Tyrants and Engineering: Robespierre Edition
(2005 Quy Nhon)
So many of the world’s greatest feats of engineering are linked to the reigns of dictators. While our previous discussions of Medieval Tyrants shows that many a great palace or tomb, the age of infrastructure was truly begun with Robespierre. He realised he had several great sources of manpower, freed slaves who would do almost anything as it was better than what they had before, and Loyalists who were unable to escape his tyranny[1] to do the work that was too low for any free man. Robespierre realised that he would need these workers to build an infrastructure on par with that of Europe, for if he did not he felt the nation would fall behind and it would be a mockery of Hilfere's legacy.
His first grand project was the Mississippi-Great Lakes Canal, which would take three years to complete and take numerous lives. It was built concurrently with two other canals: the Niagara and the New York Grand Canal. These three canals were designed to make the Great Lakes the center of the nation, turning the Niagara capital into a strategic position as well as a political one. These moves were dislike by many in the southern states who saw this as an attempt to cut them off from the nation's trade. There was also a popular belief that Robespierre was connect the Francophone territories to prevent Anglophone expansion in the west. The New York Canal helped sooth the northern Yankee opinions somewhat.
He decided to appease the Yankees through the construction of a grand road network west to the Mississippi. This job would take too long for Robespierre's reign though, and many a mountain road was left unfinished until nearly thirty years later. These roads would still prove instrumental in the military movements within the nation as well as settling the regions. Many would ironically prove Robespierre's undoing in the years to come.
Another piece of infrastructure which was not a solid building, but a network which used the roads and routes. This was the People's Postal Department (or P.P.D.), which allowed for both military and civilian messages to be transferred, though the military messengers were given faster horses with more stops so as to ensure maximum speed. It allowed news of invasion and orders for the front to both be carried at maximum speed, essential for so massive a nation.
The greatest mark of Robespierre though was the numerous Halls of Reason created across the nation. Each one was designed upon a standardized designed, which was a scaled down model of his greatest creation, the People's Great Hall of Logic on Consul Island[2], originally Goat Island had been chosen, but it was both smaller and the noise of the falls was considered annoying by many. It also put it closer to Grand Island which was beginning to be seen by many as a better site for a capital than around Niagara Falls.
The structure was designed to hold both the Government as well as a massive museum. It was designed with the style of a Star Fort, and by extension all the Halls were miniature Star Forts, as a display of the might of the People's Republic, though in reality as the Phyrgianists used the Halls as their bases of operation it helped to cement the iron grip of Robespierre and his Consul. Inside the walls a large building built in a very Rococo style, the Triple Assembly, with three floors for most of it, though a small tower in the middle rose another three floors. Atop this a 50ft statue of Hilfere was constructed, with him holding the book of Knowledge and the illuminating torch of Reason. It is estimated that at least 1 000 people died in the construction, though records were purposely obscured to prevent excessive public outcry. When completed, if the statue on top were to be counted, it was the tallest building in the world. Many believe that if Robespierre had been running a conventional nation he would have fast run out of funds, however the natural riches of the New World were still at his disposal and massive shipments of furs, cotton, tobacco and foodstuffs allowed him to pay for these grand projects.
[1] This of course consists mostly of those poorer Loyalists who could not afford ships to other colonies, unlike the rich plantation owners who flooded Hawkingsland
[2] OTL Navy Island
"These 27ers are an odd bunch I must say. They don't seem very good at taking orders and keep researching their own things. Not too sure as to how to deal with them.”
Louis Napoleon: Hero in the Wrong Army
(Frankfurt 1977)
Younger brother to the great Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis was born into a French ruled Corsica. Unlike his brother he drifted into one of the many small independence movements that existed on the island. He spent much of his life giving speeches at small secret gatherings gaining significant experience as an orator. When the 19th Century lurched into its chaotic beginning he was one of the first to join the Corsican Independence Front, a rag tag militia of about 5 000 men who hoped to regain the island's freedom. While they held out for about a year the French would not accept such a uprising and sent an army of 20 000 to clear the island by mid 1801, one of the many fresh armies raised to fight the revolutionary armies plaguing Europe at the time. While many were arrested or forced to fight for France young Louis[1] fled to Italy. He soon fell into the Italian Unification movement seeing Corsica as a part of Greater Italy and joined up with the waves of revolutionaries moving to Naples where the Bourbon king was so desperate to survive he had given up almost any power to the nationalists. He decided that in order to avoid being given power merely for his brother's name he had to change his name and went by the alias Luigi Buonpezzo.
When the "Kingdom" of Naples proclaimed itself the Kingdom of Italy and invaded Tuscany (having procured a right of passage through the Papal States) Louis proved himself quite competent and with the early Italian army not exactly the most capable force on Earth at the time his mildly above average abilities sent him up through the ranks. After the commanding general for the invasion of Florence, Giovanni Rilato, was killed by cannon fire Louis took charge of the assault and captured the city. With the rank of General now his he dropped the name Buonpezzo for his true identity of Bonaparte. With his skills as a speech maker he was soon showing leadership abilities equal or even better than his brother, though his tactics were merely effective. Still with the Austrians focused on Hungary they could not spare the troops to block the Italian army which soon reached a total number of 100 000.
However events transpired to nearly kill the infantile Empire while it had only just begun. The Pope feared what a united Italy would mean for his power and closed off his borders to the Italian army. The reaction amongst the leaders of the revolution was very confused as many were quite religious, yet many others were strongly Communitarian and felt that the Pope was an enemy in the long run anyway. Louis, being something of a moderate, managed to convince both sides that the Pope was merely acting out of fear and that the best move would be to sign a treaty guaranteeing the independence of the Papal States in exchange for free movement of Italian soldiers across them. This did not prove enough for Pope Pius VII who demanded French backing on the treaty. The French were rather annoyed by this request, however they rushed a diplomat over who merely read the statement and agreed that France would declare war upon Italy if they attacked the Papacy, however no amount of support was defined.
With this hurdle overcome the Italians now faced an Austrian army which had been patched together, an army loyal to the Northern Italian states and Ottoman backed pirates to their South looking to grab whatever they could while Europe was weak. Combined with the difficult terrain of Italy the assault was doomed to be a slow and bloody campaign.
The History of the Blackcoats
(Soeul 1912)
The last act of defiance of the Paris Riots was that of a lone gunner. Pistol in hand this mysterious woman, who no one has ever managed to identify, attacked the royal carriage nearly a month after the riots were over. She was bitter over the death of her husband and son during the riots. The guard had relaxed somewhat knowing that soldiers had swept the streets of anyone who seemed a criminally inclined. Thus they were very surprised when a middle aged woman charged up to the royal carriage, especially as she did not draw her pistol until the last second. The guards reacted instantly, however it took them longer to reach the woman that it took to her to pull the trigger and shout "This is for my Husband and my Boy!". An over enthusiastic guard shot the woman before she found out that she had not in fact assassinated the king but his wife Queen Guilhelmina[2].
With both his beloved wife and his eldest brother dead King Louis XVII fell into a state of deep depression and unnatural mourning. It was said that the only thing that gave him joy was working on his steam trinkets. He soon banned anyone from wearing anything but black in his presence and took to wearing only the colour himself, wig and all. This was of great annoyance to all, but especially the military which had a set uniform. However someone realised that a black uniform would be quite symbolic of France's mourning the death of Monarchs across Europe as well as the German hatred for French culture and its victims. The official uniform was quickly change to black and white styles. These new uniforms were complained about by some as a waste of resources but the fear that it struck into enemies was undeniable.
To follow the theme the French army also adopted a black flag with a single white Fleur de Lis upon it. This was likely due more to a wish to simplify the flag than anything else, but as more and more soldiers fought and died for it it slowly grew until it became the national flag it is today.
[1] As Napoleon Bonaparte is known as president Bonaparte his brother gets a first name recognition to differentiate him.
[2] Frenchified Wilhelmina, this Queen was eldest daughter of Prince Augustus William of Prussia, born in 1747.
One Age, Many Styles: A comparison of the Republics of the Great Revolt
(Nova Ptolemais[1][2] 1919)
Many people today think that the many Revolutions of the Great Revolt all followed more or less the same overall plan and that our own was merely the most successful due to the superiority of Roman heritage. While our success was obviously partially due to this it is also due to the different goals of Rome[3] compared to the various rebellions. We shall of course discuss these different rebellions in order of start. . .
The Second English Republic was in many ways Harling and Finley's personal little empire. Through extensive propaganda they maintained control and kept their people strongly believing that the rebellions across Europe were winning glorious victories. For their credit they did work to supply the European Revolutions with the latest British Innovations. Certain smaller weapons, such as the primitive musket cartridges and some higher quality firearms, were frequently smuggled in via Turtles[4], while larger weapons were only occasionally brought in by boat and only when the French were busy elsewhere. Still Britain had the greatest industrial capacity in the world at the time so her shipments could be large enough to aide her allies. The British turtles also managed to sink three French ships during the war, an impressive feat considering how primitive they were. The third contribution the British managed was the occasional bombings of French ports with the use of highly dangerous balloon raids. While these never sunk more than four ships in a total of eight raids the damage to French moral was great and it kept soldiers stationed on the Coast who otherwise could have been fighting France's numerous enemies.
Beyond England Britain was in chaos. Dublin and a small patch of surrounding territory was held by the Second Republic, but the rest of Ireland was divided into Loyalists in the North, Independence fighters in the middle and Jacobites in the West and South. Scotland was in even worse shape, loyalists in the South, Jacobites in the Highlands, Communitarians in Glasgow, Libertists in Edinburgh and Republicans in Inverness and a few other coastal towns. Of course the final part of Britain was perfectly stable under the rule of its Jacobite King Charles IV and his wife Queen Mary[5]. From there thriving mini-kingdom they were able to send help to the Jacobites across the British Isles.
The Polish Republic was a little more stable than the British. A highly militant nation, out of necessity due to its bordering the elite Prussian army and the Russian horde, its armies operated unlike any of the other revolutionary forces. After about six months of chaos and forward assault by Prussia, Andrei Lycenzi took the helm of the struggling republic and came up with a groundbreaking military strategy. Rather than trying to beat the Prussians he realised that any battle Prussia fought would be a Prussian victory and responded by breaking his army into many smaller forces to be able to attack more places than Prussia could defend. This had the added benefit of none of his generals having enough troops to think about turning against him. With this outflanking maneuver the Prussians were soon all but cut off despite having never lost a battle. In the east the Russians were able to match this spreading technique but the Lithuanian locals supported the Poles more and a few riots broke out spreading the Russians thinner. Then of course there was the Eastern Crisis which distracted Russia even more.
The Hungarians watched what their Polish neighbours were doing and copied the strategy. This allowed the Hungarians to cut off General Württemberg's army before the force of 50 000 was defeated by General Alvinczi nearly 8 months later. The also slowly pushed towards the Aegean, not really wanting to conquer Austria but merely to assert their independence. Due to their lack of commitments in their own land they were able to send thousands of soldiers to help their allies of Poland and Bohemia. The Hungarian domestic front was the most truly democratic of any revolution with an election held in 1802 that actually removed the ruling party from power, though the replacements were only slightly different, more based off of how nice to be to the Austrians in Hungary when they eventually gained recognition.
The Belgian revolt was more or less an example of what not to do. They consisted mostly of various pro-independence militias roaming around attacking French and later German supply lines and having no clear post-war plan or attempts to hold any land. They were more a unorganised group of partisans than an army and were about as unpopular with the Belgian people as the French and German armies, due in part to their demanding supplies for free for a cause that most were neutral about. This prompted several towns to pull together militias that shot at anyone who approached. The French responded by mostly leaving said towns alone, while the Belgian soldiers would often lay siege to the towns for a while, though would usually leave when the real armies happened to be nearby, and the Germans would attack these cities for impeding the destiny of the land to be returned to its proper German rule.
