes, pretty much everything slavery-related will be different, but with the popularity of the racist and stubborn Anti-Feds growing slavery won't peacefully cease to exist. And yes, Bermuda is part of the USA.
The American one is about on par to OTL, it just has better strategies, hence why the Americans took Canada. Mexico's is better than OTL thanks to controlling more land. These two have by far the most powerful militaries in the New World.
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