Fenians, Brits, Mexicans, Canucks and Frenchies....OH, MY! An alternate American Civil War

[Alt History Buff]

January, 1875

Batavia, Java

The Dutch East Indies comprised theoretically of Java, Sumatra, parts of western coastal Borneo and a few of the "spice" islands to the east. In reality, the Dutch control was limited to say the least in many of these regions. Repeated attempts to conquer the rest of the archipelago effectively bankrupted the Dutch East Indies. The Sultanate of Aceh in particular was restive as the local Muslim warlords were using the greater war in Southeast Asia to their advantage against the Dutch. With the Suez Canal shut down, the Dutch had been slow to reinforce their colony from Europe.

In 1875, much of the Dutch Netherlands East Indies Army had been dispatched to Aceh (in northern Sumatra) in yet another attempt to conquer the Sultanate.

This left Batavia, the capital of the colony located on Java, dreadfully exposed. Worse, the Dutch had not remotely updated their fleet as much as Britain, France, Russia and America. The handful of modern ships under the Dutch flag were still stationed in Europe. The Japanese fleet easily brushed aside the few functional Dutch vessels and seized control over the harbor. The obsolete harbor defenses were shelled into submission by the American-made Kalamazoo-class ships.

The Japanese invasion force would be met with little resistance. Only about 20,000 troops were stationed in the East Indies, roughly 2/3's natives. This was actually a significant INCREASE from the years before on only reached this level due to the impending Aceh conflict. With the bulk of these troops shipped to Sumatra, only a few thousand remained in garrisons near Batavia.

10,000 Japanese troops and control over the waters would allow the remarkably easy seizure of the colonial capital.

When the Dutch prisoners inquired why Japan had initiated hostilities against the Dutch (with whom they'd traded for so many decades), the Japanese commander would simply retort that the colonization of Asia by Westerners was over. Eastern Asia was THEIR Sphere of Influence now.

February, 1875

Sumatra

Learning of the fall of Batavia weeks later, the Dutch forces massing against Aceh would return to their vessels for the return trip to Batavia. However, the aggressive Japanese would be waiting for them. The handful of Dutch Royal Navy Warships and the lumbering transports trailing behind would be fallen upon by the Japanese forces and cut to pieces. Very little mercy was given even to the helpless transports with several being sunk out of hand, including the one bearing General Johan Kohler, the commander of the abortive Aceh Campaign. Indeed, three more Generals would die on board these ships (the Royal Dutch East Indies Army was rather heavy on Generals given the scarcity of troops).

The Remaining ships managed to flee in opposite directions. One group would steam for Calcutta in hopes that the British may be able to assist. The other would sail for Australia, also hoping for aid from the British Empire.

March, 1875

New Dehli

The Viceroy of India, having enough trouble with his own posting and the cancellation of British Concessions in China, was not prepared to intervene in Dutch problems. Instead, he dispatched a message to London asking for instructions....with the point that he didn't feel that the Raj could spare the resources in the near term.

April, 1875

Melbourne

The Dominion of Australia, on the other hand, would react very differently. With contact with Britain sporadic for the past few years, the Australians were proving quite independent and were starting to enjoy the idea of being a power into themselves. A small Royal Australia Navy had been chartered by the Queen (though the British Royal Navy still had more vessels in Oceania).

Having been alerted by the Australian Viceroy of the troubles in the Dutch East Indies, the Australians leaped with remarkable alacrity....to seize several of the Lesser Sunda Islands and the "Spice" islands of the Dutch....naturally to keep them out of Japanese hands.

If the Japanese wanted to fight over Sumatra and Java, that was one thing. But the newly confident Australians would be more than happy to insert themselves into the power vacuum.

Over the previous decade, immigration from the United Kingdom had picked up substantially despite the occasional disruptions in trade. This was largely because the relations with America severely reduced that option for emigration from the burgeoning population of the United Kingdom, Canada was in, some ways, cut off geographically and most of the best farmland there had been taken, the Maritimes were largely populated, the Boer Republic had been recognized (Transvaal, Orange Free State and Natal) and halted any British immigrants/miners, India was proving a mess......

There were fewer places for those British of a migratory bent to go. Thus the South Pacific Islands, now considerably closer due to the Suez Canal and the rise of Steamships, would see a boost in immigration from Europe. While virtually ANY European was welcome, the Asiatic migrant was turned away in a bid to keep the peace with the burgeoning labor unions and general working class who did not want some Asian taking his job for HALF the salary (had the Chinese or Indian laborer been offered the FULL salary of a white man, he probably would have been happy to take it). Within a few years, the "White Australia" Policy was already in effect. Regardless, wages were quite high in Australia and rising, enticing more British migrants.