The Bohemian revolution was largely similar to the Hungarian one except it had even less interest in expansion. They were able to hold out against those Austrians which did attack them, which were few and far between. They were able to have a successful republic, though they were a bit harsher than the Hungarians in some ways. It has been said that the Bohemians were the best neighbours, but the Hungarians were the best rulers.
The Germans were probably in the worst spot possible for a rebellion, surrounded by the greatest powers in Europe. Yet through sheer fanaticism and the passion and ability of Grobstraum's command the German Republic survived, even if it was more the German Army than the German Republic. Their main uniting forces seemed to be hating the Austrians for abandoning Germany for an empire elsewhere and hating the French for supposedly keeping Germany weak. Prussia was seen as a non-German entity but one that could be ignored until either France or Austria was beat. By 1803 they had found themselves fighting the Dutch as well due to luck against France following the declaration of the Iberian Republic. They had hoped the Dutch would willingly join Germany and that it would be a mere matter of "Marching over to greet our Coastal Brothers," in the words of Grobstraum.
The Roman Empire began after the success of the German Republic, however, unlike the foolish Germans who executed all their kings and princes, or forefathers were smart enough to remain a Kingdom which kept France happy to see a Bourbon Italy. The war with the Austrians was a slow one as the terrain of Italy has never been good for advances, then there was the Papal Betrayal. When that was finally dealt with following French backing to keep the Papal states open to its loyal Italian allies. This allowed our great nation to continue to do battle with the Hapsburg oppressors of the North.
The Greek rebellion was quite short lived. The Ottomans were able to place their full army against it and turned it into little more than an area of partisan activity. It did still serve to give the Porte some experience fighting nationalists, though not enough to help them later. It also served to end any attempts at an independent Greece for some time to come.
Finally the slowest of the Republics to form was that of Iberia. With riots have begun in 1800 the Republic was not proclaimed until after the Spanish king had fled and the Portuguese queen had been captured and executed. Following this first execution nearly 3 000 people were killed in the nation for Monarchism. The Iberians were far less aggressive than the Germans but just as angry with what they saw as French abuse of their nation. With an undeclared invasion of France they managed to capture the Pyrenees and set up fortifications there hoping merely to anger the French and distract them so that the Germans could have the difficulty of marching to Paris.
The rebellions were not limited to merely Europe and Britain though, and for those nations we must look to the South. The first new nation in Africa was of course the Dominion of Africa, however the second is the often forgotten Republic of the Cape. The Dutch settlers of the Cape had long been mistreated by the VOC, and with the VOC's attempts to secure the colony from British expansion of the Hawkingsland Colony the population was now large enough to Rebel with the government busy dealing with the German threat. Unlike their more populous Eastern Neighbours they had a very insignificant number of loyalists and soon gained independence. However the Dominion of Africa soon realised[6] that they needed the Cape to support their growing population and moved in against the less populous nation. The Cape Republic proved exceptionally difficult to defeat despite its small population, due in no small part to inciting slave riots within the Dominion.
Rebellion in Europe and Imperialism in the New World
(Réo de Jenairo[7] 1941)
When news reached the West that the Old World was falling apart the leaders of both nations practically celebrated. Robespierre had been desperate to keep the Charismatic Bonaparte away from Hilfère District fearing that the General might overthrow him, while the people of the LRA had long disliked the fact that the Spanish Empire still held land in the New World and wished to liberate their brothers. Thus the two nations united in a conquest of the European colonies, the LRA dominating the land with its mighty army and the PRNA taking over the islands of the Caribbean with their quite respectable naval forces.
The LRA found itself not being greeted as liberators like they had expected due to many preferring the stability of Spanish rule that would surely improve following the revolution to the unpredictable LRA rule. The disease was also enough to make any military assault a very slow affair with the choice of either trekking through mountains or jungle also making the advance very slow. It has been estimated that nearly 80% of the LRA's casualties were due to disease. Still they managed to advance as the local defenses were very weak.
The PRNA found itself with the somewhat nicer Caribbean, facing only serious conflict on Hispaniola, the other islands all soon fell as slave riots backed by PRNA troops took over. However the number of loyalists was such that Bonaparte decided to ship them to Guyana. This was out of a fear that they could rebel and ruin the PRNA's control of its new territory. He also ensured that the local governor was pro-PRNA, which wasn't hard as the locals weren't even sure if any British Empire still existed.
The Eastern Crises of 1803
(Moscow 1911)
The Japanese had been patiently preparing their armies for an eventual Kamikaze[8] of someone, it wasn’t clear at the time who their intended target was. However the revolutions in Europe provided them with a perfect opportunity to strike even if they weren’t as ready as they would have like to have been. In 1805 they sent an army of 40 000 to attack the Russian Pacific coast. When news of the dastardly attack finally reached St. Petersburg quite some time later it was mistaken for a Chinese assault and sent the Tsar into a panic. He promptly ordered 30 000 men be sent East to attack the Chinese. This lead to a period of confusion as no one quite knew how to get that many men across Siberia at once. The aging Tsar Peter III came very close to order them to figure it out as they went, but managed to calm himself down and accept that this would take time. Thanks to his patience he was able to find out that the enemy was in fact Japan not China which saved him from his original plan to march through Mongolia.
It was eventually decided that they could manage to send 5000 men at a time, but it would still be difficult to supply said men. The old Tsar declared it the best action anyway and the first wave was sent East. When they finally arrived the strange Japanese weapons proved more than a match for the Russian army and the first wave was shattered. The Second wave managed to pick up a good chunk of the survivors and decided to attempt to out maneuver the Japanese until more soldiers arrived.
[1] Approximately Ad Dirsiyah Lybia
[2] Being in Italy don't expect them to be totally unbiased about their own Revolution
[3] Though at the time they were Italy
[4] Submarines, here the name stuck. These ones are very submersible though and often sit at the surface using sails to get around.
[5] More or less OTL's Marie Antoinettem though the personnality is somewhat diffrent
[6] AKA decided
[7] Yep, that's not a typo
[8] In this dimension it means a swift attack much like the wind is quick, think blitz.
"A threat is now on our doorstep that is unlike any we have previously faced. This enemy does not seek glory or territory, they seek to eliminate the very essence of what makes us Human. They would have us all made automen[1] in servitude of their inhuman goals. They cannot be reasoned with and they will not stop until their goal is reached. We must unite to fight this threat which has crown in its dark corner of the globe for far too long, for no nation alone can now stand against them."
-Jean Kaliara, Prime Minister of the International Union, addressing IU Grand Assembly in emergency Istanbul Headquarters 2013
"Our enemies fight us for we have all the virtues they fear and none of the vices they admire![2] This is why we must fight: to show our enemies that they have been wronged by their nations and to free them of said lies!"
-General Aldous Walker, occupied Lisbon 2013
"It appears we have found this world in an interesting yet turbulent period. As war measures are likely to tighten information gathering will become more dangerous than it is already. We are unsure is we can even guarantee any further updates if things go badly enough. Still we shall try."
The Great Flight
(Delhi 1925)
Young King Frederick II was forced out of Africa merely three months after the slavers rebelled due to several assassination attempts. The question at this point was where to go next, for Europe was far from safe, yet only India and Australia remained as options. His sister Mary felt that the growing colony of Australia was the place to go, and was followed by many who felt the climate of India too much for them. Prince Henry meanwhile chose the exotic-ness of India, and received a following of those who preferred to live somewhere that already had an infrastructure. King Frederick II felt it was his duty to visit both locations on a rotational basis for what he had felt would be a brief time. He still felt safest on the ships which had carried him halfway around the world and therefore preferred to stay on board a ship even when in port.
This lead to his power being rather abstract, with the Company and Prince Henry more or less running India while Princess Mary and a collection of nobles and politicians who had escaped formed a loose control over the colonies of the Australian continent. This increased self governance would of course lead to significant effects later on, and a great deal of annoyance to British politician and school pupil alike.
This wave of immigration also created interest amongst the Tângatan[3] Confederacy in New Rohan, whom new that these British refugees consisted of many skilled workers whom would be useful for the Tângatan modernisations schemes especially as they could be played off the French merchants and settlers who were established in the early Tea Departments[4], though the initial British reaction to an offer to live in a Tea Department was total confusion due to the word's meaning in English. Some thought they were going to be taken slaves to work on tea plantations or some such thing in an initial panic. Soon however the British decided that the Tângata could make powerful allies in the region if they could be persuaded to abandon the French.
Interest was also sparked across India as news filtered through that a European King was living on the Subcontinent, at least a good chunk of the time. Of course it was likely that little more than a few Indian Kings would have seen these European Royals if the French hadn't developed a quite complex plot. They had heard rumours that Prince Henry was supposedly even more flirtatious with the local women then he was with European ones. They also had a rather tricky situation involving the attempts of some local merchants in the town of Hanamkonda to gain independence from the Mughal Empire, a move which the RIC supported as a test of the might of the great Indian Empire, however they had felt that they lacked the resources to take on the Empire alone and the Dutch were cut off without Capetown or supplies from their overwhelmed homeland, leaving only the British as potential allies[5]. They knew however that the British wouldn't dare help them with current affairs the way they were, but the British control over the Mouths[6] they had access to a significant population from which to draw Sepoys and had proven their all but cut off EIC capable of equalling the French in the Chandrenagor War. It was out of this pressure that they implemented their overly complicated plan involving the end goal of a marriage between Prince Henry and the daughter of one of the Hanamkonda merchants, and luckily for the French there was one Christian amongst the merchants who actually liked the idea of his daughter marrying a British prince. The French therefore announced they would be holding festivities and invited dozens of prominent Indians, both monarchs and generally rich men, as well as the British.
Much to the French relief not only did Henry fall for the future Princess Gauri, but she also found him charming. The Prince knew that it could be difficult to get his brother to approve though and thus waited for one particular festive night where his brother was in a surprisingly good mood, to ask. Feeling good, and being more than a little drunk, King Frederick II agreed. The Prince soon rushed off to get married. The response across the exiled British society was mixed to say the least. The EIC men supported the move or simply didn't care, many of the people seeking refuge from the Republic back home disapproved, while Princess Mary and most of her Australian council were largely horrified, though not so much out of distaste for the civilized people of India, but the notion that Henry had accepted the exile. When news reached Europe Harling decided to ignore the fact that the new Princess was Christian, and had converted to Anglicanism, and claimed that the royals were showing not only were they of Catholic stock but also willing to further distance themselves from British norms by marrying people who didn't even believe in God. It is rumoured that Harling even debated claiming that it was the King who had become married, but in those comparatively early days he was only willing to warp the truth so much. The biggest response came from the Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II, who became convinced that this was the British revealing support for the Hanamkonda rebels and raised an army to remove them from the Subcontinent.
The French, having wanted the war in the first place, jumped to the British aid, however they would prove less important in the war than the Indochinese Empire which had been quietly reforming over the past decade and now fielded an army more powerful than any European Company. Unfortunately this pulled the Burmese into the war as they feared the growing Indochinese power, which delayed the arrival of Indochinese reinforcements, but also allowed the British to have claim over more of the early victories against the Mughal than would have been possible if the Indochinese had been there. The greatest advantage of the British was the fact that they still had the bulk of their Navy, and used it to attack anywhere on the Mughal cost that they wished, forcing the Empire to keep a disproportionate amount of troops in the West to defend against British raids, allowing British-French armies to push his forces back along the Ganges. This war also attracted Persian interests, as a busy Russia and Ottoman Empire allowed them to turn their attention more to the East. Seeing the Mughals locked in a mostly even war, at least until Indochinese troops finished destroying the Burmese Empire, was a golden opportunity for them to break out of the stagnation they had been suffering from for some time. The Tângatans decided to test themselves as well, though the army they sent was small it still proved more than capable, being especially innovative due to having little idea of the so called rules of tactics.
