Empire of Freedom: The History of the American Empire

[Kaiser of Brazil]

XXXVII: PAX NAPOLEONICA

The Emperor of Europe, Napoleon Ier Bonaparte​

After the end of the English campaign, Europe finally would settle down in peace. Many expected that Britain would keep financing coalitions to overthrow the Emperor of the French eternally, but the scorched land campaign in England would assure that the Commonwealth of Britannia would stay outside of European affairs for a generation. In the continent, even after the failure across the straits, the campaign achieved its objective by crippling Great Britain, plus creating an new member of the Continental system in the Emerald Island. After a few more years of fighting guerrilla remnants in Hispania (which were brutally dealt with by King-Marshal Bellegarde), there was no more noise of rifles and cannons, and after around 3 million dead, France established itself as the hegemon of Europe. On the first of January of 1820, Napoleon would declare “Peace to the World” inaugurating a period of relative peace in the continent called “Pax Napoleonica” (Napoleonic Peace).

Europe after the English campaign​

With the end of the military conquests, Napoleon was forced to settle down from his passion of soaking the land with the blood of his enemies to the much more brutal affair of governing. Napoleon was not strange to that and was an able administrator, as shown by his 1804 Civic Code (which would be implemented from Warsaw to Lisbon), but the problems of the late 1810s would be a headache. After almost 30 years of endless conflict, the economy of the European nations was forced to demobilize, with armies shrinking in size across the continent, millions of unemployed veterans of the Grand Army flooded the streets of Paris, many turning into either beggars or criminals, something had to be done. The 1820 crisis caused by the reorganization of worldwide markets would spread around the world, contributing to the decline of the Spanish Empire and the loss of the Federalist Party to Jackson years later. The remedy for this crisis was found in industry, with the Emperor incentivizing the first industrial revolution of France as the resources of the satellites and the protectionist tariffs of the System incentivized a boom of factories in France. Millions would leave the fields in the following years and move to cities, with the population booming and the factories changing the social and political landscape of Europe and later on the world.

Across the Channel, Britannia was the opposite of France, it was a destroyed nation, with half of its richest provinces put to the torch. The critical financial situation would temporarily paralyze colonial efforts in Africa, Oceania and India for over a decade, with all resources focused on the reconstruction. But the end of the war also called in question the legitimacy of the government: Lord-Protector Arthur Wellesley drew his legitimacy as the leader of Britain just because the emergency of the situation in 1817, and while he was called by most as “The Savior of Britannia”, a strong opposition led by monarchists would rise against him, arguing that the end of the emergency meant that the monarchy should be restored. The Monarchists rallied around Prince Frederick (George IV was generally considered too incompetent to ever step on the British Isles again) and initially attempted to press Wellesley for the restoration, drawing the example of Charles II and the Cromwells, a coup was attempted in 1821 by Monarchist troops, resulting in a week of bloodshed in London before the coupists surrendered to loyalist forces. Wellesley used no clemency, the war had made him harder and colder man willingly to do anything to save his country during its darkest era ever since the Viking invasions and the Spanish Armada, the coup leaders were executed with their heads put on pikes on the Tower of London. Still, that caused a wave of unrest and conflicts, with the country dangerously close to civil war, Wellesley knew what had to be done, and on a succession of 5 days, both Prince Frederick and Prince William would show up dead, killed with poison. The result was the split of the monarchist movement in 1824, between the legitimate heir, the 5-year old Princess Victoria, and the Hanoverian Ernest Augustus, considerably weakening the movement and assuring the undisputed rule of the “Savior of Britannia”.

On the East, the Ottomans would have to deal with a rising insurgency in Greece, formed by secret societies inspired by the French Revolution, revolts started breaking in the Peloponnesus and Attica in 1821 (After Ottoman Troops were sent to supress a rebellion of a Governor in Albania). But things started going badly to the rebels: The rebellion hoped to draw the support from the Orthodox Church and the Russian Tsar, appealing to the shared Orthodox dream of freeing Constantinople, but they badly miscalculated the support they had. With the appeal made by Sultan Selim III, the Orthodox Patriarch in Konstantinnye would denounce the rebels and excommunicated them from the Church, continuing a policy of mutual cooperation by the Orthodox patriarchs with the Ottoman Sultans. And the Russian Empire, still recovery from the loss of many of its western territories and led by a traumatized Alexander I, refused to risk another war with Napoleon by attacking a member of the Continental system. After a few months, the Ottoman troops were able to suppress the revolt, keeping the Balkans under control once more... for now.

During the 1820s, nations like Austria and Prussia would continue to be unwillingly allies of Napoleon, with both King Ludwig of Prussia and Archduke Franz II of Áustria not wanting to risk the destruction of their respective nations. But they didn’t stay idle, keeping an alliance of mutual protection in secret, and while they couldn’t expand their armed forces without drawing suspicion, they focused instead on the troop quality. Prussia founded the first military General Staff (that would be later adopted by Napoleon himself in his later years to keep his marshals ready for a possible 6th coalition and distract them from conflicts with one another) and expanded the military quality of its army to become the best troops of the Continental system (outside of France itself). And while Austria also reformed its army under General Radetsky, it also focused on the economic aspects of the country, incentivizing the growth of industry in Bohemia by using its massive coal deposits.

General Carl von Clausewitz, one of the greatest military minds of Prussia​

Still inside Germany, the balance of power of the region was shifting, in 1806, Napoleon founded the Confederation of the Rhine, an attempt to unite the german states in a single entity similar to the Holy Roman Empire that was dissolved that same year. After the end of the war, the Confederation greatly expanded, with nations like Westphalia and Bavaria entering as member states, while Prussia and Austria were considered “observers”, and with time it started to become more centralized. “The German States,” Napoleon once said, ”Must be strong enough as an ally, but not enough to be a rival”. That would define the relations between France and the confederacy, with the confederation not being a single entity like other nations, while Industrialization would assure that the Confederacy would become one of the strongest French allies and an important buffer to the questionably loyal Austrians and Prussians.

Hispania, the realm of Bellegarde, would be the black sheep of Europe, being the most unstable part of the Empire, especially after the annexation of Portugal being declared by Bellegarde with Napoleon’s blessing. The nation had a large part of the population, much larger than in any of the other satellites, opposed to the current rulers, but most of them were wise to keep quiet about it. Between 1813 and 1825, low-level guerrilla warfare would still cause problems to their French overlords, with each attack followed by a much more brutal retaliation by Bellegarde’s mixed army of loyalists and Frenchmen. Hispania would only be considered “pacified” by the end of the decade, ruled by fear but also with its positives: The French domination broke the Catholic domination of the peninsula’s lands, allowing land reform to be enacted and thousands of hectares of unused land being transformed in farmlands, with the city of Lisbon being rebuilt to be one of the main ports of Europe to the Atlantic. As the martial law was lifted in 1826, Spanish citizens had more of a voice than they ever had during the Bourbon rule, with the French Civil Code being applied to the civilian population, the rule of Bellegarde would be described as a “Iron fist in a velvet glove”. Even if it remained authoritarian and repressive even for Continental standards, Hispania would finally start to grow again after over a decade of conflicts, but they would never forget “El Terror Franco”.

As for the more personal affairs, Napoleon would start getting older and affected by health problems by the late 1820s, and all of his attention was diverted to his only male son (he still had other 2 daughters with the Empress) in order to raise him as a capable heir of such a massive empire. Napoleon II wasn’t as military capable as his father (very few men in history could claim such title), but he showed himself to be an excellent administrator and a capable diplomat. Still, Napoleon was worried that his son might not prevail in another war of coalition, and that would guide his decisions in the later of his reign to ensure that France would be strong enough to outlive him.

Napoleon II at the age of 14​

By the end of Napoleon’s reign, a major swift would happen in Europe, the death of Tsar Alexander I in 1830 would give the throne to the new Tsar Nicholas I, but Nicholas was an opposite of his brother, he was an autocrat and nationalist at heart, considered the embodiment of the Russian values. His rise to the throne would see the exit of Russia from the Continental Alliance, with him entering a firm anti-Napoleonic stance and starting several military reforms, modernizing his armed forces, implementing conscription and massively expanding his forces. His first test would be the Russo-Persian war, which saw the transfer of Azerbaijan to Russia in a quick victory, and showing to the world that Russia would no longer cower to the French Golden Eagle. On the opposite side of the continent, Britannia watched it with interest, with its navy finally rebuilt from the Channel disaster of 1816 and modernized with “Iron Frigates” ready to protect the island, and an army of professional veterans, drilled into perfection, awaiting to be transported. It seemed that hope was finally coming to the anti-French coalition as a the new decade arrived, and that caused concern to Napoleon once more, with the French army also being expanded and new orders given to the Continental alliance to prepare their military forces. Europe seemed to be on the brink of war, but the recently formed 6th coalition of Russia and Britannia seemed to be hesitant to attack, simply because one man was still breathing.

And as Napoleon I breathed his last on the Bastille day of 1835, Pax Napoleonica died with him, and soon the continent would be thrown into the greatest war it had ever seen yet: The War of the 6th Coalition, but normally called by Historians as “The Great European War”.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

XXXVIII: THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR I

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The death of Napoleon would be only the first of millions as Europe engulfed into it’s greatest war yet, as soon as the news spread, the Britons and Russians were standing ready at the borders and that was their signal. The war started on the 15th of July, with the Britannic Navy launching a surprise attack against the French fleet in the port of Brest at night, including small ships equipes with heavy mortars and rockets raining fire and death to the city during the night and crippling the French fleet in the Channel. In a single action, the connection between Ireland and the Continental Alliance was severed, isolating the island from French help and preventing them from invading Great Britain again. On the next day, Russian forces crossed the border of Poland-Lithuania and attacked Ottoman Crimea, declarations of war would be exchanged and the continent engulfed into war once again.

The French declared a general mobilization across its satellites, war propaganda would be used in large scale, calling to a sense of Pan-European unity for the protection against the “Treacherous Albion” and the “Russian Horde”. The combined armies of the alliance would number around 3 million men by the end of the year, outnumbering the coalition, but not all those could be used: Bellegarde feared that sending his army would reignite a new wave of rebellions, forcing him to contribute with only half of his forces, while Prussia and Austria kept most of their troops stationed in their home countries.

The main frontline of the early phase of the war would extend from the Baltic to the Black Sea, with over 1.5 million Russians crossing into Poland, capturing Kiev in 2 weeks, with Minsk falling on the following month. By September, the Russian army would reach Riga and Vilnius, with the Polish-Lithuanian forces being completely overwhelmed and in full retreat, until the Alliance forces finally arrived to halt the Russian advance in the Battle of Pinsk, the inaugurating battles in a scale not seen in years: 230,000 Russians fought 210,000 Coalition forces, in a battle across the marshes extending for kilometers and trenches being dug in. The Battle of Pinsk lasted for 4 days with the Russian attack led by Prince Alexander Menshikov failed to break the lines held by the elder Marshal Davout, breaking the Russian momentum and bringing the eastern front into a stalemate. A Polish counter-attack with Hungarian support managed to retake Vilnius by October, with both sides settling down for the winter.

Crimea would also be part of a major front against the Ottomans in the Caucasus and Moldova, with Russian forces under Peter Wittgenstein launching a major attack against the peninsula with the support from local orthodox tartars and the Black Sea fleet based in Rostov. The Ottoman army was led by Prince Mustafa Orhan, the only male son of the elderly Selim III and considered by many as the strongest name for imperial succession. The Ottomans heavily fortified the border of the peninsula, attempting a bottleneck strategy against the numerically superior Russians holding the peninsula from both artillery and naval bombardment for two months until the Russians broke through the lines and pushed to capture Sevastopol after a week-long siege. Mustafa would attempt to distract the Russians in a Moldavian offensive, managing to retake the city of Odessa, but the success didn’t last long as troops had to be diverted East to the Caucasus, allowing the Russians to launch a counter offensive, pushing near Wallachia until they were forced to halt due to supplies. The Ottomans were prepared for it however, with several lines of fortifications across the Danube and near Bucharest, all while the Russians were halted in Batumi in Georgia.​

Further West, Britannia would enter its own front of the war, launching the invasion of the Irish republic on the 10th of August of 1835, landing in Ulster and capturing Belfast where they were seen as liberators by the local Protestant population. But then, as the Britons started pushing south, they were met by heavy resistance outside of the city, and it was in that moment that they started remembering the previous campaigns, where Ireland costed the lives of thousands of Britishmen and stabbed sacred Britannia in the back. The two sides were fighting with no distinction of civilians and soldiers, with the Irish believing that the Protestants betrayed the nation (indeed many enlisted into militias that joined the British) and the Britons desiring revenge to pacify Ireland once and for all, even if the entire Irish race had to be exterminated. The Irish campaign would draw for longer than any sides believed and would be one of the most brutal theaters of the Great European War.

As 1835 ended, Europe was engulfed by war, the Coalition achieved numerous gains but it failed to deliver a killing blow, but Wellesley still had not played his best cards. After 15 years of secret talks and espionage, the Britons has created a network of secret allies ready to stab the French Order at any moment, including from old guerrilla survivors in Hispania to some of the closest people to the new Emperor who was coronated on the 2nd of December, the same day as his father, and the Lord-Protector swore to himself that he would be the last Emperor of the French to seat on that throne. From Berlin to Vienna, from Lisbon to Stockholm, Europe was full of traitors just waiting for the signal.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR II

Polish Hussars charging the enemy lines c. 1836​

The year of 1836 would bring the poisoned fruits of decades of French domination of Central Europe ever since the Austrian defeat in 1809. The death of the cautious King Ludwig I during the new year celebrations in the palace (under suspicious circumstances while he slept) would bring the rule of his son Heinrich I and the old pro-war faction that was kept in check for most of Ludwig’s rule. In a similar manner, Archduke Franz II would drop dead less than a month later and give the throne to the new Archduke Ferdinand. The year had barely started but these two new “casualties” would intensify the war greatly, just as the Coalition seemed to be losing vigor and morale after the battles of Pinsk and Batumi, Napoleon II would have to deal with treason inside his system, including from his own marshals.

