December, 1864
Madrid
William Seward found his opposite number, Lord Derby, a preening aristocratic jackass, but an intelligent one. He was not be surprised that Derby considered him a pompous windbag.
In truth, neither man found the other offensive and, after the usual rounds of pleasantries came the usual rounds of recriminations and demands.
Once that was out of the way, the two got down to business.
Seward informed Derby, whom must have known very well the American position, that Britain had declared war, Britain had ravaged helpless cities from the sea and Britain had aided the Confederate cause directly by arming them with powder, weapons, etc which was the only way that the rebellion had lasted two years.
Seward demanded restitution for hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.
Derby demanded that Canada (now two sovereign countries) and the western lands (Ruport's Land, British Columbia and Vancouver) be returned to Britain.
Both knew damned well that none of these things were going to happen. Thus, after two weeks, the Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary would hammer out the same agreement which both knew was inevitable the moment they set foot upon Spanish soil.
America kept her conquests in British North America, Britain would recognize Quebec and Canada as independent nations (if they could be assured that the people WANTED independence) and America would drop her absurd claims.
Derby knew damned well that the French and Russians must soon take precedence over America. Besides, through neutral traders, the impending arrival of American grain and cotton had already lifted spirits in the lower classes, especially the Midlands.
The closest either side would receive in compensation was an American promise that loans from prior to the war by British Banks, private individuals, etc. would be paid. Even Derby didn't dare voice the opinion that debts owed by the Confederate government be paid by the Americans.
Neither side voiced anything remotely like an apology amid the standard well-wishing and good tidings for future relationships (eternal friendship and the like).
The peace treaty would find no shortage of detractors in both countries but the respective leaders, knowing the folly of extending hostilities, would press ahead anyway hopeful that future voters would just be glad the entire incident was over.
The Hijaz
It turned out that the europhile Khedive Isma'il Pasha would not possess his grandfather's military skill. With forces already committed to seizing Ottoman Syria, the Khedive also dispatched units to seize the Hijaz and Yemen. While the war in Syria proved generally successful, the Egyptian forces in Arabia would effectively be massacred by the local polities.
With the reverses, Isma'il Pasha withdrew his forces from the Red Sea and reconsidered encroaching on the border of Ethiopian as planned (He was uncertain what his French or Russian friends would think of that anyway).
Debts were already beginning to rack up despite French and Russian subsidies. The projected revenues of the Suez Canal, if they panned out at all, were still four or five years away. The Khedive determined to keep his expectations more level. Already the French bankers were closing in.
Washington
Edward de Stoeckl would quietly approach Lincoln regarding the status of Russian America. The vast land had been largely furred out over the years and no longer possessed any utility for the Czar. Prior to the American war, de Stoeckl would encourage the Czar and Americans to purchase the northern lands but the War between the States ended the conversation. He was certain that Great Britain was likely to grasp it sooner or later and, if peace between Britain and America was nigh, that the latter would soon form a threat. Rather than risk a breech in relations between Russia and America, the Ambassador sought to prevent such an event from happening.
President Lincoln, despite the hardships his people were suffering economically, responded with enthusiasm and assured de Stoeckl that he would press for Congressional approval the moment the wars with Britain and France ended, no matter the economic situation.
This worked for de Stoeckl as well as France, being Russia's pseudo-ally, was still at war with America and Russia selling land to the Emperor's enemies may prove quite offensive in some quarters of Paris.
However, the seasoned diplomat in de Stoeckl wondered how long such an alliance was set to last.
Over the past half-decade, Napoleon III of France had betrayed Britain, Spain, Mexico, Austria, Denmark and the Vatican without any apparent remorse. How long would it take before Russia joined THAT list?
Eastern Anatolia
Having seen her armies crushed in the field without a single ally arriving with promised aid (Britain, France, Italy, Austria), the Ottoman government (of the moment) in Ankara would seek peace with Russia. Mass numbers of refugees were spilling across Anatolia's borders. Europe was being emptied of Turks (and most Romanian, Bulgarian and Greek Muslims, for that matter) while the Russians had crushed the Ottoman armies in Eastern Anatolia.
Even the Turkish populations in the Levant were being summarily thrown out by that Jackal, the Khedive of Egypt.
Her government and economy in tattered, what was left of central authority ceded the Armenian, Greek, Wallachian, Moldavian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Kurdish, Alevi, Assyrian, Albanian, Arab, etc, etc, etc, lands to whoever the Czar's agents stated.
The Ottoman Empire had come to an end with a speed no one within or without could possibly have imagined.
Greece
Though offended that Russia deemed proper to keep Eastern Thrace and Constantinople to herself, the King of Greece was happy to seize those lands north of her borders in Macedonia and Albania.
The latter country, Albania, would be broken into three units: Greek Albania (mostly Orthodox), Muslim Albania and North Albania (Catholic).
To the north, another new nation, Bosnia, would bear her own struggles attempting to mix her Muslim Majority to the Serbian Orthodox Minority....when Bosnia no longer had a strong Muslim sponsor to protect her interests.