[1] Robots, though in D-398 the ideas of robots gaining any sort of personality has never occurred in and Science Fiction, thus making it even darker.
[2] Surprisingly similar to a Churchill quote.
[3] Dimension 398's term for Maori, see History of New Rohan updates for more information.
[4] The name for the regions where Whites (and later Indians) were allowed to settle and live by their own laws. These weren't quite formalised by this time, it was more just certain regions where they "Tea" folks could live in peace.
[5] The Portuguese are worse than the Dutch right now, being for the time being actually more technically Brazilians.
[6] Of the Ganges
Frédéric Cuvier[1]: The Life that Forged Cuvierism
(Georgetown 1938)
In any account of the life of a man as influential as Frédéric Cuvier one must start by clearing up misconceptions which abound around his work. Firstly one must make it clear that Cuvier never intended for his ideas to be applied to humans, after all the force behind Preferentialism are conditions no human would willingly instill upon another. While Malthus had of course inspired Cuvier's thought pattern with his writing An Essay on the Principles of Population[2], which discussed human population, Cuvier felt that science would allow humanity to avoid these pressures. He did however point out that it was the poor who would be most affected by Preferentialism if it were applied to society, this helped to deter many of the more reactionist movements from attempting to implement it culturally as they did not want the ruled to become the more "advanced", not truly grasping what Preferentialism truly was.
Cuvier was born on June 4th 17773[3] Montbéliard, in the Duchy of Württemberg, to Jean George Cuvier, a lieutenant of the Swiss Guard, and Anne Clémence Chatel. He proved highly successful in his schooling and was able to travel to Paris for his formal education. Soon after finishing he was unsure as to what to do next, torn between returning to the Germanies or remaining in France, however he became caught up in Parisian life to the point that he soon found himself challenged for a duel due to an affair. This lead to him catching a ride on the next ship with plans to take a long voyage. The ship was of course the Solitaire which set off on its journey around the globe. Over the course of this voyage Cuvier noticed numerous interesting animals, especially on the Galapagos Islands, which began his thinking about the change of animals. He had no idea what force could be behind it, but he recorded everything he could nonetheless.
He was in for a shock when he returned home in 1800 after his five year voyage. He managed to return home to Montbéliard, only to find the name changed to the more German sounding Mountbelar. He also soon found that his parents had been forced to leave the city due to the anti-francophone sentiment of the German Republic. Fearing for his own safety he left the town and went by the name Frederick Bottich, choosing to stay in the Republic as it was far more open to radical ideas than the desperate French monarchy. He soon encountered Malthus' essay and saw it as a potential force behind Preferentialism, however it would take him many years to publish the full detail of his theory. He did publish some of his ideas from time to time though, which lead many a German Nationalist to claim that the French scientist Cuvier stole his ideas from the great Germans scientist Bottich, a misconception that lasted well into this century. He stopped publishing though when he began to see what we would call Social Cuvierism being instigated by the government, though it is debatable whether this was due to him or Malthus' more widely known papers.
Cuvier also had a hobby in gardening that he found calming, but lead to one of his greatest discoveries. While at sea he had realised how much he liked peas, an odd taste, but one that would help science greatly. He enjoyed growing different varieties of peas, but noticed that certain traits would disappear for a generation only to appear again in some of the next generation. His naturally curiosity lead him to research this more deeply and methodically as somewhere in the depths of his mind he realised how important this was. His discovery of what he called Free Characteristics became essential to his theory of Preferentialism. He work was soon however interrupted by . . .
"Agent Mckenzie 'ere. 'aving to sneak in my broadcast so 'as not to get got by these b'ys, eh. These gorbies on the team ain't the smartest, eh, but they are meticulous. Also the hyrdro 's not the cheapest here, so they'll notice if I add extra, eh. An'way, the locals have a group that would fit very well with our goals, if I hadn't known better I'd a thought they were imitatin' us, eh. Got a few goals similar to those vile commies, but not too bad. Will await further orders."
. . .n 1951)
There are few men who bring up as much controversy in the Germanies as Grobstraum, to the point that many wish to try to ignore him, especially in the face of current events. However such a tactic cannot be used, lest we risk falling into the same foolhardy paths that he followed. Many have claimed that Grobstraum was a fool, but if anyone were to look at history with an objective view not clouded by living with the outcome surely they would not see him as a fool for angering the great powers of Europe, but a highly skilled individual for being capable of doing what he did when surrounded by arguably the four greatest powers of Europe[4]. This does not mean that I in any way support his actions, merely that one must not call a man a fool for failing the impossible.
Little is known of Grobstraum's early life, in fact his real name is not even known. All that is really certain is his story of being one of the victims of the Unterschleißheim Tragedy are almost universally accepted, and those who don't accept it mostly do so to go against the mainstream not out of any real conviction. Even the idea of a man becoming a military leader after such a horrific event would be astronomically low, after all one has only to look at the anti-war feelings of Hilferding[5] to realise that such an event would drive one away from war, not to it[6].
Grobstraum also was not the egomaniac he later devolved into, starting out merely a staunch German nationalist. He had no problem with people outside of the HRE, merely a dislike of the Austrians for trying to use the HRE to expand their empire beyond and the French nibbling away at it's Western border. He was a very hands on commander, not trusting his generals with anything but defence or things he saw as lesser campaigns. This militarism prevented any true centralised government from occurring, with envoys from the Departments having to chase him along the front, leading to very little regulation within the republic, apart from recruiting pretty well every German man who could carry a gun into the Republikanischen Garde or the defensive Startseite Miliz. This mass recruitment allowed Germany to hold out against the larger French population and still have men to fight the Austrians and Dutch.
For the first five years of the War of Revolutions Grobstraum concentrated his efforts on holding back the French and trying to make sense of whatever was going on in Belgium, something the French and Dutch wished to understand as well. However in 1806 the Hungarians won the battle of Ljubljana, crushing the Austrian army of 80 000 as well as cutting off the remaining 30 000 men to the South. Grobstraum saw this as the perfect opportunity to knock Austria out of the war and convinced the Czechs and Hungarians to move on Vienna, against their better judgement. Grobstraum brought 40 000 men from the French front and the 30 000 men who had been guarding the border with Austria to march through the heart of Austria. The Hungarian army of 48 000 was the first to approach Vienna though, causing the Austrians to panic and try to intercept them at Bratislava, hoping to use the mountains to confine the Hungarian offensive. The Germans were meanwhile delayed at St. Polten by desperate defenders, who held the invaders off while Vienna could be fortified. However the Austrians we stretched to their limit when Czech army of 27 000 marched across the plains between the two nations and proved the straw that broke the Austrian back. Forced to retreat their outnumbered army of fifty thousand to the unprepared city. At this point the Republicans sent emissaries to offer Joseph II a chance to surrender, to which he replied: "I would rather die fighting for what is right than see your mobs parading down the street. If you take this city I will ensure it will be useless by the time you take it," a statement which he was convinced would deter the attackers from trying anything. It is widely debated whether he thought they would offer a peace or merely begin a siege, which would draw too many Czech troops for them to defend against a Prussian relief, as well as give the Dutch and French a chance to break through in the West. Which ever was his goal the Revolutionaries decided that he was bluffing and attacked. The First Battle of Vienna would last a full month and cost nearly 70 000 lives, not counting civilians, making it the second bloodiest battle of the war.
Grobstraum ensured that Joseph II was captured, in order to have him paraded down the streets of the burnt out city of Vienna. The people were enraged at his stubbornness having destroyed their homes and some even through bits of rubble at him. Of course Grobstraum's martial law would soon manage to make even Joseph II extreme ideas seem mild as the man had begun to spiral into his later madness at the time. Still riding on the glory of conquering Vienna, Grobstraum took 30 000 men North with him and with about 21 000 men withdrawn from Belgium and the 42 000 men already stationed on the Dutch border to make a push for the coast to chop the Netherlands in two. The Dutch managed to make it a difficult campaign, forcing Grobstraum to transfer men from the Miliz to the Garde to replaces his losses. The French also tried to assist the Dutch, but could not make ground on their border with the Germans, couldn't properly supply an army through the Belgian Mess, and couldn't trust the British Turtles in the Channel. After the successful splitting of the Netherlands the Grobstraum decided to turn North to deal with the soldiers trapped their, reasoning that it was better to let some Dutch troops slip into France rather than keep a second front. Many have called this his first great blunder.
[1] OTL younger brother of George Cuvier, who was born in this world, but died at age 10.
[2] Surprisingly similar to the title OTL, with Principle changed to Principles. The text could be seen as a paraphrase of the OTL essay, though all members of the expedition who have read both see D-398's version as much more depressing.
[3] OTL it was June 28, 1773.
[4] What luck for the author that we came along to attempt just the analysis which the author asked.
[5] Hilfère, in non-frenchified spelling.
[6] Ignoring of course King Charles IV, though he was already in military school so perhaps it is an unfair comparison, but so is comparing a four year old to an adult.
"I personally like this video series, sure it's a little campy, but it's still reasonably accurate so I'm sending you the script for some variety. I was pretty tough to find a translated copy though. We are more than a little worried about the potential for a draft which exists in the nation were are residing in . . . Oh yes, script format is a bit different in 398, and I'm no expert on ours so I apologise for any errors."
Transdraigia[1] Parmountcy[2]: A People's History Part 1: The Grand Trek
(Nu Haven[4] 1995)
A poorly lit cabin interior, filled with several men dressed in the red colour of loyalists.
Thomas Garfield:
My friends, we can no longer stay here. Those slaving owning Hawks[5] have already begun punishing our loyal brothers on the coast who could not flee to Australia. It won't be long before they come for us.
Peter House:
We should stand and fight. I see no reason to force our families to march across the desert to God knows where when we can stand and fight!
Thomas Garfield:
You've heard the stories from the Cape, just as I have. Would you put your families through that? It is best we leave for better lands and hope that the civilised world can deal with the Hawks. If not it gives us time to prepare. If we stay we have only oppression or abandoning our humanity as options. If not for my family I too would stay and fight, but I want my children a chance to grow up without the taint of Slavery. If you wish for you families to be raised in an environment of hate then feel free to stay, but freedom lies to the North. Now, will you stay here or will you travel with me to establish a proper country loyal to the King?
All:
To the North!
Cut to a caravan traveling across open country.
Narrator:
And so they departed that land which was doomed to fall further from grace as it grew more dependent upon the corrupting practice of Slavery which had created it. The journey North would cost many lives and was one of the truly great migrations in history. Many nations claim to have been founded on pioneer spirit but the founding fathers and mothers of Transdraigia were true pioneers setting off across uncharted lands with their entire family. Progress was slow, but it also built up trust with the native peoples whom they would trade with until they finally settled down after nearly a decade of nomadism.
Scene changes to a flourishing but small town. Significant numbers of Natives a present. A caravan of people speaking Dutch arrives. One approaches Peter House to try and talk to him.
Dutchman:
Hallo, Ik ben op zoek naar de man in rekening gebracht.
House:
I'm sorry I don't speak Dutch.
Dutchman:
I apologise. Who is leader here?
House:
Prime Minister Garfield is probably the man you want. May I ask what so many Dutchmen are doing here?
Dutchman:
We heard rumours of a place free of the Haviken and so we have come to join you.
House:
This is good news, especially following the rumours coming from the Mthethwa about the Hawks having gone to war with them.