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was one of Napoleon’s Marshals during the Third and Fourth coalitions, until he was elected as Prince of Sweden in 1810, becoming enamored with his new land. He would be crowned King Karl XIV of Sweden, and rule his country for decades as a loyal member of the Continental system, yet there would be tensions between France and Sweden over the status of Swedish Pomerania, which was invaded by the French in 1835. The Swedish population would be furious with such illegal invasion, and the King felt betrayed that the petulant boy in Paris considered Sweden only a stepping stone, as such he started secret negotiations with Russia, where the Russian Empire offered to sell back the island of Åland in return that the Sweden joined the coalition. The King would accept, and on the 12th of February of 1836 Sweden at last joined the war... by bombarding Christiania and crossing the Norwegian border and declaring war on the Continental Alliance. The enraged Emperor would order Prussian fusiliers to invade the island of Rügen, instead the Prussian army launched dual attacks against Poznan and Mecklenburg, betraying the French on the 14th of February, and on the very next day, Austrian forces would invade Hungary and Illyria, laying siege to Trieste by the 20th.

The sudden betrayal of the 3 nations cut the Poles, Hungarians, and Ottomans from the rest of the Alliance. In a matter of weeks, Prussian and Austrian forces would take the Illyrian provinces, Saxony, Mecklenburg, Danzig and Poznan. But as April came, the Alliance would recover from the shock and the forces of the “Rheinbund” another Grande Armee would march to the west, first hoping to take out Austria and swinging North to Berlin. The French forces would be led by a new generation of military officers after 16 years of peace, trained in the lessons of the Napoleonic Wars with many being veterans of these wars. The “Armee d’Allemagne” would be led by Marshal Charles-Eugene Mercer, member of the post-revolutionary generation of Frenchmen, born in 1792 in Reims and one of the most gifted students of the Military Academy.

The German campaign would follow the footsteps of the 1809 French campaign, advancing through the Danube in Bavaria and heading straight to Vienna. The Austrians expected such a move, creating several lines of defense near the city, forcing the French to test their Élan once again and charge them. But while a Marshal like Bellegarde would surely do that and engage in a brutal battle of attrition until the enemy population was reduced to zero first, Mercer had a more innovative approach. Vienna wasn’t necessary, defeat the Austrians was, the city was put under siege, with the defenders locked around the city. The Siege of Vienna was a maneuver of the French to draw in the main Austrian force to relieve their capital and Emperor (that refused to leave the Palace), and it worked, with the old General Radetzky leading the relief force and ending the siege of Budapest. The Battle of Vienna would be the largest and bloodiest battle in the history of Europe until then, with both sides having the number of troops that not even the Romans had in their peak. While 70,000 defenders were trapped and surrounded near and inside the city, over 250,000 Austrians would come from the North, beating back 130,000 Frenchmen trapped in the opposite bank of the Danube (thanks for Austrian sabotage of French bridges). After 2 days, those French troops were surrounded ironically, and the French approached the Austrians with an offer to exchange the prisoners: Vienna for the French Northern Flank. Radetzky accepted, but as an Englishman once said: Never trust a Frenchman.

On the day of the prisoner exchange, Mercer’s French army crossed to the North of Vienna, meeting the Austrians and receiving their prisoners. But Mercer had set a trap on the Austrians, and as they marched north and the Austrian forces prepared to move south, to the other bank of the river, fire ships filled with explosives burned the bridges, and the French turned against the confused Austrians in a vicious attack. The Austrian forces didn’t have time to enter in formation and every man was left to fend for itself as the banks of the Danube turned red. Eventually Austrian morale was shattered and the people of Vienna watched as their army was destroyed by a dishonorable stab in the back. With no hope of a relief force, Vienna would surrender and Archduke Ferdinand taken as prisoner. Austria was the First Nation in the Coalition to fall, and now the French turned north to Berlin.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR III

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Napoleon II brought Archduke Ferdinand to Paris after the Battle of Vienna, the humiliated Habsburg was brought inside a cage with the people throwing tomatoes at him. He would soon discover that the new Emperor of the French was much less merciful than his father, and he wanted to send a message to the traitors in Berlin and Stockholm. Napoleon II awaited inside the Tulleries, his mother by his side, the Russian Grand Duchess was still young for a Dowager Empress and she was one of the people of trust of Napoleon II, with some generals concerned that a Romanov had such influence during a war with Russia. When Ferdinand’s humiliation was over, the soldiers of the Imperial guard brought him inside, with him ashamed of even looking at the son of the old Ogre Bonnie. Napoleon II would come in the hall, dressed in his father’s trademark blue and white uniform and accompanied by his sister, he stopped in front of Ferdinand that was down on his knees.

“That’s no way to treat a head of state.”
“No, that’s a way to treat a traitor, and that’s something that should’ve been done before.”
“You are nothing but a snake, and your soldiers fight like ones, betraying agreements and stabbing our backs.”
“Only after you stabbed mine, my Father was merciful enough to keep your father in his rotten throne even after he attempted to destroy his nation and himself. If there is one mistake that my father did was leaving your bunch of incestuous degenerates in charge of Austria. No more, I should have dissolved the throne and made every city into a small kingdom but instead I will spare your people, but not you. Swear loyalty to your new Archduchess.”

Ferdinand looked up, seeing the face of the young Emperor and by his side his sister, the 17th year old Anne-Louise Bonaparte, one of the most desired bachelors of Europe, daughter of Napoleon I and known to be a woman of great knowledge, being officially educated by her father’s tutors. The ex-Archduke of Austria couldn’t believe what was happening, the Habsburg throne held by over 500 years was gone by the whims of the Master of Europe that desired to give his sister a birthday gift. On the 12th of September or 1836, 20 days after the Battle of Vienna and ironically on the same day that Vienna and the Habsburg throne were saved from the Ottomans, the house of Habsburg would be kicked from Vienna, becoming prisoners of the Emperor in a house arrest in the city of Verdun. Napoleon II sent a message: Traitors shall be dealt accordingly.

Archduchess Anne-Louise I Bonaparte​

Meanwhile, war raged on Europe. Until the arrival of the winter, titanic armies would continue to clash, Norway would fall with the capture of the city of Bergen in August, Hungarian troops would retake the Austrian occupied territories and the remnants of the Austrian army would refuse to accept Anne-Louise in the throne. The Austrian troops would hold the city of Prague, inviting the Prussians to occupy Bohemia until Vienna was liberated. The Armee D’ Allemagne would attempt a double approach to deal with Prussia, with the main French army continuing to push south from Vienna into Bohemia to fight the main Prussian forces, meanwhile an army led by Marshal Ludwig von Essen would form a united army of the Rheinbund to attack the Prussians into Magdeburg and take Berlin. The plan would be put to action on the 25th of September as the French marched south to meet the Prussians.

In the East, Davout’s Kingdom continued to be attacked from two sides, the Prussians would take Plock and the Russians would reach Brest-Litovsky after beating back the Alliance in the Second Battle of the Pinsk Marshes. The Russian and Prussian forces would fight one of the most brilliant defensive campaigns in history. With King Louis taking the charge of the army and personally leading it, and in a series of hit and run attacks and fast maneuvers, he showed why he was a Marshal of the Empire. During the campaigns of late 1836, 43,000 Poles would fall in a series of battles while inflicting over 267,000 losses to the Russians and 52,000 on the Prussians. But that wouldn’t be enough to save Warsaw and Vilnius, with the dual capitals falling to the Prussians and Russians respectively and Davout being forced to conduct an essentially guerrilla campaign in the Central Polish plains with his army while the Hungarian forces managed to secure Galicia and Krakow for their Northern brothers. By the Christmas of 1836, Davout would say a phrase to symbolize the Polish spirit: “Poland is not yet lost”.

Meanwhile, rains would delay the French attack to October, and Mercer’s army was once again on the move, this time he was meeting an equal in the field, led by one of the most capable military commanders and theorists of the Post-Napoleon Europe: Carl von Clausewitz, and the campaigns in Bohemia and the incoming attack in Magdeburg would be the most decisive frontlines of the Great European War.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

You may thank @ThecrownPrince for this

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR IV

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The Emperor of the French was pacing inside the hall of the Tuileries, by his side his Marshal Corps, some were old Napoleonic veterans like Soult and Berthier, others were part of the new generation, serving as soldiers in French campaigns and being promoted late in the wars or during Pax Napoleonica. They all were standing still, looking at the young Emperor as he concentrated on the current monumental problem. As 1837 started, the Coalition was pushed out of Bohemia, but that was part of Clausewitz’s plan, with Russian forces stopping the Rheinbund’s offensive and both sides were forced into a stalemate along the Elbe, with neither the French nor the Coalition capable of outflanking the other. The result was a massive stalemate between Lübeck and Bucharest, with the rivers Elbe and Danube preventing both sides from launching offensives while the Carpathian Mountains halted the Russian advances. The winter brought in the stalemate as Mercer failed to push into Prussia and the Russians failed to break into Armenia thanks to the Turkish General Kara Iskander Pasha. Napoleon II continued pacing with his head down and his hands behind the back, very much like his father, but differently from him, he couldn’t think of anything.

“I don’t see anything, my father had to deal with so many odds, and he always went victorious, but I got nothing.” Alexander-Napoleon thought, his blood was half Russian, and now the Russians threatened to march all the way to Paris. If he just held he might bleed the Russians out, but Poland would be lost, and that would be a defeat, how could he call it a victory, a triumph like the ones of Caesar, if he only lost ? Maybe his throne might not survive that, and the Bonapartes would suffer the fate of Louis XVI. He needed to push all the way to the Urals if necessary, but he couldn’t admit a defeat setting a border in the Elbe, the traitors in Berlin had to pay.

“Marshal Bellegarde.” He said, the King of Hispania, “El Terror Franco”, the Butcher of Lisbon, was his only hope. The mid-aged Marshal, standing at a corner away from the rest of the staff during the meeting, walked towards the Emperor, stopping midway and clapping his boots. “Yes, sire.” Napoleon II breathed a sigh, he knew what he was about to do, and he knew he had no choice. “I will send you to Hannover, leading the class of conscripts of this year, you are to use whatever means and resources are necessary to break the Prussian line, don’t spare anything, whatever it takes you must end this stalemate.” The rest of the General staff was worried about what they just heard, Bellegarde had always been the black sheep of the army, his methods were so barbaric that no man wanted to be near him, although they had to admit that no other command could enforce discipline and terror as much as him, if Bellegarde had to be called, the situation was certainly worryingly. “It shall be done my liege, and what is to be done to Berlin ?” Said the sociopathic commander, already hoping to hear the words from the Emperor. “Like in Vienna, my father made a mistake in sparing Berlin, I want you to do what you must, but Berlin must never rise against France again.”

Marshal Bellegarde​

While the French prepared their offensive, the brutal campaign in Ireland was fought for over a year by a desperate Irish defense against suicidal waves of enraged Britons. Ireland was a symbol of all the Commonwealth hated, it was led by degenerate papist potato farmers, a puppet of the French who stabbed them in the back and allowed Napoleon to invade and ravage England. The invasion that started in Ulster became an extermination war not seen since Cromwell, and the Irish resisted, even after the fall of Dublin in March 1836, the government became mobile with the President on the run while insurgency warfare forced the British to divide the army, preventing the full conquest of the island.

After Wellesley suffered an assassination attempt by a Monarchist on the Easter, the Lord Protector was left incapacitated, with the treatments only making his situation become more desperate, the position of Lord Protector was left unattended. But instead of a return to parliamentary rule, the council of advisors, called simply as “The Chamber” of the Protectorate, decided to push further into more authoritarianism. All press needed to have a “Truth agent” to filter the news for any “sabotage” of the war efforts and attempts to provoke disunity of Britannia. The parliament lost its authority completely, with all decisions being given to the Chamber for approval, judges could be removed at will for “treasonous offenses”. And as Authoritarianism advanced and the figure of Lord Protector became more powerful, Lord Wellesley’s health continued to decline, until he was eventually pronounced dead on the 6th of December of 1836.

The death of the Lord Protector, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Savior of Britannia, Arthur Wellesley, was meet with sadness to all of Britannia, while celebrations happened in the Continent and in Ireland (even if the army forcefully dispersed those). The death of Wellesley brought in the question of his succession, was the position to be inherited by his son ? Would the parliament select another ? Or would it be disbanded ? As it was expected, it didn’t take long for that question to be answered as Army units marched upon London and the Parliament called for an emergency meeting. The navy also sent 2 Iron Frigates up the Thames, the army positioned cannons to oppose them from both sides as they positioned themselves in the House of Commons. While tensions between the two arms were arising, two men would claim the title of Lord Protector: General William Beresford and Lord Admiral Thomas Cochrane. After 27 hours of debates, arguments and fights, the British naval tradition won in the end, and Lord Admiral Cochrane became Lord Protector Thomas Cochrane, General Beresford swore an oath of loyalty preventing a civil war, meanwhile Britannia was now on a set path for its future.

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The nee Lord Protector was no doubt the most successful naval commander in the Napoleonic Wars, winning against all odds, orchestrating raids that crippled the Armee d’Angleterre’s supplies, and led the attack on Brest to protect Britannia from the French in the current war. And as Cochrane rose to power, came in a new flavor of Protectorate, not just led by an increasingly fanatic nationalism, but also a personality cult to the leader himself. The machine of propaganda was turned on, practically making Wellesley a saint, while rewriting history and showing the House of Hannover as an insane mess of degenerates who lost America and almost lost Britannia, only for Lord Wellesley to slay the beasts and save Holy Britannia from the furious hordes of French rapists and savages. Cochrane also exalted his war feats, making himself the successor of Wellesley, and even using his position as head of the Anglican Church to turn the sermons into firely propaganda preaching, comparing the French Emperor to Pharaoh and the Jews who murdered Jesus. Even calling the Britons as “God’s new chosen”, claiming that God abandoned the Jews after the murder of Jesus and instead choosing the Anglo-Saxons as its people. This increasingly surge of insanity and radicalism would only increase with time under Cochrane’s reign of terror, even if he would be nowhere as bad as his successor, who was currently a young soldier in Ireland, child of German refugees who fled the continent after Napoleonic conquests, who was born in the middle of the raging English campaign: Charles Marx.

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[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR V

1837 would be the bloodiest year in European history up to that moment, the greatest battle of the western world up to that point would happen in the city of Berlin. After an attack made by Marshal Bellegarde’s forces broke the Prussians in Magdeburg, the Elbe stalemate was broken, with troops from both sides pouring into Brandenburg. The Prussian campaign would last between March and June of 1837, and would result in at least half a million casualties for both sides and the destruction of most of the city. Meanwhile in the south, without the strong hand keeping it down, the fire of rebellion would rise again in Hispania, with the new Lord Protector planning to attack the weakest point of the Alliance.

The attack of Bellegarde came on the 22nd of March of 1837, over 700,000 men, the largest single French force ever assembled up to that moment, converged on the city of Magdeburg, a massed artillery barrage of 500 cannons, mortars, and rockets fired against the city, and the shells did not distinguish between civilians and military men. The attack was followed by the largest bayonet charge in history, with the French suffering heavy casualties crossing the river, but eventually forcing the way through, and the result were the Prussian forces completely overwhelmed. The army marched on after winning the battle of Magdeburg, stretching for miles to go from one flank to another, this massive force was supplied by an equally large logistical force behind, its advance was slow, but it could not be halted.

Russian and Prussian forces were on the move as the Elbe stalemate was rudely broken, troops had to be called to prepare the defenses. Harassing actions and diversion attacks at other points of the line were made to prepare Berlin for the wave that was about to hit it. The largest battle in human history until then would happen at the gates of Brandenburg, starting a month-long campaign of the first true urban warfare, with each building becoming a fortress, streets barricaded, and both sides pouring hundreds of thousands of lives into a meatgrinder. Clausewitz and Bellegarde were very different, one was a very efficient and masterful tactician, and the other was like a brutal barbarian who knows nothing but attack, and they would come into a head in the Battle of Berlin.

The Battle would start on the 30th of April (but some historians prefer to name the 26th as the date of the first engagement between the vanguarda of both armies) with a massive artillery bombardment of the city, “El Terror Franco” inflicted what he was named after. The city would be bombarded for 20 hours until half of Berlin was on fire due to incendiary bombs or reduced to rubble, and when the guns finally halted due to the lack of ammunition, the whole army advanced, fighting individual battles for every street and building. Usually a battle like this wouldn’t last too long, but both sides were decided to take or hold the city to the last man, with units diverted from other fronts to fight in the Prussian capital and its surroundings. It was an attrition battle and the side who sacrificed the most blood to the god of war would be victorious. By the 1st of June, after spending the month of May in endless carnage, the streets were clogged with bodies, rats, crows, and blood, with some streets having so many dead that even Bellegarde himself called for a ceasefire to burn the bodies and clean up for the next day, the morale of the troops was in a all-time low, thousands deserting on both sides.

Heinrich I remained in Berlin, sending away his family and the government officers to Köningsberg for safety, inspiring their men fighting side by side sometimes. Napoleon II visited the battlefield, and in one battle for one of the streets, he led like his father in Arcole, leading by example and charging with a flag, miraculously surviving. Eventually, both sides were exhausted, with the city basically split in two, and it was there that both Napoleon II and Tsar Nicholas I would meet, a temporary truce was made after both monarchs were completely left in shock due to the view of the carnage in the city. The truce would last until July for both sides to recover the bodies and give them back to their families to bury. After the meeting, Napoleon II came back to the tent of command where Bellegarde awaited.

“Sire, how was the meeting ?” Asked a Marshal visibly exhausted from the month of battles.
“I have so much in common with my uncle, heh, maybe if my mother never left Moscow we could’ve been great friends.” Said the Emperor, in a cold voice while trying to get rid of the somber humor.
“The XIV Corps will arrive tomorrow, I’m planning to send th-“
“Marshal Bellegarde, we are retreating.” Napoleon II said in the same cold tune
“What ?! I-I don’t understand...” “El Terror Franco” replied in surprise and disappointment.
“I have made an agreement to a temporary truce across the entire front until the end of the month, we shall use it to regroup and prepare defenses back on the Elbe.”
“B-But sire, we can’t have sacrificed so many resources for nothing !”
“You are right, Marshal, but we cannot win this battle, we can’t continue to throw in men and risk to be flanked , we have to pull back. Besides, what I have seen today is a city with rivers of Blood, Berlin, this place was the one I ordered burnrd, but I have seen women and children, completely innocent, hugging one another, killed by a fire.... this is an order Marshal, I am taking this army west, and you won’t be leading it.”
“Sire ?”
“I think you haven’t been receiving a lot of newspapers here, especially with what’s happening in Hispania.”

​

The moment the news spread that “El Terror Franco” left the nation, dormant rebel cells saw their moment to return. And the signal came on the 8th of May when 50,000 Britons invaded Lisbon, with the local Portuguese garrison defecting and joining them, Beresford was leading this army and the news caused riots in major cities of Andalusia, western Hispania, and Madrid, the Second Peninsular war had begun.

The exiled Kingdoms in the Americas had problems of their own: The Bourbons had just suffered with the loss of its South American Colonies (except Peru who was independent but ruled by another branch of the Borbon), the Directorate of Gran Colombia to the south of Panama was a threat to its southern flank, and the URA recently captured Cuba and could be targeting Saint Domingue and Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, the Portuguese suffered a recent war for the control of the Platine basin with the Directorate of La Plata. Instead, Beresford created a provisional government, inviting D. Miguel (Brother of the Lusitanian Emperor D. Pedro I) to take the throne, knowing that he would accept out of the rivalry against his brother. In Spain, the city of Seville was the first to overthrow the French and create a Junta to govern in the name of the exiled King Carlos, soon most of Portugal and Andalusia was liberated from Hispania spontaneously after several revolts. Terror was a good way to keep the flames of rebellion dead, but once it is gone, it burns brighter than ever. But Bellegarde assured, “El Terror Franco” was coming back.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR VI

​

The last phase of the War, between the Battle of Berlin and the Conference of Constantinople, was known to have the second showdown between Bellegarde and the Anglo-Iberian forces, and the resulting atrocities would leave a mark in Iberia that would never be healed again. No man in Iberia to this day ever had the name Franco, with the relationship between the French and Spanish forever scarred, Bellegarde would be seen as one if History’s greatest villains, like how the Romans saw Átila and how Persians saw Temujin. In the East, both sides overextended it’s resources and little activity would be seen, with the Russian lines overextended, the Prussian army crippled, and the French reluctant to cross the line Mecklenburg-Dresden again. It was inevitable that peace would come and the French had to recognize they couldn’t retake Poland, but before that, the Great European War would have its last bloody act.

In July, with the truce made in the East, Bellegarde transferred over 200,000 men with him from the Elbe front to the South, these veterans, made into hollow shells stripped from their humankind by the traumas of the Front, would make the core of Bellegarde’s “Armee d’Hispania”, known as “Ejército del Diablo” by the Spanish and “Legião de Satã” by the Portuguese, the Britons, even after committing the atrocities in Ireland, would call it “Army of Hell”. All these names would be euphemisms compared to the sheer amount of terror that Half of Iberia would suffer once these troops arrived. Bellegarde crossed into Hispania on the 25th of August, he started by marching into the city of Zaragoza to deal with the unrest, he select one in every 5 children with less than 10 years in the city, ordering them to be executed in public, at the most brutal ways, putting their heads on pikes in front of their parents’ houses. He left the city, and with that same wicked spirit he would march to battle.

The combined Coalition army, formed by a British core and over 150,000 volunteers from all across the Peninsula plus expeditions from the Americas. When the News that Bellegarde had returned came, a sense of coming dread fell on the Anglo-Iberian forces. The Coalition controlled territory extended from the city of Lisbon, to Badajoz and Cadiz, the areas most opposed to French rule. Soon, their fight would become one of survival, the volunteers would flood the barracks and there weren’t enough rifles to arm them, instead they were sent as Guerillas to the countryside, fighting with Machetes and old hunting muskets, knowing that death was certain if Bellegarde won again. Even women would come in waves to defend their homes, even with the Britons refusing to arm them, they would use makeshift weapons to ambush French and Loyalist patrols, or working in espionage rings, getting information by sleeping with French officers of incoming attacks.

The coalition had the numbers, but no amount of enthusiasm would make difference against professional veterans with no humanity left to lose. When Bellegarde’s army fought its first battle against Beresford in Guadalupe, the French and Iberians fought with fanaticism not seen ever since the Crusades, rarely ever taking prisoners, with Human waves clashing against one another. Bellegarde ultimately won the battle and ordered the execution of half the prisoners, with the other half ordered to eat their bodies until they were killed by intoxication. The Army of Hell would head south towards Malaga, taking Córdoba along the way, sacking and burning the city, ordering thousands of survivors to eat the ashes of the buildings until their deaths while making a lottery on women to be given to each soldier, some as young as 12, while the men were forced to watch the atrocities that happened in the town square, over 300,000 people would die in Cordova, with over 220,000 women raped.

The news of the “Rape of Cordova” would spread like wildfire, Bellegarde would use it as a terror weapon, threatening every city with a retaliation “To make Cordova seem like the New Jerusalem” if they rebelled or collaborated with the Coalition invaders. The city of Sevilla continued defiant, and Bellegarde planned to make it an example, while Beresford would make everything to prevent it, recruiting many refugees from Cordova and preparing an army to defend it. The Battle of Seville would be compared to Berlin in Bloodshed, even if the army numbers involved were less than half, with the civilian population fighting for every house to defend themselves against the advancing “Ejército del Diablo”. The city of Seville was destroyed after a week of fighting, with fires engulfing it while artillery and rockets rained on civilian targets. 400,000 men clashed there and half would survive (not counting the injured) with the number of prisoners made by each side reaching only 3 digits. But in the end, Bellegarde was finally stopped, the Human Wave was broken by Beresford’s men and the city’s population, on the 7th of November of 1837, the last major battle of the war would end, with the Devil left wondering why a piece of hell was in Iberia.

Napoleon II would be horrified by the news, but decided that instead of removing a brutal-but-efficient commander like Bellegarde, he would start peace talks with Nicholas and Cochrane. The Conference of Constantinople was called in October with 2 months of debates by all sides, the British stubborn on keeping their gains while the French savaged what their could. The end was a peace declaring the current frontlines as the borders extending from Lubeck to the Danube Delta and Georgia, while Britannia was left with a part of Iberia under their occupation, a literal square from Lisbon to Badajoz to Cadiz and the ruins of Seville. Peace would be restored after the death of over 5 million soldiers and civilians during 2 years. The GEW would be over as a Coalition victory, but it was not total, and instead it helped Napoleon II to consolidate his rule and strengthen his domination over the Alliance with the threat of a foreign enemy. It was a bloody chapter of European History, but it would not be neither the bloodiest nor would it be the last.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE YOUNG CHARLES MARX

​

London, 1837

The city of London was in a climate of celebration, it was November and the war was over. After almost two decades ever since London was liberated by the savior of Britannia, the victory came once again, another step until the eventual revenge against the French. The Irish traitors were defeated, the greatest symbol of the Briton humiliation, the Irish State, was destroyed and its citizens brought under the domination of the Anglo armies. Further south, where Wellesley was once forced to evacuate to save thousands (as it was expected from his merciful spirit), the armies of the new Lord-Protector Cochrane were now marching, creating a foothold in the peninsula and saving millions of civilians from the fury of the Devil incarnated. Now the city was in celebration as it’s young soldiers came back, marching in a parade full of fanfare and showing of Patriotism and devotion to Holy Britannia, the promised land of God’s new chosen.

As the soldiers marched through the streets, they were greeted by thousands carrying the Union Jack. The young seemed to be more enthusiastic than the older generation, as they continued seeing these new changes, especially in the doctrine of the Anglican Church, with suspicion and skepticism. While the majority of those less than 20 years old were born in this new system, raised with the principles of Britannia and learned to trust the Lord Protector in all situations, many became depressed and even committed suicide when the news of Wellesley’s death struck, now they trusted the new father of the Nation. Amongst these young was Charles Marx, the son of lawyer Heinrich Marx, a German refugee from the Napoleonic domination that fled to England in 1814, only to be caught in the middle of the English campaign a few years later. Charles was born in 1818, on the day Wellesley’s Army of Liberation took their city back from the French, and their parents would take it as a sign.