Panning out for a full view of the city and then further to show the whole region of Southern Africa with satellite imaging. Borders appear on the map showing the expanse of the Dominion of Africa to the South along with the local Portuguese Colonies, Native Kingdoms and Transdraigia. The map begins to animate showing the Dominionist campaigns of empire building and the slower growth of Transdraigia as more and more flee the Dominionists.
Narrator:
News reached the early Transdraigians of the constantly increasing threat of the Hawks. In response militia service was deemed necessary for all and any past times which improved one's martial ability were encouraged. Numerous native doctrines were also adopted were useful in the exchange of ideas which the early Transdraigians grew to see as an exchange of equals. The early basis of our modern equal society were born in those difficult early days, though they would need to be strengthened in bloodshed several times before they could truly arise.
The Disaster in Rome
(Budapest 2001)
The Kingdom of Italy was held together in the early days by constant battle. The Austrians had been the main source of distraction, however with the fall of Vienna the Austrian soldiers in Italy offered a ceasefire significantly behind their lines and the Italian Senate accepted as each faction wanted its own men back in case conflict arose. The largest gap was between the Anarchist and Communitarian atheist, the only similarity the two had yet enough to get them lumped together by outsiders, against the Nationalists, Libertists and Royalists, who were fighting for the King not nationalism. This religious divide became particularly noticeable when one army happened to be travelling quite close to Rome itself. The local Nationalist general Giulio Utili was convinced the Communitarians and Anarchists in his army would try something if he let them so he crackdown on them maintaining strict regulation on their movements. The response was a riot by the Anarchists, who then decided to head home on their own. The Communitarians were torn and significant numbers left with the Anarchists.
General Utili saw this departure as proof that the atheists wanted to attack Rome due to their heading closer to the city. He ordered his army to follow in order to try to stop the Anarchists from destroying the city. The Anarchist thought that they could escape to the city and reach safety there due to Utili seemingly moving to crush them. The two armies approached the city at full pace, sending panic into the streets. The Anarchists just barely managed to beat the main army to the city, at which point Utili panicked and began putting his army into battle formation, hoping to scare the Anarchists. The Anarchists we panicking themselves thinking that Utili was about to attack and began barricading themselves in. Suddenly two parts of the army began firing at each other, there is much debate as to why this occurred. Most historians claim it was the Communitarians on both sides who had decided this was the perfect chance to destroy Rome, others that it was the Anarchists attempting to maximize chaos within the nation. It seems more likely though that it was merely someone fired out of panic and the situation spiralled out of control. It is known that the later fires were started by Communitarians hoping to weaken their opposition.
The Burning of Rome sent shock-waves across the Italian peninsula turning things into a civil war. The Nationalists and Royalists soon united under the common goal of imperialism, the only real debate being how much power the King would retain. The Libertists began to Attack the Communitarians for competing with them amongst the people pushing for small government. The Communitarians showed their rational practicality that they would continue to have up until today by avoiding any fight they might loose and attacking anywhere they seemed likely to win. The also were very concentrated on controlling the seas, which allowed them to retreat to Sardinia once the Louis Napoleon led Imperialists, a fusion of Nationalists and Royalists, were clearly winning. Due to the destruction of Rome and the Italians claiming the Papal states when they declared themselves the New Roman Kingdom, the French were forced to declare war upon the Italians, however their difficult situation with Germany prevented any real fighting on that front.
The destruction of Rome and the declaration of the kingdom now being Roman prompted a major revival of Classical ideals, marking the start of the true Neo-Classical Era.
[1] From Dragon Mountains, warped by Afercan[3] speech. The 'g' is hard.
[2] This part of the name comes from the Mthethwa Paramountcy
[3] The local language of rather mangled English, with influence from local languages as well as Cape Dutch and Icelandic.
[4] Capital of Transdraigia
[5] The use of the term Hawk for citizens of the Dominion of Africa did not actually arise until about 1830
"Here is a chart showing several flags which originated during the Age of Revolutions. Not sure how they managed to put writing like that on a flag."
Life in the Eye of the Storm: French Domestic History from 1800-1820
(Paris 1957)
Much has been written on France's performance during the War of Revolutions recently, likely revelling in past glories to forget the present, however these writings have all focused upon the triumph abroad and not the way in which it affected the people at home. It is important to remind these nostalgics that it was not all glory and crushing the German menace at every turn.
Paul Levrault was a more than competent leader having inherited much of his father's[1] leadership abilities and charisma. However no man can run a country on his own, not even Grobstraum or Harling despite the impression that most history texts would attempt to make one believe. Levrault had to deal with the numerous representatives of the National Assembly in order to do anything, though his leadership of the Stability Party[2] he was able to effectively do what he wished, but certain goals were heavily watered down. One of these was his attempts to make France more democratic to weaken Republican sympathies, however most of the Stabilists worried that this was a decent down a slippery slope and chose to cut back almost all his attempts, such as keeping elections every 7 years rather than the 5 he had suggested and refusing his moves for allowing all men above twenty to vote, putting a significant property requirement in place.
Due to France's dire need for fast responses to numerous threats Levrault pushed for, and succeeded in establishing, an large and organised copy of the British Murray Grids, however the French system was far less extensive than the British or North American[3] systems. It did prove enough to keep French communication ahead of the more chaotic German system. Another move of modernisation was improving French industry, however this required coal a resource France was lacking. The only sources of coal in Europe were in Republican countries[4], forcing France to look elsewhere. Her gaze was forced to the West, for the People's Republic North America was the only nation beyond Europe with any coal producing infrastructure. While the trade was unstable, especially during the outcry of the Haitian Slave Riots which were widely seen as Communitarian backed, especially following the revolt when Haiti asked[5] to join the PRNA. France soon realised that she was dependent on the mainly Yankee coal to drive her industries and the short shutdown of trade was ended.
Coal however was not the only thing which France traded with the PRNA. The Robespierrian treatment of Loyalists was abhorred, however it would not be until Bonaparte's presidency that anything would be done. However the idea of punishing dissenters in a productive manner did sit well with the Assembly and the Nation Loyalty Act was soon passed. Under the early NLA those suspected of holding revolutionary sentiment could be sentenced to extensive periods of hard labour for the good of the Kingdom. While in our modern world with recent events still fresh in the memory of many this seems the deepest of evils, but in this era anyone holding radical sentiments was thought to be an enemy of France. The expulsions from Germany and Spain would only strengthen this sentiment. This culture of paranoia would lead many radicals to move to the PRNA or Africa, where they may have started the horrors of the Cape inspired by their treatment back home.
The 1809 elections, France's first real elections, saw an almost completely Stabilist Assembly, due in no small part to most radical members of the Assembly having been arrested under the NLA during the election as well as fear in the population of being seen as a revolutionary for voting for a non Stabilist. The remainder of the Assembly, realising the war still had a long way to go seeing the collapse of Austria and the Netherlands, decided to come together as the National Cooperation Party, standing on the platform of reform to avoid revolution. While this may be similar to Levrault's goals on first glance the NCP advocated reforms that would all but strip the King of power, much like the Italian system while Levrault was more interested in the illusion of reform as opposed to actual reform. However their new stance of be very loud about keeping the King in some sort of power was enough that they were able to avoid the NLA. However this early stance was about to be broken by Grobstraum's unknowing attempt to replicate a Kamikaze strategy.
The End of Terror
(New York 1981)
Robespierre was quoted as saying : "Bonaparte is like a rabid dog. When he is out near your enemies he is very useful, however you do not want him to come home." The fact that he truly held this opinion was shown by his attempts to keep Bonaparte busy in the Caribbean, possibly hoping some tropical disease would do him in. Unfortunately for Robespierre Bonaparte was finished in the Caribbean by 1808 and had become quite popular due to his heroics in spreading Communitarianism. Robespierre and his consul by this time were quite unpopular as well, making Robespierre quite nervous. His fear increased quite a bit when Bonaparte decided to travel with several thousand men North to Canada, on a route that would lead him to the Capital District. Robespierre feared the worst and got his yes men in the Consul to declare Bonaparte and Enemy of the People and gave the Phyrgianists the authority to arrest him. The public outcry was immediate, but with a Temple of Reason in every town Robespierre controlled the nation's urban centers, forcing Bonaparte out to the frontiers.
Using the unsettled Ohio valley to travel to the Hilfere CD seemed a good idea, however it brought the army into the Native dominated Cherokee and Indiana Territories which had been the centre of multiple Colonist-Native clashes as the Native peoples saw their lack of recognition in the government as a sign that the old Yankee methods were being implemented rather than the Canadien style which they had been seen as more or less equals in. Fearing an attack Bonaparte instead called a meeting with the various Native leaders promising them full rights as citizens if they assisted him in removing Robespierre. This soon caused several of his assistants to point to the technological disparity between Europe and North America claiming that the Natives clearly weren't as naturally civilised as Europeans and therefore did not fit in a Communitarian civilization, and were better off in the noble savage obsessed Libertist lands. Bonaparte countered by stating that the Europeans only survived in the New World due to learning from the Natives and gaining supplies from Europe, showing that it was the environment and not the people who were responsible for the technology difference. The debate on this would of course rage until the mid-1940s, however that is not our focus.
Reinforced by nearly 14 000 Native troops Bonaparte now had an army of 40 000 under his command, enough to cause Robespierre to call back all his Phyrangists North of Lake Erie to assemble them at Hilfere for a force of 20 000 taking up position in the fortress of the Great Hall of Logic. It was following this withdrawal that General Pierre Augereau led an uprising in Mont de Peuple[6] that successfully captured Robespierre's head Phyrangist Babeuf. Now in control of Quebec, Ontario, New England and the Maritimes Augereau was able to send a further 20 000 militiamen to assist Bonaparte. Bonaparte's army took up position on Grand Island while Augereau took up position just South of the Horseshoe Falls. Robespierre and his men were supplied for a siege and winter was by this point fast approaching leaving Bonaparte's army the one more likely to have to break. However Bonaparte decided none the less, much to the confusion of his generals. His waiting did turn out to be a good choice as an unnatural cold snap soon occurred. Ordering his men to cross the frozen river, while not risking his canons on the ice, Bonaparte crossed at night, using the bright snow to not need lights and the back around noise of the Falls to muffle his approach. Robespierre's men didn't know about the assault until all of Bonaparte's cannons fired at once at the approximate positions of Robespierre's guns. With the element of surprise Bonaparte was able to take the fort with surprisingly few casualties. This battle was also the first to see the use of balloons in North America by Bonaparte's men to provide a sight for snipers.
Robespierre was found dead on the top floor of the Assembly, having poisoned himself rather than accepting defeat. Due to not having Robespierre nor Babeuf to provide them with the truth the new government was now stuck trying to sort through Robespierre's yes men trying to identify who was a loyal Laurentians and who had been pressured into it through threats. In the meantime Bonaparte was more concerned with the push by his generals and the remaining members of the Consul to accept running for President. After two weeks he finally gave in as even the people of Hilfere began pushing for him to run.
[1] Louis XVI
[2] Not truly a political party in the modern sense of the word, it was more a group of politicians who realised that things would go more smoothly if they decided things as a block. With nearly all the members of the Assembly being in the Stability Party they may as well have been the Assembly with its radical members removed.
[3] People's Republic of North America
[4] The Ottoman and Russian coal regions were rather under developed. The Ottoman source all had pirates enjoying the chaos to do whatever they wanted.
[5] After seeing Bonaparte's army on its border
[6] Montreal renamed
"There are rumours that the war may soon be going nuclear. This will make ISOT based communication rather unreliable. We are attempting to forge realistic papers to get a pass to the North, however the locals have very complex printing methods and I am unsure we will succeed."
Grobstraum's Great Gamble: the Push for Paris
(Zurich 1949)
Riding on the victories of Austria and the Netherlands, Grobstraum seemed unbeatable. He also now had tens of thousands of soldiers freed up from those former fronts to lead a massive assault on France. He feared that the Austrian and Dutch armies which had escaped to France would regroup if he took to long though, so he devised a strategy that would hopefully get him to Paris before any French troops would be able to make it. He planned to command a central army of 80 000 to march straight for the city with the absolute minimum number of supplies for maximum speed while the rest of his military would be split into several smaller armies that would assault any French armies attempting to pursue his main force. On July 4th he launched his massive assault with nearly 250 000 men all along the front assaulting the French positions, while his main army slipped past the French. Early in his attack the French realised this was a truly major problem and sent word to France using the latest Murray Grid, which had been hastily constructed, to send word that the Germans had an army heading for Paris. The word reached Paris just far enough ahead of Grobstraum's army to allow them to use the more thorough coastal Murray Grid to call in troops from Normandy to defend the city. The army of about 50 000 green troops arrived in Paris just ahead of Grobstraum's army, and began setting up hasty defenses. Forming a concave system of earthen mounds they hoped to trap the larger and more experienced Germans. Grobstraum saw the defenses and sent his army to attach the flank, while setting up artillery to hit the mid section of the defensive line and keep the French from moving from one end to the other.
The tactic worked quite well, however Grobstraum's men were still tired thus lowering much of their experience advantage and turning the battle into a vicious slog. A good portion of the French army began retreating into the city to attempt to barricade themselves in there, and many feared a larger version of Vienna was inevitable. It has been said that Grobstraum was discussing lighting the city ablaze and not moving in until the fire had destroyed the city when the tide was turned. A Dutch army appeared on the horizon, having heard the news that Paris was being attacked, but having been disorganised after their retreat through Belgium. Numbering about 33 000 due to having regrouped from numerous smaller groups, they had hurried fearing that the fall of Paris would mark the end of Monarchies in Europe. Attacking Grobstraum's rear the German leader himself came under fire and he was forced to pull back to regroup, however the desperate Dutchmen refused to give him any chance at a break and continued their assault. Reinvigorated by the miraculous appearance of the Dutch the French soldiers charged with them to assault Grobstraum. Showing that he was still an expert general Grobstraum managed to hold out for several hours before requesting a diplomatic meeting with the French. The French knew that their armies weren't doing too well at the main front, due to the Murray Grid, and therefore conceded, but were sure to make him think it was a generous offer.
The peace conference was held at Versailles, with representatives across Europe and Britain invited. The Germans demanded that France return to her 1740 borders and that all signatory powers recognise that the Dutch and Austrian colonies belonged to Germany, the French refused to hand over any of their territory unless Austria and the Netherlands were freed. The Germans decided to drop the border claim in order to hold on to those nations. The Prussians and Poles were unable to reach any agreement on a border for their nations as both saw many of the same areas as key to their nations. France was able to negotiate a natural border out of the Italians who were still unstable at the time, as well a return to the old war with the Spanish. The Russians were forced to hand over Lithuania, which they barely controlled anyway, a large concession but riots due to the Eastern Crisis had them weakened significantly. A limit was also placed on all nations to give a maximum of 250 000 soldiers, though all nations would find a way around that. With all nations but Prussia and Poland at peace the so called 'Phony Peace' began.
Trials of the Presidency
(Victory[1] 1986)
Chapter 1: Napoleon Bonaparte (1809-1814)
Napoleon Bonaparte's position as the first president of the People's Republic of North America was one of the most challenging that any president has ever had, arguably the most challenging. He was nominated to the title by the First Consul's remaining members, the only president to ever receive the title in such a way due to later decision to remove that power from any War Consul, at the young age of 39. His reign consisted largely of establishing what being President meant and how one became President, allowing the rump Consul be involved in most of the effort of actually running the country. It was his decision to make the lower house elections based off of the votes of a portion of the population, while the upper house consisted of three representatives from each state, province or territory, and the president would be elected by a tabulation of all the votes in the nation with no division. He also extended to term of the president from the hypothetical four years to the more reasonable five years due to the difficulty of managing such a vast nation. Some saw this as an attempt to lengthen his hold on power, but the soon followed extension of all other terms to five years helped weaken this argument, though a few claimed it weakened democracy in the PRNA.
Apart from planning the nation's future he also had to deal with cleaning up the remnants of the pro-Robspierre elements found in many cities. For this he sent General Augereau with the bulk of his newly created Grand Continental Army, with the goal of pacifying cities and training militiamen. Bonaparte's old friend Moreau soon found himself head of the Upper Assembly, due to his incorruptible support of democracy, as President Bonaparte had fear the the power might get to his head as it had done to Robspierre he wanted Moreau there to keep him grounded. There is some belief that even at this time Bonaparte was trying to establish Moreau as his successor, though whatever his thoughts were they were interrupted by the news from New Orleans.
Having heard of the fight against Robspierre the Americans felt confident that they could inflict a defeat upon the PRNA, quite probably hoping to gain the Caribbean and possibly Florida. Despite the fact that many of the Southern Republics were busy attempting to conquer Granada and thus were unable to provide support. The Americans still gravely overestimated the ability of Robspierre to hold out against President Bonaparte as well as holding the belief that the Native Peoples of the PRNA would welcome them as liberators. Under this foolhardy misconceptions they sent an army of 22 000 to attempt to take New Orleans. Not only did the city militia manage to hold them out of the city long enough for militiamen from nearby ports to sail in to reinforce them, but the Libertists found the Native People's hostile due to the presidential promise of suffrage in the next election. They were still able to gain a strangle hold on the Mississipi and capture Baton Rouge, making them a major annoyance to the people of Lousiana. In response President Bonaparte ordered the creation of another professional army, due to Augereau's task being too important to abandon. Calling upon the people of the North-East to join his army he decided to sail his army down the Mississippi. Thus in a twist of irony it was Robspierre's ruthlessness that saved the PRNA from the LRA betrayal. Sailing down the Mississippi with 35 000 men, President Bonaparte was able to pull off a surprise attack as the LRA had no idea of the extent of the canal system in the PRNA and was thus expecting if any reinforcements would arrive they would arrive by sea. Finding themselves now all but trapped the American soldiers fled back the Téässe[2] where they met up with the local militia.
It is perhaps a good time to explain the confusing matter of the American military, after all it has been irrelevant to the citizens of the PRNA for almost twenty years now, and it was even more disorganised in the 1810s than it was when it was last on the minds of Yanks and Canadiens. American Republics were in charge of their own militias, though the federal government remained in charge of the professional army and the official foreign policy most of the armed forces was in the militias. The force the northern Republics had asked to be sent was recruited mostly from their lands as the Southern Republics had sent many of their sons to fight in South America against the remnant of the Kingdom of Spain. The total Army numbered only about 60 000 men, with 40 000 fighting in South America and 20 000 having been involved in the invasion of Louisiana. The militias meanwhile numbered close 120 000 before Bonaparte's army arrived. However the South was reluctant to send troops to the North.
Outnumbered by President Bonaparte's forces and the militiamen who had swelled his army to nearly 53 000, the Americans made an attempt to regroup at the Téässian capital of San Antonio. They were able to amass only 39 800 men to defend the city, and President Bonaparte was no fool and chose to avoid urban combat based off of the tales of Vienna. Instead he merely set up his large supply of canons and began to level the city. This forced the Americans to flee, however they decided to attempt to implement Polish Spreading tactics, breaking up into 8 armies of 5 000 in order to attempt to outflank the People's Army[3]. Not wanting to be surrounded Bonaparte similarly split his army into five smaller armies. With battles raging the length of Téässe the LRA's central government realised that it needed to do something before it lost the North Eastern Republic entirely, and opened up the entirety of the LRA to assault. They therefore made a hasty deal with the Iberian republic to concede the Plata to Iberia (not that it had any effect on the royalist Spaniards who lived there) and saw the creation of the Incan Republic in the remaining territory which the LRA realised was too distant for even their loose government to control. This freed up 32 000 men to march North and attempt to hold the People's Army before the Rio Grand. Now facing more than equal numbers Bonaparte felt it was time to call upon the technological breakthroughs of the era to win the war. Balloon sentries, manned by riflemen (often Native)[4], were deployed first as the PRNA had the ability to construct balloons. The other technological marvels were imported, rollers mainly purchased from the French, while rifles and a few Puckle guns[5] were purchased from Britain. While working on the rollers it was a Captain named Earnest Rick who first realised the use of placing a Puckle gun on a roller, though other than his elite roller force no one else would attempt this until the Romans in 1821, close to eleven years later, despite the numerous points where it would be useful in the second half of the Revolutionary Wars.
Pushing forward with the latest in technology, as well as President Bonaparte's military genius, the LRA attempted to counter by calling up more and more militiamen to die. However the thing which did stop Bonaparte was a successful raid by the LRA Navy against New Orleans. While Augereau was actually finished securing the East Coast, President Bonaparte had no knowledge of this when he called for the Peace of San Antonio. The border proposed by the PRNA was along the Guadalupe River, then due East until the Rio Grande at which point it would follow the Pacific-Gulf watershed border until Salmon River, which would finish the border. While the LRA agreed for the most part they demanded the Brazos river be the border not the Guadalupe. The negotiations were going no where when news reached them that the people of Drake Island and Pacifica had formed a militia and invaded Northern California. While this front was far from pressing, and in (unknowing) violation of the ceasefire, it nonetheless prompted the LRA to offer to compromise of the Colorado river. The PRNA slightly modified this border after a bit of further of further negotiating so that the border was less like the original LRA offer, however they still gained the majority of useful Téässe.
Returning home just in time for the elections, President Bonaparte felt that politics was not his place and supported Moreau for the presidency.
[1] Capital of Drake Island, renamed after independence from Phillipsville
[2] Texas frenchified
[3] Not yet called the People's Army officially, though the name was first used around this time
[4] A few have claimed this was due to uncertainty about the balloons and not wanting to risk Whites, though it is a hotly debated subject
[5] A primitive machine-gun
[6] Remember, these Kilometres aren't quite OTL
"The 27ers are acting even stranger than normal, quite odd folks really. Rather anti-social. I suppose it might just be them, but I'm not sure. Oh yes, we managed to secure papers to relocate to some small town, though I cannot say if it will be soon enough, with the war continuing to go how it's going the nukes are likely to start flying very soon."
.
East or West? Home is Best: Russian History 1750-1820
(Moscow 2003)
When Paul I ascended to the throne, following his father's death in 1804, he had two things on his mind: the Polish Republic and the Siberian War. The Polish Republic seemed a far grander threat, tying up over a hundred thousand men, while Japan was seen as having gone mad as no one had found out at that point that the Japanese had modernised. Thus when word was received from Siberia that the Japanese were winning Paul, along with everyone else, was utterly perplexed. Paul decided to send a few thousand more men, sure that a few more men would beat back the Japanese and free up the other men in the East to return in order to fight the Poles. These extra soldiers did do significant damage to the Japanese war effort, but being so far from Russia's heartland the armies were hard pressed to keep supplied with the essentials for war making, while the Japanese were able to maintain their supplies.By 1808 the fighting in the East ended with the Russian army having run out of ammunition and having lost about half their forces. The Japanese celebrating this victory took control of the Dutch ships which had fled to Japan, and began a grand journey to dramatically appear in Normandy slightly over a year later.