Marx grew up in the turbulent 1820s, when England was in reconstruction and conflicts between Monarchists and the Government threatened to start a second civil war. Marx would grow up under Wellesley’s programs of education, using the power of Universal Compulsory Education as a means to spread the national values and virtues to the future generation, with Marx being part of the first batch. By coincidence, the Great European War would start one year into his service, with him serving until the end of the war in the Irish Front. Marx would go into the war fueled by a fanatic belief of fighting against the Papist traitors for the Lord Protector and Holy Britannia, and he always repeated that to himself as he was forced to be part in mass executions and brutal battles against guerrillas, including being part of the army force that captured the Irish government by mid-1837. He spent a few more months as part of the peacekeeping force, and now he was marching down Downing Street together with his regiment, the 11th Infantry.

As he went down the streets, he was cheered, with rains of flowers and confetti raining over them, a young woman even pulled him and kissed him, it was the 4th one already, he couldn’t blame his good looks in anyone but God. Charles would later be in the pub with the rest of his regiment, as a show of gratitude, all soldiers of Britannia were to have their bills paid by the Government (with money confiscated from Ireland), and most of the pubs of London ran out of beer by the next morning. Usually Charles wasn’t one to like drinking but he made an exemption for that night, celebrations with his comrades, some of them growing up ever since school, ensured all the night. Eventually, Charles and his 2 best friends started talking about the future.

Adam: “Rule Britannia boys, what now ?”
Charles: “What do you mean Adam ?”
Adam: “Those Irish are good as dead, what now ?”
Jackson: “Now we swim across the channel and hang Bonaparte by his boots !”
Charles: “Did you forget why we are here already, Jack ?”
Jackson: “Oh, yeah... duh, it’s because I won the bet Charlie ! I killed more Irish than you.”
Charles: “Oh hell no ! I killed so many of those walking potatoes that I lost the count.”
Jackson: lThen we call it even, so, what do we do now ?”
Adam: “I think I will go back to my family’s farm in the Midlands, father has been sick lately, I guess I have to take care of it now.”
Jackson: *burp* “I can’t go back, my father hates me, he will probably be disappointed that I wasn’t shot by a Potato.”
Charles: “I never thought what I would do, maybe just continue to be a useless burden to my poor mama. Heh, or remain in the army, Lieutenant Pryce told me I had a future there, I shall continue to serve Britannia and the Lord Protector Wellesley until Paris turns into Seville !”
Jackson: “Wellesley is dead you dumb wanker !“
They laughed a little, but then it suddenly turned into a mourn, Wellesley was always taught as a father figure to them, an ideal they should always inspire to be.
Charles: “Hey, do you remember that time Wellesley visited our school ?”
Adam: “How could I forget ? That was the highest point of my life ! I shook the hand of the Savior of Britannia himself !”
Jackson: “Shook his hand ? I got his autograph !”
Adam: “Showoff.”
Charles: “Wouldn’t it be nice if I turned into the Lord Protector ?”
Jackson: “Pffft, keep dreaming German... keep dreaming...”

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

NEW TURKISH ORDER

The Ottoman Empire was among the defeated in the Great European War, yet was also one of that lost the less, merely reverting back to the borders before 1811 (Except for Moldavia that was given as a Russian vassal State). But what seemed as a recoverable defeat at first for the Ottoman dynasty, revealed itself to be the seeds for their own destruction. In a space of 2 years since the Constantinople conference, the Ottoman Empire would be destroyed, and from its ashes the world would almost throw itself at war once again. All of that would happen because of two men: Kara Iskander Pasha and Muhammad Ali.

Iskander was born in 1795, child of a carpenter and a mother that died giving him birth, in the metropolitan Konstantinnye, growing up fascinated by the stories of Steppe Horsemen told by his father, only for his father to die and him to be left at an orphanage. Iskander learned to hate the Janissaries and the old Ottoman order the day a group of Janissaries sacked his orphanage during the coup attempt against Selim III, instead he thought highly of the Reformist Sultan, watching the March of the Nizam-I Cedid troops after the dissolution of the Janissary Corps. Inspired by that, he would beg to join in the army, barely being capable to join in at the age of 16, marching with his troops to fight Bagration’s Army in Ukraine at the Battle of Mykolayiv, only to see the Turkish soldiers being led by incompetent old men who ordered a retreat even when the army was capable of holding them off, that would fill him with anger. Iskander grew inside the Ottoman ranks, being one of their youngest generals by the time of the death of the Eagle of Europe, a figure he greatly admired, he was stationed in Georgia when the Russian army crossed the border, fighting in the Great European War in the only front the Ottomans emerged victorious. He won victory after victory against superior Russian troops by using the terrain and an impressive knowledge of tactics to outmaneuver Russian forces twice the size of his and defeat them, like in the Battle of Kut where 40,000 Russians were captured. In 1836, he received the news of the death of Prince Orhan, the Warrior son of the ill Sultan Selim III, and then after the death of the Sultan he so admired. Instead would rise to the throne Mustafa IV, a drunken spoiled brat who spent the entire day in the Harem, humiliating the Empire by showing at the Conference blackout drunk and half naked with 3 concubines. Iskander couldn’t continue to let those incompetent degenerates rule a warrior people like the Turks, and he wouldn’t.

Further south, another man made himself a rising star. After Napoleon broke the power of the Mamelukes and left Egypt in a power vacuum, a commander from Albania would emerge out of a decade of bloodshed, Muhammad Ali. Ali would become known as a reformer, inspired in the French to introduce revolutionary reforms to the backwards province of Egypt, turning it into a rival to the power of the Sultan himself. The armies led by his son Ibrahim would be one of the strongest forces of the whole Empire, subjugating Sudan and providing help to put down the Greek revolt. By 1837, the Ottoman armies had exhausted themselves in the Danube halting the Russian advances, meanwhile Mehmed’s troops were fresh, highly trained by French instructors, and ready to fulfill the Governor’s long ambition of becoming Sultan himself. In January 1838, seizing this opportunity, Egyptian troops led by Ibrahim Ali Pasha would cross the Sinai, starting the Ottoman-Egyptian War.

The Ottoman armies had greatly increased in quality thanks for Selim’s reforms, but those troops took the fury of the Russian assaults with half the regiments with less than half the strength and were exhausted, but we’re battle-hardened. The Levant would be the main frontline as Acre would see the first major battle of the war, with the Egyptians under Ibrahim crushing the local Ottoman garrisons and capturing Jerusalem, all while cutting off Hedjaz from the rest of the Caliphate. For the next months, Egyptian troops would push all the way to Aleppo, where 45,000 Ottoman troops were defeated by an outnumbered Egyptian force, opening the way for Constantinople and bringing panic for the Sublime Porte. General Iskander Pasha and his army would be the last hope of the Sultan, with his army (which was the strongest intact force of the Empire) being called from Trabzon to attack Ibrahim. Iskander’s Army would March west, running parallel to the Egyptian army in Southern Anatolia, and suddenly the Imperial Court noticed what was happening.

On the 18th of October of 1838, 50,000 Turkish troops of the Army of the Caucasus would be sieging the Capital, with no fleet left to defend it (The Russians sunk the Ottoman navy in the last months of the GEW). Iskander’s troops would assault the city of the world’s desire and crush the loyalist Guard of the Sultan. Mustafa IV would be pathetically caught by Iskander’s troops in his Harem, drunk as always, covered with prostitutes and bottles of wine. Iskander was proven right as the whole city would see their decadent sultan who was too worried about missing a drop of wine to care about them. Iskander took the Palace, making a grand speech to his troops and the people, announcing the end of the Ottoman sultanate and their degenerate dynasty who succumbed to decadence, and declaring himself “Emperor of the Turks”. He would get mixed reactions from a confused people who didn’t understand the magnitude of what was happening, while his troops and most of the Turkish population celebrated in the city. Emperor Kara I Iskander would emulate Bonaparte, his great idol, couping a corrupt government and placing himself at the power. But while the Turks seemed to be starting to embrace this greater emphasis on Pan-Turanism and “going back to their roots”, other subjects would feel sidelined by that sudden change, from Algeria to Wallachia, Arabs and Christians, Greeks and Slavs, all would see the New Order proclamation as a rejection by Constantinople (or Istanbul as Iskander called it). Meanwhile, the Egyptians planned to crush this upstart “Emperor of the Turks” and marched to the Capital, while Ottoman loyalists rallied behind Prince Abduhamid, the son of Mehmed II, Selim III’s brother, in the city of Edirne. Chaos was about to engulf the dying corpse of the Empire, with many vassals breaking away and oppressed minorities rising for their liberation. Meanwhile, Russia watched these developments with attention, while Napoleon II prepared his Empire to defend its interests. It has barely been a year ever since the Conference of Constantinople, and now that same city threatened to restart the conflict once more.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

@ThecrownPrince​

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE AGE OF JACKSON

​

The war hero and head of the People’s Party, Andrew Jackson, would have one of the longest terms in American History. From 1824 until his death in 1845, under two different Monarchs, he would oversee the death of the first Party system in America, with the eventual decline of the Federalists in the coming years, would come an age of prosperity and peace not seen ever since Emperor Washington. He would inaugurate the “Populist” tradition in Imperial politics, being called “The Great Commoner” and being the first low-born person to rule the Empire gave him a popularity no Prime Ministers ever had before. He would oversee the westward expansion into the Louisiana territory, with several new commonwealths added and the Empire extending from Quebec to Oregon, while the Northern lands in Canada continued a frozen wasteland, with colonization efforts going slow in the area. Jackson’s era would shape America and would prepare the country for its Great status after his death.

The People’s party ran over a anti-Federalist platform while not associating themselves with the Whigs. Running a platform of isolationism and neutrality on European affairs (differently from the more Pro-French elements of the Federalists), promoting the expansion of suffrage, decentralization of the Government power (while not opposing the power of the Emperor), opposition to “corporate power” and other “corrupt institutions”, and a supremacy of the people’s will against establishment. That was a radical set of reforms that separated the party from the ones before it, while also adopting some Federalists ideas in regards of the Monarchy and Tariffs. These proposals won over the vote, with the smashing majority of the votes coming from the middle class as opposed to the elitist Federalists.

Jackson’s first action was to declare a “War on Corrupt Crooks”, ordering investigations inside the Congress and Senate, later including the ministries. It was discovered that several public servants, including senators, were secretly using money from the public coffers to their own personal gain. Upon receiving the results of the investigation, Jackson would make a speech denouncing a “Nest of Snakes” inside the Empire’s institutions, and when challenged to give names by Congressman Henry Clay, one of the most outspoken critics of Jackson, he boldly read the names of every accused who attacked Jackson for such “outrage”. After that session, Jackson would suffer the first assassination attempt on a PM in American history, with an unknown hitman shooting him in the chest, and Jackson grabbed his cane and personally beat that man close to death. Luckily the shot wasn’t fatal and the hitman would later be interrogated and reveal to be connected with one of the names of the list. Jackson would then hand over the names to the Emperor, who ordered the arrest of all those accused and stripped them of their offices, and that first act in Jackson’s “reign” would skyrocket his popularity and gave him political capital for his reforms.

Jackson’s first major reform was to be the First Nation in the world to adopt Universal suffrage for all men over 25 years old. He would pass a constitutional amendment abolishing the voting requirements for Parliamentary elections in all commonwealths, including the dreaded poll taxes. While that proposal was criticized by many as an attack against “Local” rights, Jackson would reply “A Commonwealth where only 1% of its population can vote doesn’t have the People’s mandate to its laws. When they allowed only the rich to vote, did they ask the rest of the people ? No ? Then the law was never valid in the first place !” That quote would be a symbol of Jacksonian politics and the People’s party in general.

But one of Jackson’s greatest fights would be against the Imperial Bank of America, the institution personified his enemy: Dominated by “Federalist Crooks”, centralizing the monetary policy of the Empire, and serving only elitist corporations (accordingly to Jackson). His first attempt to close down the bank would be in 1828, when he tried to pass an Act, giving the power over monetary policy to the banks of each commonwealth. He would fight an uphill battle to get enough votes, only for it to be passed and then immediately struck down by the Supreme Court. The case “Jackson v Imperial Bank of America” was one of the most memorable in the history of the Empire, in a great conflict between the Central Government vs the Commonwealths to be decided by 9 judges. In a 6-3 decision, the Bank was considered an overreach of the Central Power and was ordered to be disbanded, Jackson would celebrate only to wake up on the next day with the news: Emperor Thomas vetoed the Supreme Court Decision.

That was a power the American monarchs rarely used, Thomas not only was a supporter of the bank, but he also wanted to put a halt to Jackson’s meteoric rise. Thomas saw him and his populism as a threat, even fearing for a possible coup where Jackson would turn against the Monarchy itself and manipulate the masses for a revolution, using that to become a “American Bonaparte”. Thomas and Jackson would break their relationship over the issue of the bank, a tense period of gridlock followed where Jackson’s bills attempted to reduce the Monarch’s power, only to be vetoed by the Emperor. That followed until the Christmas of that same year, when both sides came to the annual celebration in the palace, eventually discovering both had several common interests, with the meeting become more casual and both sides agreeing to end their bickering for the greater good of the nation. In return of keeping the bank, Jackson would remain Prime Minister and the Emperor promised to support his next proposals, but that wouldn’t last long, as the Emperor would die a year later on the 25th of October of 1829, victim of a Brain hemorrhage.

The death of the “People’s Monarch” would bring the nation to mourning, some old veterans of the Independence War had already lived under 3 different Monarchs of 2 different Houses, and America had greatly changed during their reigns, especially under Thomas. He would be buried in the Mausoleum of the Marshall family together with his father, and his son John would be Emperor John II Marshall, but he was still 12 years old, instead a regency had to be made, led by John’s uncle James Marshall, who governed the country until the 4th of July of 1838, when John became 20 years old, but James would continue to influence the young Emperor as his Chief Advisor. James and Jackson had quite a good relationship, allowing Jackson to keep his position, with the 1832 elections bringing him a comfortable majority in the house and in the senate.

In external affairs, Jackson abstained from involvement, even with his desire of reconquest of the south, he knew the US Army was not in shape of fighting after the general demobilization of the military made by Thomas. He also didn’t want to risk angering either Britannia or the French, keeping a neutral stance over the Great European War (even if some War Hawks wanted to finish the conquest of Canada). But after Thomas’ death, Jackson started to influence John II into a more militarist stance, but by the time he took the throne, the opening given by the GEW was closed and Britannia emerged even stronger to protect the UAR. John II would grow up disgusted at his father’s pacifism, instead he would be more down to his mother’s family side: The Bonapartes, even traveling to the court of Napoleon I where he would be fascinated by the Grand Army of his Great-Uncle, meeting with his marshals and showing a prodigy talent in military tactics and strategies that even impressed the old “Eagle of Europe”. During his time there, he also entered in contact with Napoleon’s Marshals, especially one called Bellegarde...

John II’s rise would start the second part of Jackson’s government, inaugurated in 1838 when the news of America finally paying off its national debt would spread a new wave of optimism. The industrial revolution was arriving in America, while the GEW would cause a massive influx of immigrants that would soon adapt to the American way while bringing in their own contributions, especially Irish and German immigrants fleeing the persecution and the destruction of the war. The majority of the Irish immigrants avoided the Protestant East coast (which was becoming increasingly dominated by the Americanist Church) and instead went to the Catholic areas of Quebec and the St. Laurent River, with the Grand Duchy becoming a safe heaven for Catholics who wanted to avoid the nativists and anti-catholic phobia in places like New York and Boston.

​

Between 1838 and 1845, Jackson would grow older, while the People’s party dominance was finally ending, there was already a whole new generation born that knew no other Prime Minister other than Jackson, soon they would be arriving at voting age, and what was once the voice of the masses started losing its momentum. New Political parties would come, with the People’s party still remaining strong, while the Federalist Party was dissolved officially in 1839. The new focus of Jackson was to prepare America to achieve its God-given Manifest Destiny, expanding the funds for the military, modernizing the navy with new Iron Frigates, expanding the army numbers and adopting new technologies and tactics from observations of the GEW. In 1845, Jackson would finally give in to Heart Failure at the age of 78, with hundreds of thousands going to Columbia to bide him a last farewell, his last wish was that his body was to be buried in his hometown, but the problem was that it was now part of another country. Emperor John II would make a speech at his funeral, assuring the people that “Soon, Andrew Jackson’s last wish shall be fulfilled !” And everyone knew what that meant.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE COLLAPSE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

​

The coup by Iskander Pasha was the deathblow of the Ottoman Sultanate that has existed for centuries. The Bey of Tripoli was the first to declare independence while the Egyptians took Benghazi and the Barbary Coast Beys simply ended their vassalage, even if they were already independent de facto. The remnants of the Ottoman Loyalists in Edirne could do nothing to stop, while Iskander merely gave them a “Good Riddance” and the Egyptians didn’t want to fight in two fronts. The Provinces of Iraq were isolated, and used the death of the Sultan to declare their own independence as the Sultanate of Iraq. Of course the Quajars in the East looked with hungry eyes at the opportunity to claim their old lands in the West. In the North, the Russians helped to stoke the fire of the Orthodox and Slavic nationalists to start rebellions against the Ottomans while sending the army to the border. Seeing that, Napoleon II sent the army straight south to the Bosnian border, not willingly to let the Russians just take the Balkans and expose the Mediterranean and Illyria to them. Europe seemed to be on the brink of restarting the GEW just a couple years after it ended.

Iskander had the advantage: His territory was much more united than the Ottomans and his armies weren’t overextended as the Egyptians. Besides, he had the only body of professional military forces left in the Ottoman army, and he would mobilize the strength of Turkey to beat the decadent sultanate and the Egyptian upstarts. The result was the Battle of Konya, where Ibrahim Pasha’s army was suddenly attacked by the Turks, with Iskander using the terrain of central Anatolia to his advantage, he managed to beat back Ibrahim and forcing him to retreat to Cilicia. With the immediate Egyptian threat halted, Iskander introduced conscription into the Nizam-I Cedid Army, requiring governors to meet a quota of troops to be mobilized. He then received the News that Constantinople was being sieged by Ottoman Loyalists, he left the southern army under General Omar Pasha and came back north, beating back the Ottomans and capturing Edirne, the Sultan ran to Thessaloniki, and the Balkans exploded.

Using Russian weapons, Serbians, Romanians, and Bulgarians staged riots from Varna to Belgrade. With the Prince of Wallachia, Mihail, declaring Independence and attacking the port of Constanta. And as the Ottoman armies and all sense of order in the Balkans started to collapse, both Nicholas I and Napoleon II acted: French troops landed in Athens and Attica, while Mercer’s troops crossed into Bosnia and Montenegro from the Illyrian provinces. Meanwhile, Russian troops crossed the Danube, putting the Principality of Wallachia under their protection, and beating back scattered Ottoman armies while the Greeks rebelled in support of the French in Larissa, Crete, and Macedonia.

In the East, the Shah of Persia Mohammad Qajar, started an invasion of Iraq, with the Sultan scrambling to rally enough forces to defend his domain, only to be defeated in the Battle of Kut and seeing the fall of Baghdad. Turkish troops would occupy the Province of Mosul, the Persians didn’t respond and instead would concentrate in integrating these new lands. Omar’s forces marched south, pushing Ibrahim to the Gates of Jerusalem itself, Muhammad Ali believed nothing could stop the Turks from pushing all the way to Cairo, and then he suddenly received a peace offer: Syria and Lebanon would remain in Turkish hands, but Egypt would receive Transjordan and Hedjaz, becoming an independent nation. Ali was shocked with the offer, but Iskander did not desire to rule over millions of angry Arabs, desiring Syria to appease expansionists in the government. Muhammad Ali didn’t hesitate to accept the peace treaty on the 10th of August of 1840, date celebrated as the Independence Day in Egypt.

In the Balkans, any sense of order collapsed, Russian and French troops would advance against the Ottoman remnants, with the Sultan going into exile in Stockholm, and Thessaloniki taken by Franco-Greek troops. French and Russian forces would meet up in Skopje, tensions reaching new highs as the world held it’s breath while Russian, French, and Turkish ambassadors met in Istanbul (renamed into a more turk name by Iskander) to draw up the borders: The Turks controlled Karbala, Edirne, and Burgas. Bulgaria was given Eastern Macedonia, North Macedonia was taken by Serbia, West Macedonia to Albania, and the South to Greece. Greece, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia became part of the French sphere, while Serbia, Bulgaria, and the newly unified Principality of Romania were to be part of the Russian sphere. There were still several border issues not solved, but Iskander gained the assurance from both sides that the local Turks would be respected and given rights equal to the local population in return of giving up the claims of the Balkans. The peace would be restored... for now.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

DARWINISM AND THE RACIAL STATE

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Few men in human history can have their influence overrated for history, and the Briton Naturalist Charles Darwin is one of them. His impact in how we see nature and it’s species would be one before him and a completely different one after him. Born in 1809 in a war-torn England, he would live a traumatic childhood, with his house on Shrewsbury being destroyed by French troops. At the age of 10, Lord Protector Wellesley would expel the French from England, allowing him to start his studies in Cambridge years later. In 1835, he would be conscripted into the Great European War, taking part of the campaign in Ireland and being part of the genocide of the Island. In 1839, after returning, he would enter in contacts with the navy, wishing to make an expedition around the world in order to prove wrong Lamarckism, a Theory that claimed the evolution of species came from the use of its members (Giraffes would grow their necks longer to reach for food in bigger trees). The expedition would take 5 years, with Darwin visiting places around the world like Australia, the Galapagos, Brazil, and South Africa, and from his observations he would publish a theory in 1846 in the book “The Evolution of Species”.

The book would be polemical at the time of the publication, and would take time until it was accepted by most intellectuals. It claimed that all species descended from a common ancestor, and a process of “natural selection” would determine the course of the evolution. He claimed that only the strongest and most adaptable species survived to this day, while the ones that didn’t were destroyed by competition. Darwin’s ideas were met with censorship at first by the commonwealth’s press, calling it “subversive to Anglican values”, and he decided to appeal his case to the Lord Protector himself, meeting with Cochrane, they would debate for hours until he asked “And does your theory includes humans ?” And the answer was yes.

Darwin would make an addition to the book, another Volume called “The Evolution in Human Races”. He claimed the same process happened to humans, and when two different races of humankind entered in conflict, it was determined that the strongest amongst them would emerge triumphant and exterminate the loser. And adding to human sentiency, humans would be drawn to unite their races into tribes for mutual protection, and these tribes would grow into what he called “Racial State”. It would be inevitable that they would eventually enter in confrontation, and the winner of it would be member of a superior race, he argued that this process would eventually result into a “Racial War” between the dominant tribes, and from the ashes of the war, would emerge the pinnacle of human evolution. This addition wasn’t made because of Cochrane, Darwin spent most of his life being brainwashed by the Commonwealth’s propaganda of the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race, and he used the war in Ireland as an example: The Irish were an inferior race, and logically they were defeated by the superior British and would be exterminated from existence.

This new volume would gain the Lord Protector’s approval, he would change the doctrine of the Anglican Church to adapt to it: God created these species and guided the evolution, and from amongst them, he choose a select Human group (The ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons) to dominate above all others. Which would result into a final confrontation against the other races, and would end with the hegemony of Britannia, the earth would be populated by a supreme race and it’s victory would be achieved by ensuring the Anglo-Saxon remained pure, without contamination of other races and without vices and degeneracy. By keeping the “Racial sanitation”, the Anglo-Saxons would keep themselves untouched by inferiors, allowing them to achieve a final victory against the other races.

Darwin would spend the rest of his life teaching of his theory, and it started to spread around the world, with “Darwinists” of each nation arguing that they were a superior race, and had to unite against the others. That would be one of the main causes of the bloodshed that would engulf countries around the world in the future.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

EMBRACING THE EXILE

Flag of the short-lived Kingdom of Portugal-Brazil

Flag of the Empire of Brazil
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In the year of 1807, the port of Lisbon was seemingly calm one morning, and as the people woke up they saw it completely had changed. A flurry of activity took over the place as the Portuguese fleet evacuated thousands of people, from lawyers to merchants, to the Royal Family themselves. Prince D. João took the most important decision of his life: For a year, Portugal was playing a dangerous game of balancing between Napoleon’s new order and their old ally Britain. Napoleon demanded that the Prince-Regent (ruling the Kingdom as his mother, Queen D. Maria I, fell into insanity similarly to George III) cut ties with Britain, but that would not only risk retaliation like the British did in Copenhagen, but also would break 500 years of friendship and trade. Instead of fighting the invincible French Army or lose its colonies to the British like the Dutch, D. João took the coward way out and escaped, protected by the mighty Royal Navy. Napoleon would later write in his memoirs “He is the only man who ever tricked me.”

The voyage was long, in crowded old ships, low on supplies, infested with tropical diseases, and a storm in Madeira almost sunk the ship carrying the Prince and his two sons. The storm would divide the fleet in two (although modern historians believe that was planned by the Prince), with D. João heading to Salvador, in Bahia. He would be received and make the typical “Beija-mão” ceremony, while later he would make his part of the deal with the British: In return of escorting the Royal family and court to Brazil and protecting them from French Corsair attacks, D. Pedro would end the colonial monopoly on trade and open the Brazilian ports to foreign commerce (while also giving the British a below average tariff). He would later head south to Rio de Janeiro, the colonial Capital of Brazil and the new Capital of the Portuguese Empire.

Between 1808 and 1812, the Prince would enact several changes in the city, creating the first industries, banks, press, and libraries of the colony, essentially bringing in a revolution for the country and centralizing the once autonomous provinces of Brazil into one decision center. The Portuguese army would also be restructured, sent in to occupy French Guiana and Spanish Cisplatina while the Portuguese mainland was divided by the French and Spanish, only for the French turn against their ally and start the Peninsula War. One important part of Portugal that was latter brought in to Brazil was the Royal Library, one of the oldest and most prestigious in Europe, and it was barely able to be transported from Lisbon in 1812 while Bellegarde launched relentless attacks against the city. The books were evacuated together with Wellesley’s army, while the only building of the library was razed by French forces.

The news of the destruction of Lisbon shock the Braganças to the core, and with Napoleon invading Britain itself and the Spanish expedition sunk in Trafalgar, D. João VI (Now crowned King after his mother’s death in 1817) knew there would be no turning back, at least not while Napoleon and Bellegarde were still alive to ensure that. Besides, D. João had started to like Brazil personally, he enjoyed Rio de Janeiro, differently from his wife. Carlota Joaquina and D. João hated one another, living in different palaces and even fleeing in different ships, his Spanish wife hated Brazil, and that was a trait shared by D. Miguel, her favorite son. The throne of Portugal was to be passed to the second born D. Pedro, a 17th century curse made to the Duke of Bragança made sure that no first-born of the house would ever live to seat on the throne of his father, so far it has been working.