The more obvious problem of the Japanese victory was not losing to the Japanese, but the fact that the Russians found themselves unable to hold off the Poles (especially following the wave of uprisings which removed the Russians from Lithuania), and many accused Paul of wasting troops looking to the East when he needed to turn his sights West. The nobles who had avoided his father's purges and exiles were able to use this as propaganda against Paul which managed to get the peasants, who had by this time forgotten how much Peter III had improved their living conditions, on to the side of the Nobles. With the Poles and Magyars less than twenty miles from St. Petersburg itself Paul I was found dead. Officially it was ruled an accident, he had slipped and fallen down the stairs, though most were sure it was an assassination. However killing Paul did not solve the problems of Russia. The Poles and their allies demanded Russia become a republic, something the majority of the Russians would not support. The Republicans responded by besieging St. Petersburg and helping the Russian Republicans to take control. The Royalists were forced to take Moscow as their capital, a move which caused some shifts of allegiances, but resulted in little gain on either side. However the two factions were spread out across Russia widely enough that neither side could really claim to control anywhere beyond their capital, with most of the country being more like a massive riot, while the more mobile members of the nation decided to make their own way of pillaging. This chaos also saw the Crimean rise up against Russia's moves to make a puppet of it. It is likely that the crisis would have turned into a full fledged civil war if not for two events, first the Swedes decided that another republic would be very bad for them and their Prussian allies, and the arrival of the Japanese envoy in France. The Swedes were able to capture St. Petersburg with relative ease, while also forcing the Poles to abandon their Russian puppet due to assaults along the Baltic and reinforcing Prussia. The Japanese on the other hand simply refused to negotiate with the Republicans, sure that only an Emperor's word meant anything. In the end Csar Nicholas I was chosen by the nobles, while a Duma elected by the upper nobles to prevent anymore Pauls or Peters from harming the standing of the nobility too much.
With the internal struggle solved Russia was forced to listen to Japan's rather extreme terms. They demanded Alaska and everything east of the Yenisei. The Russians were taken aback by these dramatic demands to the Lena river down to the Alden then due South from the tip of the Alden to China. The Russians were willing to concede that these demands were more reasonable, but continued to attempt further negotiations, managing to claim ten miles on the eastern side of the rivers. Any further claims were shut down after the Germans and Danes decided to declare war on Prussia, Sweden and Russia. Conceding this significant territorial loss resulted in significant damage to the Russian morale and of resulted in her weak and indecisive state during the 19th century. The regressive and authoritarian views of the Duma and Tsar Nicholas also helped to hold back Russia.
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Returning the Rightful King: A Complete History of Jacobitism
(Glasgow 1907)
After their low point in the mid to late 18th century, only the success of gaining the Channel Islands to encourage them, the Jacobites saw Republican Britain as the perfect chance to strike. With the Hanoverian hiding in India suddenly it was a Stuart who was closest to London. With quite French backing, to counter the not so quiet British backing of her enemies, the Jacobites of Scotland and Ireland found the weak and haphazard Republican rule easy enough to country. Ireland proved the easier land to liberate as the loyalty of the Royal Navy to the Hanoverian meant that the Republicans needed what little ships they had to protect the Channel. Though the highlands were still buffered by the Communitarians in Glasgow and the Libertists in Edinburgh (often accused of only picking said ideologies to extend their rivalry). Of course Harling claimed that those regions were merely experiencing light revolt that would be put down any day, though this story didn't stop him from sending thousands of troops to "train" through pacifying the region. Faced with the most modern army in Europe the Jacobite cause would likely have been broken, if it hadn't been for the rise of the charismatic and talented Sir Isaac Tolkien, a man who many felt was as foolhardy as his name suggested[1], especially following his attempted Jacobite riot in London itself in 1802. As one would expect, said uprising did not go very well, but did shake up Harling's stories of the stability of the Republic quite well. Tolkien himself only just escaped with his life and fled to Ireland.
Arriving in Ireland he found the Jacobite movement sorely lacking any centralisation and set out to remedy this by placing himself in charge. In order to do so he engaged in one of his exceptional campaigns once again, this time leading an army on a surprise attack of Belfast, which was the centre of Hanoverian support in Britain. To everyone's surprise he succeeded in his insane plot and captured the city. Seeing his potential the leaders of Jacobite Ireland called him to fight a major Republican army, an invitation he gladly accepted[2]. The Battle of Waterford saw his force of 4 000 Irishmen successfully defeat the 5 000 Republican soldiers they faced, though it must be noted that his army lost more men, but kept fighting regardless much to the shock of the Republicans who were forced to break off after losing more men than they found acceptable. Still taking into account the superior weapons and training that could be afforded to the Republicans it was an impressive victory. Charles IV noticed this rising star and called him back to the the Channel Islands to award him a knighting for his services to the services he had rendered the Kingdom, this would of course be the first of many titles he would gain yet would always remain the one he was most proud of for feeling he truly struggled to earned it.
[1] If certain etymologists are to be believed
[2] Belfast returned to Hanoverian hands soon after Tolkien left
"Oh yes, here is the best map we could generate from local sources."
Political History of the People's Republic of North America
(Mexico 2003)
Politics in the PRNA has long been a slightly confused area. This stems largely from the fact that it was a multi-party state, yet also based off of a single ideology based off of unity. With the founding principles of Equality, Community and Good Government being held to the hearts of all politicians there was some reluctance to adopt multiple parties, as shown with the election of 1814. It was only in the election of the President that there was any semblance of party structure, with the proto-Populists backing Jean Victor Marie Moreau while the proto-Reformists backing Robert Owen. While Moreau had name recognition for his deeds in the Revolutions and the experience running the Upper Assembly, however Owen had the advantage of being an Anglophone which was a serious advantage when the Yankees were beginning to grow suspicious of the perceived Canadien control of the People's Republic. Still Owen's advocacy of many extreme reforms lead some to see him as too close to the eccentricities of Robespierre, while Moreau advocated democratic ideals first and reformation second. Certainly having the backing of President Bonaparte did not hurt Moreau's chances either. In the end Moreau one a narrow victory.
...................Votes.....% of Votes
Moreau .......731 920 .........56
Owen .........575 080..........44
Total ...... 1 307 000.........100
With the quite close election tensions had built between the early Reformists and Populists, prompting the effective formation of the parties, though it was not until the 1819 election that the parties themselves would form. This was because of the early method of the runner up becoming the Secretary President, thus keeping to two parties together.
The core of Reformist Ideology was the wish to implement the ideals of Hilfère as quickly as possible. There were two main reasons for this, the Radical subset seemed mostly interested in reform for the sake of reform, whilst the Purists feared that delay would lead to the twisting of Hilfère's ideals due to the original era being to distant. These two different sources of Reformist sentiment did not lead to any division as they maintained the same goal.
By contrast the Populists felt that democracy had to come first and that reform needed to be a gradual process mediated by the ideals of the people. While they held Hilfère to high respect they still felt that it was up to the people when it was time to accept his ideals. They also worried that Reformist passion would cause excessive panic from both foreign governments and potential immigrants.
The Reporter: a Biography of Robert Manx
(New York 1993)
Robert Manx was born in Manchester in 1774, the son of a struggling author, his mother having died giving birth to him. He received the best education his father could provide, but still found himself out in the world at a relatively young age. He did his best to assist his father and soon proved himself to be the better author. Just as his efforts were starting to get him out of poverty his father died, having destroyed his liver through years of drinking in 1797. Feeling somewhat lost in life he began to read the great political writings of the time and found Communitarianism, which he largely embraced. Still when the revolution came to Britain he chose to stay in the Republic of Britain rather than the Popular Republic of Scotland, which was locked in a power struggle with the Liberal Republic of Scotland. He soon found a job in the Ministry of Propaganda, for Harling could not think up his massive propaganda machine alone. In the Ministery Manx learned an important philosophy which served Harling and would serve Manx very well, this idea is summed up well in a quote from Harling : "If you hold the hearts of a nation then you hold the nation". He was praised by Harling himself for his writing abilities, however the Minister of Propaganda, Lord George Murray, grew apprehensive of this rising star out of fear for his position. He hired men to investigate Manx at they found Manx's copy of Hilfere's On the State of Man. With Harling preparing for an invasion of the Scottish Republics Murray was able to construe this as evidence that Manx was a supporter of the Popular Republic of Scotland. Fearing for his life Manx fled to the PRNA.
He arrived in the isolated city of Cabotsville, recently renamed from St. Johns. He founds a thriving town, but also lacking any English Newspaper after years of French Rule. He quickly set himself up to fill this needed role and soon his Cabotsville Times was being read across the Maritimes and Northern New England. With his growing influence he was paid a visit by Robert Owen during the 1814 election and was asked for his support. Manx however worried about sales and feared that holding a political position so soon would be a bad start. Owen was quite disappointed, though Manx pointed out that his readers were mostly Anglophones in Francophone regions and would thus likely vote for Owen to avoid further Canadien control. It did however cause Manx to realise that he could now afford a French paper as well. Naming it Le Phare (The Lighthouse), he wasn't able to see the same success as with the Cabotsville Times, but still made a decent profit. Fueled by this success he was able to purchase a few of the smaller Anglophone papers in the Provences[1] to add to the growing behemoth of his company. By 1819 he felt secure enough to begin displaying his pro-Reformist stance, though he ensured the support only appeared gradually so as to slowly convince his readers.
A History of the British Empire
(Bombai 1981)
The Mughal War was a fairly short affair when one considers the vastness of the distances involved in the war. It began in 1807 with the marriage of Prince Henry and Princess Gauri, which prompted the Mughals into believing the British had been supporting rebellion against them. The Burmese became the only allies of the Mughal, though the Indochinese Empire was able to defeat the Burmese by 1809, giving them a clear path to India. The British meanwhile pestered the Mughals with their mighty navy in the West while their largely Sepoy Army marched from the East. The French also provided support, though they engaged the Mughals in the middle of the subcontinent, having gained the trust of the Maratha that they were not planning to conquer them, but merely that they wished to defeat the Mughal oppressors, even managing to gain some Maratha troops. Finally the Persians assaulted across the mountains. Still with the French busy in Europe it was not until the start of the Phony Peace that the French could send troops in any real numbers, which forced them to accept a division of India more beneficial to the British. While many in France were bitter about what they felt was a hasty action by the RIC it should be noted that they did manage to secure an alliance with the Maratha. The Persian were also bitter at being blocked at the Indus by the European powers, and began to care about French policy elsewhere.
The British undoubtedly benefited the most, however they also did so with surprisingly few losses. This was due to the sending of troops up the Ganges in 1810 travelling by ship. This allowed them to land in Delhi and capture the city. They had in fact merely planned an assault on the city, but just being it released chaos across the Mughal domain, leading to no successful Mughal efforts to retake the city. The British also benefited from the fact that the French refused to allow the Germans access to Dutch ports, but were unable to secure the ports themselves without a declaration of war. They therefore backed the British in securing the Dutch colonies, with the British being extra interested in holding Indonesia so as to provide them with a clear route from India to Australia. They also gained the old Dutch base of Deshima from the Japanese, though this was considered an embassy by the Japanese and not a colony. The Japanese were very interested in gaining British military consultants, they had one their war with Russia but the lack of experience fighting other gunpowder armies had cost them much more than they had cared to admit. The British meanwhile were fascinated by the Japanese multi-barrel rifles which the Japanese had a large supply of.
Now with the heart of India under their control the British began preparing armies to retake the Isles[2], modernising Indian shipbuilding techniques and building infrastructure in Australia. They also engaged in a brief battle with the Dominion of Africa, however they merely managed to secure the Prince Edward Islands. They had hoped that the islands would prove useful for their ships, though difficult weather made the attempts rather unsuccessful.
[1]The Provences= Francophone subdivisions
The States= Anglophone subdivisions
[2] British Isles, 'The Isles' is a commonly used term in India and Australia for reasons which will become clear later
"The war did go nuclear, luckily the nation we are in has surprisingly good missile defenses. There may still be some slight difficulty in near future transmissions from background radiation, but we doubt it should be anything too serious. We also included a map of Europe from right before the start of what Agent Evans is calling the Roman War for some reason. I really think she has too much time on her hands."