D. João would modernize Brazil, making it the centerpiece of the Lusitanian Empire with the loss of Portugal. The colonies answered to Rio, the Provinces answered to Rio, except for one: Pernambuco. In the early colonial era, Pernambuco was the richest province of Brazil and one of the most in the world, being the lead producer of sugarcane thanks to its fertile terrain and climate, but the Dutch invasion in 1630 changed that. The Dutch would be expelled in 1654, but stole the sugarcane to its Caribbean colonies, outcompeting the “pernambucanos” and bankrupting the province that saw its importance falling as gold was discovered in the south in the Province of Minas Gerais (literally General Mines in Portuguese). In 1817, 10 years since the exile, taxes have been increasing, with foreign products bankrupting the locals, and a severe drought being completely mishandled by the Governor, that was enough. The Province of Pernambuco declared independence, joined by Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte. The result was a months-long war, with troops from Rio de Janeiro advancing from the south and the Capital, Recife, being bombarded by the Portuguese fleet, the rebels were defeated and order restored, with the province being cut in half of its size as a punishment.

D. João VI knew there was no turning back to Portugal, and so he would start embracing his new nation. A new flag was adopted, with the Kingdom of Portugal-Brazil being its name, the citizens started calling themselves “brasileiros”, and no one was more enthusiastic than the young and adventurous Prince D. Pedro, beloved by the people (except for those who discovered their wives in bed with him), he was charismatic and energetic, being married with the Habsburg Princess Leopoldina. And as the nation continued to grow, with the richness of the Empire flowing to Rio, a new product started to be the basis of the agrarian cash crops of the nation: Coffee. While it was not a new plant in Brazil, the recent expansion westwards caused by the discovery of gold also discovered a very fertile terrain for it in the Southeastern part of the country, especially in São Paulo. By the middle of the century, Brazil would be producing over 50% of the world’s supply of coffee, with that only increasing until it reached almost 80% in the 1870s.

In 1826, after a dinner eating his usual Chicken wings (the King’s favorite food), D. João would start choking, and he would die in his sleep. Some suspect he was poisoned by his hated wife Carlota Joaquina, who wanted a chance to place D. Miguel on the throne, but instead D. Pedro I would rise, thanks for the support of José Bonifácio, the chief advisor of the court, and his politically savvy wife. His first act was to deny the crown of Portugal-Brazil, proclaiming himself Emperor of Brazil, fully embracing the Brazilian identity of the nation and rejecting the long-forgotten homeland of the Bragança, and that was an outrage for D. Miguel, he would form the “Portuguese Party” a reactionary alliance of Portuguese citizens who wished to return to the old roots. Meanwhile, José Bonifácio would form the “Brazilian Party” to counter it, and it not only supported a more Brazilian-centric Empire, but also supported several liberal reforms enacted by D. Pedro, like freedom of Press and speech (so long as it didn’t attack the monarchy itself), and the formation of the Brazilian Parliament, elected by limites suffrage based on wealth (Yet, it was considered one of the most liberal of the time, with a greater percentage of the population voting even compared to the American Empire Pre-Jackson). The “Constitution of 1828” would be enacted to the anger of the Portuguese Party, but for now D. Miguel was isolated, with the army and the provinces (even the African colonies thanks to the slave trade) loyal, he couldn’t do much other than angry speeches, and that would change with the start of the GEW.

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Further south, the Directorate of La Plata achieved its independence from Spain, and rebels in Cisplatina would be inspired to do the same. Between 1829 and 1831, Brazil and La Plata would fight the first Platinean War over the control of Uruguay. La Plata had the initial advantage with an experienced army and local support, but after the Republican navy was destroyed near Montevideo, the nation was cut from foreign trade, and Brazil had a more professional army and economy, using that to turn the tide against the Argentines. Defeating them in the Battle of Corrientes in January 1831, putting Buenos Aires under siege. The Directorate would be forced to give up claims over Uruguay, cede disputed territories in the North of Entre Rios, and pay a heavy sum to cover the costs of war. D. Pedro (Who personally led the army) would come back victorious and hailed as a hero upon his return, increasing his popularity greatly. A certain woman called Domitila the Castro Melo would meet the emperor in Santos that night, only to leave the hotel room crying. D. Pedro started giving more value to his wife, treating her much better than before, standing by her side as their first born, D. Antônio, died, as the curse of the Bragança dictated. His second born D. Pedro II would soon grow up to be one of the most intellectual monarchs in history, tutored by an equally intellectual man, José Bonifácio, who remained a close advisor and even Prime Minister for some time (even if he failed to end slavery in Brazil, he would still play an important part in Brazilian history).


With the war reigniting in Europe, what was only an inconvenience became a loud cry. The reconquest of Portugal after almost 3 decades of exile became just a distant dream from some fanatical Portuguese, but now it was much more since it had the chance of becoming true. The Portuguese party rallied its members, signing a declaration demanding the “Right to Return”, and D. Pedro considered it opportune, willingly to finally get rid of his brother (Hopefully he would die at the hands of Bellegarde) he gave him a few ships, carried with veterans of the recent war with the Directorade of La Plata, to head to Portugal in 1837. Surprisingly he actually took back Lisbon, being hailed as D. Miguel I “O Libertador”, to the anger of his Brother, who started considering him a genuine threat. Once the war was over, D. Miguel would control the southern half of Portugal, including Lisbon, and now claimed the Portuguese throne and Empire. The Brazilian Imperial navy acted immediately blockading Lisbon, only to receive a British ultimatum ordering them to retreat from the occupation zone. Eventually, both sides agreed to having a neutral party mediation in Morocco at the Tangier conference. It was agreed that D. Miguel would hold the Portuguese throne and reject the claims over the colonies, while D. Pedro rejected the claims over Portugal and promised to not interfere on his brother’s domains.

There was never a clear date of Brazilian independence, some claim it was when Rio de Janeiro became capital and the ports were opened, others claim it was when D. João declared the short-lived Kingdom of Portugal-Brazil, most claim it was at the rise of D. Pedro I on the 7th of September of 1826, when he declared the Brazilian Empire. Maybe it would be more appropriate to call the independence of Portugal, as it is celebrated on the date of the arrival of D. Miguel and his declaration as Monarch on the 5th of August, others claim it was at the end of the Tangier conference on the 8th of March. The History of Portugal and Brazil during this troubled era is only as confusing as the Spanish-Mexican one, except that the Spanish had the opposite of D. João VI on the throne, because Carlos V hated Mexico and loved Spain.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE SPARK

Tonight, I shall take this sacred oath, I promise to never lower my weapon, never to lay down my sword, as long as the Satanic Republic keeps our fellow men bound to it’s shackles. The same way they whipped those who tried to free themselves, they shall be whipped, the demons dressed in human skin shall be sent to hell once more. The holy fire shall burn the blood-soaked cotton fields, like the pharaoh’s armies drowned in the Red Sea, their armies shall not prevail. Until our almighty Lord decides that my time here is done, I shall continue my holy mission, and I won’t give up until every single man, woman, and child in the Plantations is freed, and their masters suffer the punishment that they inflicted.”
-Reverend John Brown​

America entered the 1850s with rising tensions between the two contrasting nations: The American Empire and the United American Republics. Emperor John II and his Prime Minister, the Populist and War Hero Stephen W. Kearny, spent the last 6 years greatly expanding and modernizing the outdated United States Army. Meanwhile, the Southerners under President John Bell, watched anxious the aggressive moves of the Empire, and started mobilizing the Dixie Republic to resist. One of the effects of Bell’s policy was the pressure of the Plantation owners to accumulate as much wealth as possible due to the possibility of a war and blockade. The result of that was the increase in the violence in the treatment of the slaves, increasing the work journeys even more in an effort to hoard and sell as much cotton before the war started.

In a farm of Mississippi, a slave called Nathaniel Turner started to organize a resistance against it. After escaping the plantation, he turned fled into the Underground Railroad. There were several of these escape routes along the border, especially in Virginia, Louisiana, and Mississippi, where abolitionists helped thousands of slaves to free into the Empire and gain citizenship, and that was a cause of much attrition between the two nations. Turner fled to New Orleans, where he would go to the Americanist Church of Reverend John Brown, one of the most famous stops of the Underground Railroad. John Brown was born in Connecticut in 1800, his father would die as a soldier during the Civil War, and that event would traumatize him. He grew to hate slavery, entering into first the Presbyterian and later the American Imperial Church, and being part of a religious segment of the Abolitionist Movement, considering the UAR to be the incarnation of Hell, with the slave owners being legions of demons. On that night of the 12th of July of 1851, he would make one of his firely sermons, and would later meet Nathaniel, the two men grew closer in their common objective: Destroy the UAR.

A plan was hatched, where John Brown would recruit several abolitionists and freed slaves, they would march back across the border and arm the slaves to start an uprising. The States of Mississippi and Alabama were some of the main plantation areas of the UAR, together with Georgia and South Carolina, as opposed to Tennessee and Virginia where most of the slaves were domestic and better treated than their plantation counterparts, that made them a powder keg, and on the 1st of August, the plan was put into action. With about 200 men crossing the poorly guarded border to attack Nathaniel’s old plantation, giving weapons to the slaves, from rifles to swords and pistols, causing a massacre as they turned against their masters, tying the family into a pole, together with other workers, and putting them on fire. The news would spread, with more slaves turning against their masters, and soon, the Deep South was on fire.

Soon, over a third of the plantations of Mississippi were on fire. Nathaniel and Brown declared the “Republic of Freedonia” after Black militias attacked Hattiesburg. John Brown called for all the citizens willingly to fight for freedom to join the new nation, this resulted in thousands of poor whites and liberals siding with the new movement against the elites that dominated the UAR. The local State militia was formed under Major General Jefferson Davis, marching from the Capital, Harrisonville, with 16,000 men to attack the “Army of the Free” composed of 23,000. The Battle of Georgetown was the first large scale battle of the American War, with Davis’ men repeatedly launching attacks on the Freedonian defenses, breaking them in the 3rd assault. John brown’s men retreated back to Hattiesburg and were sieged by Davis’ men, and on other parts of the UAR, the revolts mostly failed, resulting in a harsh crackdown. Except for Georgia where the rebels captured Macon and successfully repealed the enemy attacks, but after a failed siege of Atlanta, they were back to the defensive. The Slave revolt of 1851 seemed about to end.

But events outside of the UAR would put the world at war once more: In Hispania, the infamous King Bellegarde finally expired, dying as a victim of tuberculosis. His death threw the whole Iberia on fire once more, with rebellions popping up against the French domination, and both the Portuguese and Spanish declared war on the collapsing Hispanians in order to reclaim their former territory. Napoleon II immediately reacted to that, appointing Marshal François Banzaine as Chief of Iberian affairs, and marching down an army to restore the order. Cochrane’s Britannia would soon follow at gobbling up the remnants of Hispania. The two forces would eventually meet west of Madrid in Victoria, even if they weren’t officially at war, the sight of the French uniforms was enough to make the Spanish, Portuguese, and British troops be filled with rage, and they attacked against the officers’ orders, causing a skirmish that eventually became a Battle. On the 28th of September of 1851, the 4 nations exchanged declarations and war restarted in Europe. Russia and the rest of the coalition were hesitant to attack the French formidable fortifications at the Elbe, and no declaration of war came, although both sides mobilized forces to ensure that the other wouldn’t attack first. The Third Peninsula War had started, and it would bring both the UAR and the Empire to war.

American Prime Minister Stephen W. Kearny​

The American Empire and the French Empire had a close relationship, Emperor John II was half-Bonaparte and great admirer of Napoleon Ier, and the French considered the Americans a partner, with both having strong trade links and a common hatred of Britannia. On the 30th of August of 1848, Napoleon II and John II signed the “Treaty of Nantes” creating the “Pact of the Dual Eagles”, an alliance of mutual defense of both nations against British aggression. Meanwhile, the Britons made a similar agreement with the UAR after the Great European War, against “The Franco-Yankee threat”. These two alliances would be called in 1851, with the Americans launching a naval strike against Norfolk and bombarding the coast of Virginia and a second one in the Island of Bermuda and St. John’s.

Soon, the “Great American War”, known in Europe as the “Third Peninsular War”, had started.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE ARMY WITH A STATE

“None of those that claim that the pen is mightier than the sword .”
Heinrich von Schweppenburg, Army Chief of Staff of Prussia​

The impact of the Great European War was felt from the Middle East to the Iberian Peninsula, yet there were few places where it was as traumatic as in Prussia. The Kingdom was the frontline of most of the War, fighting the brutal battles along the Elbe River and especially the Berlin campaign, which left the capital of the Kingdom destroyed for years. The Prussians had prepared for such a war ever since the Battles of the Fourth Coalition war, yet that preparation didn’t save the western regions of their Kingdom, and although it ended in a victory, it left the taste of a defeat. King Heinrich I was a hero for his actions in Berlin, being called the “Savior of Prussia” and compared to Frederick the Great. And from the Battles of the Great European War, an new generation of military officers would rise, one as brilliant, if not even more, as the generation of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

Albrecht von Roon, Heinrich von Schweppenburg, Helmuth von Moltke, and Karl von Goeben were representatives of this generation. And together with Prince Heinrich I, they would prepare Prussia for it’s definitive mission: The destruction of the French State, and a rising idea of unifying the Germanic peoples that was taking hold of Prussia. It was part of the growing sentiment of Pan-Nationalism among peoples, like Germans, Italians, Slavs, and Turks. The recent rise of Iskander’s Turkish empire as the first Ethno-State, or Racial-State like Darwin called it, of this new age, also brought in a shared sense of German union, as exemplified by the Rheinbund, and the Prussian “triumvirate” hoped to use that.

Moltke, Schweppenburg, and Roon formed a council made up of the young military generation, initially serving as the King’s closest advisors and even personal friends. After the death of Clausewitz in 1847, Schweppenburg became Army Chief of Staff, with Moltke as Minister of War, and von Roon as Field Marshal of the Army of the Elbe, the main armed body of the nation and the first line of both defense and attack against the French. In 1848, the “Triumvirate” received free hand of the King to enact their reforms, focusing on the modernization of tactics accordingly to the new technologies, especially focusing on the mobile warfare and mass mobilization. Moltke was a man enamored with the trains, the machines that were now connecting Europe, and he believed that the mass use of railroads to transport troops and supplies would give the nation that mastered this new modern warfare, the initiative against the enemy. Schweppenburg, meanwhile, focuses more on the quantity aspect of the army, as the GEW war showed, the military forces were becoming larger, with the concept of “Nation-at-Arms” of the French Revolution being adopted widely with the new Conscription Laws. Yet it was not enough, the French and Russian armies could always count with an near infinite manpower reserve, Prussia didn’t have that luxury, and if it mobilized between 5-10% of the population, the titanic powers of Europe always would have the edge. The solution was found in the concept of Prussia itself, it was an Stratocracy with a King, an “Army with a State” as Voltaire once described, the Prussian nation needed a bigger effort towards the complete militarization of society.

From childhood, children would be educated on military history and patriotic values, propaganda would emphasize the importance of the Army, with discipline and efficiency being exalted as the most important virtues of man. Even the Polish of the recently conquered regions of Posen and Plock would be able to receive the same rights as any other Prussian if they joined the armed forces. The Prussian state allied with the rising Industrial “Junker” class to form one of the largest military-industrial complexes of the world, feeding on the coal and iron of Silesia to arm this massive army. Weapon ownership was encouraged, a gun culture in Prussia of using weapons to serve the nation would grow more and more, with even the average civilian having a basic weapon training. It was estimated that by 1860, in the case of War, Prussia could mobilize up to 25-30% of their population.

Roon was not inactive either, with one of the harshest drill regimes in the world, occasionally resulting in deaths due to exhaustion in trainings, the Army of the Elbe was made the most elite force in Europe, behind only the French Imperial Guard. A line of fortifications was built along the river, yet no one in the Triumvirate wished to use them one day. The next war would be aggressive, mobile, and offensive, bringing it on the French lands instead of the Prussian ones. The Elbe line would only be used as a last resort, and the railroads would assure that the Prussians could mobilize its newly increased manpower reserve to overwhelm the French. The advantage of Prussia is that it was a smaller nation, and didn’t have their troops spread across Europe, they only had one enemy, in one direction.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE EMPIRE OF FREEDOM

The Great American war would be one of the bloodiest conflicts in the continent during the 19th Century. Imperial forces expected a short war, yet the Dixie resistance would be stronger than expected, especially thanks to the Virginian General Robert E. Lee and the logistical nightmare of organizing the invasion of a territory the size of the French Empire. The Imperial Army was reorganized as part of John II’s reforms, instead of “Armies” or “Corps” like used in Europe, the inspiration came from Rome. There was a large influence of Roman symbolism in the Empire, with a romanticized view of the old Roman Empire being shared by many of the founding fathers, especially George Washington. The American army was reformed into “Legions”, formed of about 50,000 men and divided into 10 Cohorts of 5,000 men. Before the war, there were about 6 Legions, although the number increased to 10 during the War. There was also the American Imperial Guard, with the name of the Praetorian Guard being rejected due to its historical fame of corruption and coups against the Emperors, the Guard was composed of 30,000 of the best men in America, tasked with defending Columbia and the Emperor. 7 Years of reforms would prepare the Empire for this, it was time to see the fruits of it.

The UAR, meanwhile, didn’t have a unified army, due to its decentralized nature. Only the navy was remotely unified while the Army was divided along state lines initially. Yet the shock of the first battles would force the Presidency to centralize its military forces under the Grand Army of the Republic. The State of Virginia had the best military forces of the UAR, led by General Robert E. Lee, son of Senator Charles Lee, one of the founding fathers of the UAR. For years the military was one of the main focuses of the Republic due to the ever present, and now justified, paranoia of the Northern invasion. Although it would be an exaggeration to call them the “American Prussia” due to the high amounts of corruption and nepotism, the State Militias of the UAR were among some of the best trained men in the Western Hemisphere, which would soon be tested against the Legions of the Empire.

The opening moves of the War would be a coordinated assault of the American fleet against the UAR’s ports, following the plan developed by Admiral Matthew C. Perry. The plan called for a blockade of the UAR’s ports and the closing of the mouth of the Mississippi by taking cities along the river, especially the City-fortress of Vicksburg in Mississippi. The “Anaconda Plan” depended on both crippling the UAR’s fleet with an initial strike, inspired by the British attack on Brest during the GEW, and preventing the Britannic navy from breaking the blockade, although Perry expected them to focus on the French instead.

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The naval attack on the ports of Norfolk and Mobile was one of the greatest feats of coordination of the time, with both being struck before either of them knew about the war. It was latter followed by an attack against the British fleets in Bermuda and St. John. While both attacks were successful in inflicting losses, it was far from the decisive outcome that Perry hoped. The UAR managed to organize their fleet, and were about to introduce a new technology to the naval war, created in a shared project with Britannia, the “Iron Frigates” would become completely obsolete against the “GSR (Grand Ship of the Republic) Phoenix” one of the new “Ironclad” ships. A ship completely covered in Iron, making cannon shots bounce off its sloppy deck, it’s strong ram was capable of breaking wood ships in half and send them to sleep with Davy Jones. It was first presented in the Battle of Newsport, where it was capable of sinking 3 Imperial Iron Frigates. For months that ship would strike terror against the hearts of every Imperial admiral.

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But on land, the Republic was in disadvantage, the war was divided in 3 fronts: Mississippi front, Tennessee Front, and Virginia Front. The 5th Legion, based in New Orleans, launched its first attack against Mississippi and the Militia of Jefferson Davis, saving the Freedonian rebels by relieving the siege of Hattiesburg. Davis would call in his reserves, and the militia of Alabama would soon join him, although he would clash with General Barney with both commanders having different strategies. Just before setting the winter Quarters, the Imperial General Pierre Gustave Beauregard (Not to be confused with Bellegarde) would launch an attack on the city of Harrisonville with the support of “Brown’s negroes” as he called them. The Battle of Harrisonville was the largest Battle of the War up to that moment, with 56,000 Imperials fighting 52,000 Dixies, the 5th Legion was defeated, suffering 7,700 casualties compared to the Republicans’ 4,300. The War in Mississippi would continue on the following year.

In Tennessee, the 3rd and 4th Legions would invade from the North and West, targeting Nashville and Memphis respectively. Memphis was the main port city of the UAR in the Mississippi, and Nashville was one of the Industrial centers of the mostly agrarian republic. Generals Henry Thomas and Samuel Curtis would lead the attacks while the Tennessee militia under Leonidas Polk had to decide which one was more important to save. With the Union control over New Orleans, Memphis would lose most of its significance, and Nashville had to be saved instead, and the Battle of Greenbrier would begin. The 3rd Legion under Thomas would meet Polk’s defenses head on, with both sides having a roughly equal number, the 3rd Legion was forced to pull back with 6,000 casualties against 3,700 of the Dixies. But meanwhile, Memphis was taken after a brief siege by Curtis, and with its fall, only Vickysburg remained.

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In Virginia, the main Theater of the War, the 1st and 2nd Legions would be both placed under the command of the Old Veteran General Winfield Scott, the two would advance towards the Capital of Richmond, with the second one being tasked in capturing West Virginia. The task of the 2nd Legion was surprisingly smooth, citizens of the Appalachia didn’t have strong feelings of Loyalty to the republic or depended as much on slavery, with strong trade ties with the Empire and Abolitionist sentiments. In 2 weeks, everything west of the Shenandoah Valley was in Imperial control, while Scott ordered the 1st Legion to advance towards the Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg, establishing their positions and await the arrival of the Second Legion for a combined assault on Richmond from North and West. But there was one man prepared to stop that, the Commander of the Virginian State Militia Robert Edward Lee. The Virginians had by far the most elite forces of the Republic, thanks to extensive training of their staff by Prussian instructors and large investments for the defense of the Capital. Lee would surprise Scott with his aggressive movements, seeking to defeat both legions before they combined.

The largest battle of the Virginian front in 1851 happened in the banks of the Bull Run river near Manassas. 42,000 Imperials of the 1st Legion would clash in a day-long battle with 36,000 Virginians. Further west, in Warrenton, 38,000 Imperials of the 2nd Legion were delayed by a small force of 25,000 Virginians under Joseph P. Johnston. The Twin battles of Warrenton-Manassas was part of Lee’s strategy of dividing the two armies and preventing their merge, and it worked. The Battle in Bull Run would end up with the First Legion returning to Columbia with 6,800 Casualties to the Republican 2,450. In Warrenton, where Lee expected the force to be defeated, it was actually a victory, with the Second Legion going back to Harpers Ferry with 5,400 men less and Johnston losing 2,800. The First invasion of Virginia failed on the 3rd of December of 1851, but the Empire would try again next year. One of the stories was of the 5th Virginia Brigade in Warrenton, where the young Lieutenant Thomas Jackson would hold the terrain against a force 3 times larger. It was said that Johnston, upon seeing the battlefield from the distance, would see Jackson’s men and comment “Look at that, it’s Jackson and his men, standing like a Stonewall”, after that battle he would be called “Stonewall Jackson”.

General Robert Edward Lee​

As 1851 ended, it showed 3 examples on how the Great American War would be fought. It wasn’t going to be solved in a decisive Battle like in the previous war, but it would be a brutal confrontation that would shape the American continent. While the Spanish, Portuguese and British would fight the French (Spain and Portugal didn’t even declare war in America) in an equally destructive confrontation in Iberia, the War in America would be one over an idea: Should you be able to enslave your fellow men ? It was the war between the Republic of Slavery and the Empire of Freedom.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE EMPIRE OF FREEDOM II

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1852 arrived, and as the winter started settling down in February, the armies came out of their camps for war. Old commanders like Winfield Scott would lose their posts for their failure to adapt to modern warfare, while new ones like William Rosecrans, William T. Sherman, Nathan Forrest, and Thomas Jackson would take their places. In the naval war, the GSR Phoenix would continue causing chaos in the Naval ranks while the Empire desperately attempted to create their own counter to it. As a string of Imperial successes in Mississippi would show the infighting between state militias, President John Bell would assume increasingly dictatorial powers, centralizing the Republic and it’s military to unprecedented levels in order to do everything to win the war.

General Beauregard was outnumbered in Mississippi, and he knew he had to pick the enemies separately. Davis’ Militia wanted to counter attack after the victory in Harrisonville, forgetting that his own forces were depleted by that battle and needed rest. Both sides started receiving more forces, with the 7th Legion being recruited in New Orleans by the use of the new draft laws, while the Florida State Militia, which included the feared “Cherokee Cavalry”, started arriving at the region. Winfield Scott, in one of his last decisions as Commanding General of the Imperial Army, would order Samuel Curtis’ 4th Legion to march south and join Beauregard in a siege in Vickysburg. Meanwhile the Freedonian Army would continue the fight to the south, making a brutal march of terror to Mobile, destroying plantations along the way and recruiting the slaves, sometimes forcefully. The port of Mobile in Alabama would be placed under siege, and both Davis and Barney having different priorities. Davis insisted in saving Vickysburg, which would only be possible if both militias used their combined force for a breakthrough, yet Barney argued that Vickysburg had no strategic value while the Empire controlled New Orleans, and instead wanted to attack the Freedonians in Mobile that was an actual strategic port. The delay of the indecisiveness would prove the doom of the Republicans as both cities would fall, and that would force a complete change of the military structure of the Republic.

In Tennessee, Polk would continue his stubborn defense of Nashville, and the arrival of Georgian reinforcements while the 4th Legion marched south would provide a golden opportunity. Polk launched an attack of Kentucky, clashing against Thomas’ 3rd Legion in Bee Spring, 58,000 Republicans against 45,000 Imperials on the 6th of April of 1852. The Republicans won the field that day with 7,000 casualties compared to 7,800 Imperials, in one of the bloodiest battles of the Tennessee front. The result was Polk’s invasion of Kentucky, where the slave trader and cavalry officer Nathan Forrest would become famous for his daring raids, sometimes taking blacks as prisoners and selling them as slaves in Kentucky. Later the 8th Legion would be recruited in Ohio, and put under a new young commander that would be remembered as the “Butcher of the South”, William Tecumseh Sherman.