Never March to Moscow
(Moscow 2011)
The Phony Peace had been going well enough for the Republics. Iberia had centralised under El Líder Antonio Hervez, fortifying the Pyrenees and sending 50 000 men to assist her allies. Britain had successfully conquered the Scottish Republics, though found the Jacobites in near total control of Ireland and unshakable from their Highland territories, though still managed to send the products of her industry to Germany. The Danes and Germany had pushed Prussia almost to death's door, nearly making poor Prussia an army without a country, especially following the loss of most of Silesia to Hungarian armies. The Swedes were able to hold their ground, or more technically their sea. They had maintained a significant naval advantage in the Baltic, allowing them to ever be on the offensive, however this mobility tied up enemy troops, but did not allow them any serious gains. This left only one member of the Three Northern Courts[1] with a powerful position being Russia[2], despite having only just re-stabilised from the edge of civil war a mere year earlier. The Poles, Lithuanians and Hungarians realised that the Motherland was not yet stable, and that if they could capture the fresh capital of Moscow the nation could implode once more. Abandoning the flanking techniques which had served them so well for the first half of the revolutions they drove straight for Moscow. This was a very bad decision.
The French hadn't been sitting on their hands during the Phony Peace, using the Royal India Company as a loophole in the Treaty of Versailles limitations on their army. They had used the ongoing war with the Mughals, which was never officially ended from a French standpoint due to the collapse of the Mughals as an entity. With an army that soon numbered 350 000, along with 50 000 Dutch soldiers and a further 48 000 soldiers from various other nations France had been waiting for a chance to attack. The attempt to capture Moscow turned out to be what they needed. The primarily Hungarian army had number 240 000 when it had set off, but after travelling across the vast Motherland it had lost nearly 100 000 men[3] and when they finally reached Moscow the winter was setting in. The Russian government swore that they would make Vienna look like a holiday if the Republicans tried to take the city. With the Hungarian general Décsi Csaba having fought at Vienna he felt a siege was the better option and set up his army around the city. This move proved a disaster as Moscow had both had due time to prepare for the siege during the time it took the Republicans to reach the city and had also stocked up for the winter in any case. The Republicans on the other hand found themselves facing a harsh winter in hastily constructed shelters and short on food. They began raiding nearby farms which only helped to cause the wavering Russian people to accept the government in Moscow and take up arms. Surrounded by hostile country and short on food Décsi decided it was due time to retreat, however this ended disastrously and by the time the French declared war his army was down to a mere 43 000.
The Old Alliance
(Istanbul 1961)
Established in 1536 the Otto-French Alliance is the oldest alliance in the world[4]. . .
The Alliance had several ups and downs, however under Louis XIV the Alliance began to recover, though it stagnated somewhat under Louis XV. When Louis XVI took power the Alliance saw a major renaissance, culminating in the Ottoman participation in the Second World War. However it would not be Louis XVII began his grand invasion of the Republics that the alliance would be truly called upon. There had been some working together during the Phony Peace following the discovery of coal in Greece helped to remove French dependence upon the PRNA and also led to the industrialising of the Empire in Europe (as well as a bit of Western Anatolia), but this had still been relatively minor, apart from the French occupation of Malta to secure the trade route. However following the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 the Hungarian army was devastated and it was a perfect chance for the Ottomans to strike.
Thus at the start of feasible campaign season the Ottoman army of 240 000 marched across the Danube North of Belgrade with minimal resistance. The Germans decided to send reinforcements to assist the off guard Hungarians, not realising that the French clean up of Belgium had in fact been cleaning the way to the Netherlands. The French army smashed into Germany in two massive drives, one pushing to Frankfurt (renamed Deutchfurt at the time in a move of Francophobia) and another to liberate the Netherlands. The Germans responded with their usually spread out fighting style, believing the Poles and Danes strong enough to finish off the largely destroyed Prussia and Saxony. Grobstraum was however quite shocked at the Dutch uprisings against his forces when the French crossed the border. In a desperate effort to catch the French off guard his advisor, General Erwachen, devised a plan to invade the poorly organised Swiss Confederacy to outflank the French and strike their rear. Grobstraum approved of the move, apparently forgetting that more than Germans lived in Switzerland.
With the Ottomans forming and awkward alliance with the remnant of Austria that still existed in Dalmatia the Romans were mobilised preparing to invade the Hapsburgs in North East Italy whom they had previously ignored, with Louis Bonaparte having been attempting to bring peace to his little Roman Empire and planning an invasion of Communitarian held Sardinia. The Ottomans for their part had been preparing to invade Italy, but the French were trying to talk them out of it convinced taking the Peninsula would be too costly[5]. Luckily the German invasion of Switzerland provide the French with the ability to bring the Romans onto their side, by stirring up the Pan-Italian nationalism to defend the Swiss Italians. The Romans realised that the Otto-French alliance was winning and that they would be better off if they supported the French and so decided to use this rather weak Causus Belli to declare war upon their former German allies. The Spanish however decided that if they waited they would be doomed and attempted to invade France. This may have done in the French if not for the Moroccan entry into the war freeing up enough troops from Germany (Iberia was clearly not an option for Muslim soldiers) to hold the Spanish in the South while more soldiers were recruited.
[1] The name wasn't used until 1821
[2] Russia is a nation for which it is hard to find unbiased literature one, this text is a little too generous too them, Sweden was in fact the strongest of the three, it merely was relying more on navy than army.
[3] Mostly to having to station men to protect the supply routes
[4] The British-Portuguese fell apart during the Revolutions and due to the complications which arose afterwards.
[5] The fact that the nation was (at least in theory) ruled by a Bourbon monarch probably also influenced things.
"Well that should do-"
*gunfire is heard*
"What in the name of Mitney was that?"
"The 27ers! They've gone nuts!" Agent Zilevec replies.
"What? Why on Earth would they start shooting?" Agent Centauri asks.
"'Cause you gorbies are a bunch of idiots, eh!" a 27er replies.
- - - End of Tape One - - -
- - - Start of Tape 2 - - -
Agent Centauri:"What on Earth are you on about?"
1st 27er: "You gorbies are so out of the loop, eh! They didn't even tell you there was a war goin' on, eh! We're goin' to liberate touts les places you so called "1ers" oppress, eh!"
Agent Centauri: "Oppress? What? We aren't oppressing anyone!"
1st 27er: "What difference does that make. eh? We're goin' to win either way! We've never lost before, eh!"
*gunshot*
Sgt. Riyako (over radio): "We've secured the entrance, however I have to admit these guys are certainly capable."
*gunshot*
Sgt Riyako (over radio): "I suggest you and the other civilians lock yourselves in the ISOT chamber. You should be safe in there."
Agent Maturo: "Sir, perhaps we should evacuate? Take out the ISOTer in the process?"
Agent Centauri: "We don't know where's safe though. We don't want to become stranded or be taken prisoner."
Agent Hastings: "We also don't want to give the locals ISOT tech! Seriously, you know what they would probably do with it. We can't risk that."
*gunfire*
2nd 27er: "Those gorbies trying to plan quelque chose, eh?"
Agent Centauri (shouting): "SURRENDER NOW OR WE BLOW THE ISOTER!"
1st 27er: "You wouldn't dare! It's clear you folks dislike the locals, eh! You wouldn't strand yourselves here!"
Agent Centauri: "Want to test me? We have nothing to lose considering it seems you 27ers might be anywhere we go. You guys meanwhile have everything to lose, ruining your chances to do whatever it is you're trying to accomplish."
2nd 27er: "Why don't we just shoot you then eh?"
Agent Centauri: "Because then Seargent Riyako will be given authorisation to detonate it, and he will be a lot less willing to negotiate."
Sgt. Riyako: "You've ****ing got that right! I see no reason to negotiate with these psychos!"
Agent Centauri: "See?"
*quiet muttering is heard between the 27ers for about a minute*
*gun fire in direction of recorder*
Agent Hastings: *rasping gasp*
Agent Evans: "Hastings! They-they shot him!"
Agent Centauri: "That's it! No more negotiation!"
*closer gunfire moving away from recorder*
*shooting continues for several more minutes with three distinct groups, Agent Centauri, the 27ers and Sgt. Riyako's men. This third group slowly gets louder until the second group eventually stops*
*two short burst of bullets are heard*
Sgt. Riyako: "Well they're dead now."
Agent Centauri: "Still, someone probably heard that. I don't think we can stay here much longer."
Agent Zilevec: "What about Hastings?"
Sgt. Riyako: "Unfortunately we can't do anything for him. The same is true of Corporal Lizvent. We can't take them with us. Gran the ISOTer and go to the truck."
*shuffling is heard.*
*click*
*click*
*sounds indicate the recorder is in a vehicle*
Agent Centauri: "This is agent Centauri. As you have heard the 27ers attempted to take over. Of course who you are listening to this you probably know that already. We have been forced onto the run. Luckily this nation is far too large for even it's authoritarian government to be everywhere. We have been driving three days, and we know that we are wanted, it has been on the television and the internet. Treason is the official charge, as well as unlawful possesion of firearms, murder and disturbing the peace. We are also suspected of forging official documents, but there has been no charge yet. Luckily these woods are so untraveled we should be safe. We have decided to stop broadcasting with the ISOTer as a safety concern, however we will record updates in the same style as before."
*click*
"As promised here is an update, though it is quite short."
The Battle of Frankfurt
(Zurich 1925)
Despite Grobstraum's excellent military abilities his army simply could not hold off the seemingly endless supply of Frenchmen crossing into Germany. As such it took them a mere six months to reach Frankfurt, however trying to take the city would be much more difficult. Many of the German soldiers defending Frankfurt were veterans of the First Battle of Vienna and as such were more experienced than their French opponents at urban warfare. The French therefore decided to lay siege to the city, knowing that unlike the Hungarians at Moscow they weren't going to suffer from winter or starvation themselves. Unfortunately the commanders in Paris felt that this was too slow a process and demand Frankfurt be taken by the year's end, likely fearing that Russia might collapse back in on itself due to the fact the Hungarians had done enough damage to that nation’s farms that there was the beginning of famines that would likely only worsen during the winter. The wisdom of this move has been questioned by many including RIC General Jean Lannes who was commanding the French army at Frankfurt. However General Lannes conceded after the Army Generals threatened to place one of their own in charge, having not trusted the RIC men despite their promotions based off of merit not birth. Further detail on the feuds between the National Assembly (along with the Army) and the Royal India Company are beyond the scope of this text.
Lannes decided to shell the city, being one of the few artillery generals outside of the PRNA, and in the process destroy much of the city before any of his troops even entered. The barrage was very organised, turning many small streets into wide boulevards by destroying the buildings which lined them. While it took nearly two more months Lannes lost a mere 2 000 of his 50 000 men, while the German army of 38 000 was crushed. The generals in Paris however were frightened by the sheer destruction which Lannes had inflicted and feared that having him pacify further cities would cause too much rage amongst the inhabitants. This was however an illusion as what he destroyed was levelled but he only destroyed key parts of the city, unlike in Vienna where everything was burned and broken.
The End of the Republics
(Hanover 1909)
Unlike the other republics of the Age of Revolution (apart from the Italians), the Hungarians realised that the tide had changed by 1814 and attempted to change sides. However they had the more difficult situation of having abandoned the monarchy to deal with, but they found a way around that. Prince Ferdinand[1] had been their prisoner for some time, though he had been treated fairly well due to his having been a critic of his father's treatment of Austrians for some time; some believe his status as prisoner had been merely to satisfy the Germans who had wished to kill any monarchs they could in their bloody fury. As such they managed to pass the motion to make him King Ferdinand V of Hungary, though the move was still reasonably unpopular with the more ardent republicans even they felt that it would be better than Ottoman rule.