Meanwhile, the Imperial blockade started starving the Confederate economy, yet it was almost impossible to keep the blockade of such extensive coast while British and Republican ships started pounding it. The British fleet under Sir Fairfax Moresby, Admiral of the Atlantic Squadron, started using the Bahamas as a base to launch naval attacks against the Imperial navy to temporarily open up the blockade in some areas until the arrival of reinforcements. These hit-and-run operations would provide some relief to the UAR, especially with food coming from Cuba. Admiral Matthew Perry proposed a risky and bold plan: The invasion of Cuba.

Sir Fairfax Moresby by the 1870s
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The invasion plan was to assemble about 30,000 men in New Orleans, led by General George Meade, would invade the western part of the Island near Mariel, march east to Havana, and call the support of the local black population by announcing the end of slavery. Cuba was still an island ruled by the Taylor family, this time led by Benjamin Taylor, the grandson of the General who conquered the island. Although he was young, Ben Taylor had the intelligence to see the UAR as a doomed project, and he would secretly enter in negotiations with the Empire to allow him to become an ally of them. The “Cuban Affair” would result in Benjamin Taylor declaring the Independence of Cuba on the 16th of May of 1852, cutting off the Republican control of the Island. President Bell refused to recognize the betrayal and it would be one of the reasons for the dictatorial moves he would make during the summer.

In Virginia, General Lee would continue holding against the attacks of the 1st and 2nd Legions, with further reinforcements coming from North and South Carolina. The State militias of these 3 states ended up more united as Lee would be the dominant force in the Staff meetings and call the shots before battle (that would inspire Bell’s reforms in July). Scott, meanwhile, was getting old and was obese, somewhat thinking that would be a war fought like the previous ones, he had to be replaced and the Emperor would replace him with General William Rosecrans, a promising West Point commander who showed great ability as a Cohort commander in Bull Run and that was chosen as an aggressive commander to take the fight south. The recently formed 9th Legion of New York would join the 1st and 2nd Legions to a combined attack in Virginia, the 1852 Spring campaign.

General William Rosecrans​

The 9th Legion was sent to attack from the West, while the 1st and 2nd Legions would strike Lee’s main army near the North Anna River, where Lee would prepare his defenses while sending a small corps under the recently promoted Lieutenant General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to keep the 9th Legion away from the flanks. On the 26th of April, the Battle of the North Anna would begin, with the Imperials outnumbering Lee’s Army by a far greater margin than before (94,000 to 66,000) and smashing against the prepared defenses of the Republicans. Meanwhile, in the Shenandoah Valley, Jackson would launch his campaign of mobile warfare against the 9th Legion of General Henry Halleck. Even outnumbered 5-2, he would still use his “Foot Cavalry” as his Corps was called, to completely outmaneuver the enemy forces inside the Valley, covering in a day what a regular army needed 3 days to walk. In a campaign of “Divide and Conquer” that would make the Romans seem like amateurs, Jackson would inflict 16,000 casualties on the 9th Legion and force them to leave the valley, while only suffering 3,000 casualties of his own. The Battle of the North Anna would be the bloodiest battle in American soil until then, with the Empire suffering 14,600 casualties compared to the Republican’s 7,100, with Rosecrans forced to leave Virginia in disgrace.

President John Bell might have been relieved by the victories in Virginia, yet the loss of Mobile, a third of Mississippi and the Western regions of Tennessee wasn’t encouraging. The betrayal of the Cubans further worsened the situation and Bell blamed the Republican defeats on the infighting of the State Militias as the commanders argued over strategy, which costed the loss of Mobile and Vickysburg in the Mississippi Front. Bell did not have any constitutional authority to make the changes he deemed necessary for victory, so instead he called the congress in Richmond shortly after the Spring, Confederates and Democrats alike wished to increase the war effort but were skeptical of the central leadership that only the President could provide. After seeing that the Congress wouldn’t bend their will, Bell instead called General Lee to “increase the security of Richmond”, soon, troops were marching outside the congress building and many started fearing that Bell attempted to pull a coup with military help, they decided to act first and attempt to impeach President Bell on the grounds of “Threatening the Republican institutions”. Bell knew he had no choice left, and ordered Lee to dissolve the congress to ensure the safety of the Republic and prevent the collapse of the nation. On the 4th of July of 1852, while the Empire celebrated it’s Independence Day, President Bell suspended the constitution and assumed full powers, dissolving the courts and using the army to arrest governors that didn’t recognize his new Dictatorship. He would create the “War Commitee” and put Robert E. Lee in charge of all armies of the UAR, while also dissolving the State militias and putting them under Federal control. Total war was declared and all resources of the Republic would be mobilize to achieve final victory, meanwhile, Lee would prepare to finally march to the North and take the fight to the Empire.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

THE EMPIRE OF FREEDOM III

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After Bell’s coup, the Republican forces started a series of attacks against the Imperial and Freedonian forces in Mississippi, greatly militarizing the state and imposing an unpopular conscription. The Empire was forced to do the same as Lee’s forces crossed the Potomac and threatened Columbia itself, where General Halleck would show one of the greatest failures of American military history, turning what could’ve been an easy victory into a disaster. Meanwhile, the Imperial navy launches it’s decisive attack against the greatest force of the Republican Navy, led by the Invincible Ironclad “GSR Phoenix”.

Bell’s coup was supported by the armed forces thanks for the prestige of Lee’s support, the resistant governors of Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia were put under arrest and martial law was imposed. Bell finally gave the Republican army some much-needed organization, organizing an hierarchy by abolishing the State Militias and organizing an Army corps organization similar to the French one. Yet, due to their incompetence, both Davis and Barney would be demoted, as Corp commanders for the new General of the Mississippi Army: George Reed. At an young age, Reed went to Europe, studying new tactics in the Commonwealth and serving as an cavalry officer of the British Army during the Great European War. Reed was a brilliant and aggressive commander, he is quoted with the saying “Never a position can be defended forever, the only way to victory is the attack, if you always let the enemy dictate the battle, your defeat is inevitable.”

The following months in the Mississippi front would be Reed showcasing the greatest military campaign the continent has ever seen. The 4th, 5th, and 7th Legions, plus the Freedonians, outnumbered the Republicans almost 2-1, yet, Reed would move his men in a speed matched only by Jackson’s Valley campaign in Virginia, picking them up one by one. In Leakesville, Beauregard and the Freedonians would be cut off due to the overextended supply lines, and while Curtis used the 4th and 7th Legions to siege the state capital of Harrisonville (OTL Jackson), the newly formed “Army of the Mississippi” part of the Grand Army of the Republic, would launch a surprise attack that routed the 5th Legion and captured Hattiesburg. John Brown’s Freedonians were forced to retreat from Mobile and East Mississippi, joining with the Imperials for the siege of Harrisonville. Yet, instead of engaging the Imperial legions in the siege, Reed marched his troops west towards Port Gibson, planning to take Vickysburg and cut off the supply lines from New Orleans. Curtis didn’t want to abandon the siege, instead he sent Beauregard’s 5th Legion together with the 7th to defeat the Republicans. The Battle of Port Gibson is studied to this day by military strategists, 87,000 Imperials would meet 61,000 Republicans, setting camp North of the Bayou Pierre and preparing to attack on the morning of the 13th of September, yet on the night of the 12th, the Republicans were the ones attacking. Reed slipped his troops across the river in the swamps of the west, launching an artillery barrage from the south and attacking with a third of his forces to make Beauregard believe that was the main attack. The Imperial troops took positions to the south and waited the attack, it would come as the 3rd Corps under Braxton Bragg attacked, and as the Imperials fought off the attack, Reed himself led the flank assault from the Swamp, that the Imperials didn’t bother to defend as Beauregard believed it was impossible to cross the Bayou swamps, allowing the Republican forces to capture the Union camp and attack from the rearguard. Beauregard ordered a retreat just before being shot in the head by a sniper, the retreat turned into a rout as the Imperial forces panicked and lost their central leadership. The Legion system showed its failure as the Americans still believed that the honor of battle would spare commanding officers, as such the Cohorts were equal while all the leadership was centered in the commanding officer. The disaster of Port Gibson would cost the Imperials 14,000 Casualties and over 30,000 prisoners, with at least 7,000 deserting during the retreat towards Harrisonville, all while the Republicans just lost around 5,000 men.

With the 5th and 7th legions crippled, and the Republicans retaking Vickysburg, Curtis had no other choice but to retreat north towards Memphis. Yet Reed wasn’t done yet, sending his army to block their escape and both raced one another to the north, yet the Republicans knew the terrain better, and Reed prepared to block their way in the Battle of Bellewood. On the 25th of September, 80,000 Imperials were blocked from escape by 56,000 Republicans, yet Curtis believed his numerical superiority would give him his victory, and like Beauregard, he underestimated George Reed. Imperial forces crossed the Little Jackson Bayou, charging after the Republicans knowing that breaking their lines was their only chance of survival. On the first day, the Imperials failed to break their lines, with 4,600 Casualties to the Republicans’ 3,100. Yet during the night, the Republican forces abandoned their defenses in the river marching to the north and leaving the Imperials surprised, as they crossed the river towards the north, a dense fog covered the battlefield, and at the 1300 hours, the Republicans charged against the Imperials from the flanks in the forest, flanking them from both sides while leaving a small force to hold the front. Chaos came on the battlefield as the Imperials desperately fought for their lives, Curtis ordered all the reserves focused on the front in an attempt to break north to escape, all while the Cherokee Cavalry charged from behind, over 80 pieces of artillery were captured and just as the morale started to break, Curtis’ men were able to break the front and retreat to the north. It was a tactical victory for the Dixies as they captured 12,000 men and practically all the artillery pieces of the Imperial legions, yet it was an strategic defeat as it allowed the Imperials to retreat north to Memphis. Yet it doesn’t take out the fact that in 2 months, George Reed’s Army of Missouri was able to completely expel the invaders from Missouri, captured enough troops to make up an entire legion, killed General Beauregard, and left Louisiana defenseless as he prepared his next move: The invasion of Louisiana.

Yet, while the Republicans turned the tide in the South-west, in Kentucky, Polk’s Army of Tennessee would meet an opposite end. As Polk’s men captured Central Kentucky, General Thomas was demoted with the arrival of General Sherman’s 8th legion, who became the overall commander of the Kentucky front. As Polk marched North towards Louisville, Sherman’s men came down upon the Republican forces in Elizabethtown, the battle would happen on the 15th of September, with the Dixies losing 8,500 men, including General Polk, and Sherman losing only 3,400. His aggressive approach would turn the tide of the Tennessee front, as he pushed the Republicans back to Tennessee, while the Cavalry officer Nathan Forrest would become the new General of the Army of Tennessee.

Yet, the main front of the war in Virginia would move to Maryland, General Lee would launch his offensive on the 17th of August, 76,000 troops heading towards the north in an effort to bring the war to the Empire and force it’s surrender by surrounding and capturing Columbia. Opposing him was Halleck and over a hundred thousand men, with other thirty thousand in Columbia as part of the Imperial Guard. Yet, Halleck would commit one of the greatest mistakes of the War, deciding against fighting Lee head on and instead divide his men to hold strategic positions of Maryland. That allowed Lee to engage in more equal terms, and the divided Imperial Army was picked apart like Lee did in the previous campaign, with Jackson’s corps keeping the 1st Legion in Woodsboro, while Lee attacked the 2nd and 9th Legions in Braddock Heights. The Imperial forces were defeated at Braddock on the 23rd of August, and Lee would strike the first legion on the following day, the Legions were routed to Baltimore, leaving Columbia open to attack. Lee didn’t waste time, and on the 26th of August of 1852, the Siege of Columbia started.

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In the sea, the Republicans planned to cut off Columbia completely by sea, and Admiral Franklin Buchanan, together with Moresby’s support, launched the attack on Chesapeake bay once more. Yet the Empire could tolerate anything, except allowing enemy ships to threaten Columbia again, Admiral Perry would take personal command of the new American ship, the first American Ironclad, the “Emperor Washington”. The result was the first battle of two ironclads and the largest naval battle of the Great American War, on the 1st of September at the Potomac River Estuary near Saint Mary. With 30 American ships engaging 17 Republican and 8 British vessels, although the battle is an impressive one by itself, the most important part of the battle was when the “Phoenix” and the “Emperor Washington” meet and fought one another, with the commanding admirals of both sides inside, and only one could leave. After 2 hours of engagement, Perry made a bold move: His ship had an Steel battery ram, and if he managed to hit the Phoenix, he might be able to make a hole on it’s iron hull. The maneuver worked, but exhausted the engines of the American ship, meanwhile, the two crews fought in a vicious melee as the two ships collided, the engines of the Washington were fixed and it went full astern, leaving a hole under the water line that finally broke the Phoenix’s invincibility. The Republican Admiral was desperate to save his ship, ordering full power to the engines to get to land, yet the overloaded engine ended up exploding, blowing up the ship in an spectacular explosion as the fires reached the ammunition depot. The sight of the Phoenix exploding and sinking would prove too much to the Republican/British fleet, and they retreated back to Norfolk, sparing Columbia from another attack by sea, yet it was still surrounded by land, with Emperor John II and his Imperial Legion being the only thing preventing the fall of the city.

The Phoenix exploding as it attempted to reach the port, killing most of it’s crew and Admiral Franklin Buchanan
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But while the Republicans suffered losses at sea and in Kentucky, a true miracle unseen before in the Continent, has saved the Republicans in the Western Front, 3 Imperial legions shattered and almost a Legion’s worth of prisoners in a campaign between August and September of 1852. Now, the Heart of the Mississippi and of trade in Western America is exposed to the dagger, while the Capital itself is under siege, yet the war would only grow more brutal, and there are millions still left to die.