This move satisfied the French, Italians, Russians and Swedes it did make the Austrian forces under Prince Leopold[2] feel betrayed, due largely to the fact that Ferdinand had promised not to claim the throne of Austria to satisfy the Hungarians, which of course divided the Hapsburg lands. The Ottomans were also somewhat disappointed, but this is due to their having hoped to take more land than they managed to. Still with the Hungarians having switched sides the days of republicanism were clearly numbered. The Poles began to collapse while the Germans had retreated to their mountainous South just before they heard of the Hungarian's switch. Once more Vienna found itself at the heart of a dying empire, with the new Kingdom of Hungary's army follow the same route they had for the last battle. With a combined army of 30 000 Hungarians, 10 000 Austrians, 25 000 Ottomans and 8 000 Italians attacked from the South against Gorbstraum's 45 000 tired men. The final great battle of the German Republic took place on the fields just outside the city on October 27th 1816. The force of numbers proved too much for even Grobstraum and he attempted to retreat into the city, only to find the citizens to have taken up arms against his army, fearing that their great city would be destroyed once more. Trapped between the desperate citizens and the far larger army Grobstraum ordered his men burn the city and when one of his generals demanded they surrender and hope for mercy he shot the man. The other generals were horrified, and General Meckel shot Grobstraum himself while the megalomaniac was reloading. Meckel then lead the surrender of the German Army, though thousands of soldiers would fight on in the North for several more months not believing what they felt was French propaganda.
The Bohemians saw themselves defeated at this point, but still refused to give in, knowing that support for them in Hungary was still strong and the both Russia and France still had a long distance to cover before reaching them. What they forgot was that Prussia was always an army first and a nation later, so even with most of its territory occupied King Frederick William III was no fool and knew that defeating Bohemia would leave him with one less front, as the Poles and Germans were on the defensive Denmark remained the only other threat at this point, and was easier for the Swedes to defeat than the Prussians. He therefore lead his army of 42 000 into Bohemia, where the local army of a mere 35 000 was swiftly defeated. The Danes were soon all but alone on the continent, with the Iberian Republic being in no position to help them. They attempted to gain a peace, but the Swedes and Prussians were out for blood.
The Iberian Republic made two great blunders during their final days. Firstly when the Italians betrayed the revolutionaries the Iberians declared Catholicism obsolete, enraging much of the population as well as the still strong remnants of the Inquisition. After that they then tried to draw French troops away from Germany, not realising how massive the French army had truly become. With the population enraged, resulting in thousands of militia fighters, and a French army of 80 000 pouring across the Pyrenees the question merely became how quickly they could collapse. What surprised the world was how long they managed to last. With merely 50 000 troops forced to both fight France and Royalists they held on, at least in the fact that most of the army still existed, until 1818 mostly by avoiding any real battles whenever they could. This was no end of annoyance to the French who wanted concrete victories for moral. However once the Second Battle of Vienna was finished they French could soon send a further 40 000 men to the Peninsula, while soldiers also arrived from Brazil to consolidate Portugal. Still, there was one threat left that the French had to overcome before they could claim victory, the industrial power of the Republic of Britain.
The Rise of Modern Warfare
(2008 New York)
The Revolutionary Wars were a period where France showed her technological advantages over the continent. Her rollers devastated the German and Iberian armies, while her industry churned out the huge amounts of weaponry needed to arm her massive armies. Still it was Britain that would show the world the true nightmares that modern war would bring. One of those great weapons was the comedic sounding Puckle Gun, an invention from the early 18th century that had been beyond the abilities of its era. The French had encountered a few in German hands, purchased from Britain, but those had been few enough that how to deal with them was not learned. While most of the so called "War Winning Wonder Weapons" produced by the British scientists were likely wastes of money, such as their hot air balloons and turtles, the numbers of Puckle guns and Rollers which Britain produced was enough to significantly level the playing field with the French.
Having left the remnants of Germany in her allies hands the French prepared a massive force to attack across the Channel. 250 000 men were sent to the cost, as well as 14 000 Dutch soldiers who could be spared to thank the French for liberating their homeland. On March 3rd 1817 the full might of the French Navy clashed with the British Navy[3], and with the support of RIC ships secured the Channel. With the water theirs the French army soon poured onto Great Britain in the thousands. The British army was mostly in Scotland fighting Tolkein and his Jacobites at the time leaving only 20 000 men between the French and London. The horribly outnumbered British soldiers fought desperately, but numbers told and within five days the French were on the gates of the city. Harling decided to sacrifice the southern half of the city, believing the Thames was a better defense than the city's. He therefore ordered the razing of all the bridges, but not before the food in the South was poisoned. When the French arrived in the city and found themselves blocked by the river they decided to take up position on the South side of the river and celebrated over the plentiful food a large portion of their army was rendered ill. Meanwhile the Thames lacked any decent bridges for kilometres[4] and the British defenders were able to reach them first. Trying to find a crossing point, while not wanting to risk British raids being sent across, the French army was soon spread out across most of southern England. Luckily the Murray grid which the British had built in their paranoia proved more useful to the French in controlling Southern England than it had been for the overwhelmed British, allowing them to put down any militia activity with significant armies. At least 40 000 militiamen were defeated due to their inability to organise before a French response reached them.
This relative stalemate lasted for nearly a month, but then the Swedes declared war on Britain as well. With an army of 18 000 landing on the coast near Hull, Harling had to draw men from the South to try to stop the Swedes. The French found out and managed to pour their men across the weak point just West of London. Fearing that he would become trapped Harling fled the city with the 26 000 men he'd had guarding it and headed for the North West. His army was confronted by a French force of 40 000 just south of Aylesbury, but his forces managed to set up a defensive position, and with 50 Puckle guns inflicted severe casualties upon the French force, forcing it to break off and wait for rollers to arrive, due to the open field providing no shielding for the French armies. This delay allowed Harling and his men to successfully pull back to continue the war.
[1] First son of Joseph II, otl he only had daughters
[2] Joseph II brother, same as OTL
[3] The horribly unoriginal name the republicans gave it.
[4] Remember, not the same as OTL in length due to the measurements being done elsewhere
The End of an Age
(London 1899)
With French armies advancing up England and the Jacobites dominating Scotland there was little the Republicans could do but delay the inevitable. This of course they were very successful at. Feuled by Britain's near limitless coal reserves the factories of the North and the Midlands churned out dozens of Harling's so called "War Winning Wonder Weapons", from rollers (with the first hints of future of size classed rollers) to balloons and turtles. The balloons proved mildly useful, mostly for striking deep into French controlled lands and damaging supply depots. The turtles were a significant pest for the French, but they could build new boats faster than the few turtles could sink them, especially after commandeering Dutch docks and impressing men from across both Europe and the Americas, due to France's man power being needed in the Army. The rollers and puckle guns likely made the greatest difference in the end, being significant numbers equalisers. Puckle guns slaughtered to old column formation[1] and did significant damage to the idea of formation tactics in general. However, the Roller Column formation saved the day, with the tactic of sending rollers in front with a line of troops following them[2] until the danger of the puckle guns was taken down, at which point the rollers would stop and allow the infantry to begin fighting a normal battle. However this put serious strain on French coal production and caused them to shift their attention from the plains of England to the mountains of Wales where coal was (and is) abundant. While the going was quite tough in the rough terrain the Welsh people were far more welcoming than the English due to Harling's discrimination against all non-English citizens of the Republic. The hilly terrain, and proximity to Ireland, meant that Jacobite reinforcements were highly useful in Wales and lowered pressure on France herself.
With most of Southern Enlgand and Wales in French hands the Stuarts were safe to return to their rightful place in London. It was with much fanfare that King Charles IV and Queen Mary entered the city to crowned officially in Westminster Abbey. While it sent the French RSS[3] into a security panic, fearing the possibility of Republican assassins. Luckily everything went smoothly and the Jacobins were elated and the Republicans felt devastated. Most of the Republican army realised that they were doomed, but Harling refused to admit defeat, though even his right hand many Finley was trying to convince him the negotiate. Instead he demanded scorched earth tactics, ranting that "A royal family is like a disease, and the only compassionate thing to do for a country with one is to put it down," a piece of madness that his propaganda workers had to spin into something convincing. Still, the near eternal enmity which had existed before that point between Brit and Frenchman seemed to have been enough to convince many a republican soldier he would rather see his homeland burned then under French control. Still, fanaticism could only keep an army going for so long and by October 1818 the Second Republic of Great Britain was at long last reduced to Manchester, Liverpool and some of the countryside in between. Harling himself was in Manchester in that last week when he tried to muster together the 13 000 tired men he had with him defending the city to make a break for Liverpool and attempt to flee to the New World. The Jacobins managed to get wind of this escape effort and attacked his weary army with a force of 18 000, catching them somewhat off guard. The Jacobites soon realised that they could not defeat the smaller force due to its better equipment and successful taking of a defensive position, and therefore merely tried to pin it down until a French army could arrive. Meanwhile Finley's army of 34 000 in Liverpool made no effort to relieve Harling and Finley instead sent word to the French that he was willing to negotiate surrender. The French accepted this surrender and sent 40 000 men into the city, while helping the Jacobites by sending 12 000 men to capture Harling. While Finley and the other leaders of the Republic surrendered, Harling somehow escaped the battle.
Harling's escape started one of the greatest manhunts in history as every nation in Europe feared what he would do if he made it to their nation, or if he made it to the Republics of the New World. It was soon discovered that he had made his way to Southern England, but what no one suspected was just what he was going to do. Managing to find a few Republicans who had avoid RSS sweeps he organised that on the 5th of November they would light fire to several buildings. What they probably did not expect was that the fire would spread out of control and burn much of London. In the ensuing panic Harling once more escaped, keeping all Europe in terror. He would not be discovered once more for many years, having met the rather anti-climatic end of being killed by a Spanish bandit in Galicia (oddly enough, it was Polish Galicia and not Spanish Galicia).
The Stockholm Conference
(Kyoto 1945)
Following nearly twenty years of war Europe was bankrupted and exhausted. Sweden was perhaps the only significant power not to be all but collapsed and therefore was delighted to display its newfound (and short lived) return to the position of Great Power by hosting the peace conference that would redraw Europe. Due to the fear everyone had on France this was a very popular location. The major problem that existed for the conference was that the Great Powers of Europe had changed significantly during the war. While before the war Britain and Austria were unquestionably Great Powers both those nations had been practically destroyed during the war. Prussia meanwhile was utterly bankrupt and devastated by the war, yet had fought enough that no one could claim they had little say. Russia was clearly a major power, yet she also seemed ready to explode at any moment. No one (apart from the French) trusted the Ottomans in anyway, despite their having more or less rescued the Balkans. The only other remaining powers, Italy and Hungary, were seen as pragmatic republics that should have no place in the new Europe.
Another crisis facing Europe was the distinct lack of royal families still alive. The Bourbons were about the only family still alive, and with France already controlling most of Europe the other powers were, rightly, worried that Bourbon kingdoms across all Europe would lead to unending French hegemony. One of the responses to this was to have many states placed in personal union with the other nations of Europe, such as Denmark being handed to the Pomeranians. The French wish to injure the Hapsburgs was also a significant force, leading to the creation of the Kingdom of Triest and the Prussians gaining control of the Kingdom of Bohemia.
[1] Column formations were made famous in OTL by the French Revolution, but they were not invented then. With somewhat different military tactics in D-398 the columns were somewhat more widely used, but also did not burst into prominence during the Age of Revolutions.
[2] Used quite a lot in WWII by the Russians
[3] Royal Security Service, see #7