Australia, now a Dominion, was flexing its political and economic muscles with increasing confidence and acted without any official oversight or permission from London. The Australian Viceroy was shocked by the move but did not publicly condemn it. Governing a vast swathe of territory (well, it WAS mainly water) from the Solomon Islands to Hawaii to Tasmania to Perth, Australia was reckoning itself to be a power in its own right.

The Australians would enter Bali, Sumba, Flores, Timor, Sumbawa and Lombok over the course of the next six months. Some fell immediately to Australian conquest, others limited the Australians to only a few handholds. In truth, the Australians were more intent on the claim rather than the actual immediate exploitation.

April, 1875

Esquimalt Naval Base, United States Territory of Vancouver Islands

The Australians would not be the only scavengers off the carcasses of fallen European colonial Empires. News of the fall of Manila at the hands of the Japanese was nothing short of shocking. However, Secretary of the Navy Dahlgren and Secretary of State Fish would meet and discuss the status of the remnants of the Spanish Empire in the Pacific. Effectively, this comprised the Mariana Islands with Guam being the only one of substance.

With Australia apparently conquering the last of the French Pacific Islands (New Caledonia and the Hebrides) and casting a covetous glance towards the American protectorates of Samoa and Tahiti (the United States Navy was actively forming alliances with other minor islands in Polynesia near Tahiti in what would one day be called American Polynesia), it seemed to the Americans that it would be best to lay a claim to the Mariana Islands sooner rather than later.....to keep them safe, naturally.

That no one bothered to inform the Spanish was not commented upon. Spain had its own troubles and was unlikely to care much about these remote islands.

In March of 1875, the newly expanded Pacific Squadron would sail from Esquimalt Harbor to Guam where it would find the native Chamorros in another snit with the Spanish priests. Eventually, the American commander would be obligated to hustle the priests on board for their own protection.

He then met with the local chieftains and inquired of their complaints. They did not hold back.

Historically, Guam had been a stopping and resupplying point for the Manila Galleon. Beyond that, the Europeans had done little with the island chain in 300 years beyond bring the occasional obnoxious priest and bout of infectious disease. The natives were sick and tired of Spain and were willing to accept American "Protectorate" Status pending an agreement with Spain.

April 1875

Dutch West Indies

Per the agreement with the Netherlands, American troops and administrators would begin assuming control of the Dutch West Indies in April, 1875. Most of the islands were of relatively low population as was the mainland territories:

Sint Maartin (15,000 including the former French side)
Sint Barthelemy (2000)
Sint Eustatius (2000)
Saba (500)
Aruba (5000)
Bonaire (2000)
Curacao (7500)
Surinam ( including French Guiana) -50,000

Thousands of American soldiers and sailors would work arduously to figure out what they'd bought. For the life of them, most couldn't come up with an answer. There were few good harbors for naval bases. Agriculture did not seem promising on ANY of these regions.

America paid $17,000,000 in gold for THIS?

 

[Alt History Buff]

May, 1875

London

Having pushed Disraeli from office, Gladstone would take credit for making the peace with France. For the first time in two generations, the French Empire had largely ceased to exist. With the relatively settling of Indian revolt, Britain's future seemed assured.

However, the Minister of India was reportedly already feuding with Viceroy John Lawrence, who had not only allowed the formation of defacto political parties (the new Indian Congress) but actually seemed to SUPPORT them. Gladstone found the suppression of Indian political representation the true cause of the latest rebellion, not the botched Afghan war.

Seemingly granting an endless stream of concessions to the Indians, the Viceroy was already getting criticism in Parliament and the public. For the moment, Gladstone was inclined to grant the Viceroy a free hand.

In the meantime, Gladstone had his own problems to deal with. In order to gain the support necessary to pass a vote of no confidence against Disraeli, Gladstone had agreed to support Home Rule in Ireland. This was somewhat problematic as many of the rural British landowners and workers of his own Party were massively opposed to the idea. The splitting of the Liberal Party may be at hand if Gladstone proceeded.

Of course, Gladstone would proceed as he'd promised. He could do no less. The proposal to proceed with Home Rule in Ireland would occur in the fall session.

In the meantime, the First Lord would discuss the offer by the American President, Hannibal Hamlin, to exchange some of the recently acquired American protectorate or territories (the Dutch West Indies, the Danish Virgin Islands) for Hawaii, the Bahama/Turk/Caicos Islands and Bermuda.

In truth, Gladstone did not even need to consult the Secretary of Foreign Affairs or the Admiralty to know the answer. Few to none of the American acquisitions, even if they included the American Pacific "Protectorates" of Samoa, Tahiti and (though this would not be known in Europe for another month) the Mariana Islands (called the Chamorros Islands by the Americans), possessed any value to the British. They seldom bore good harbors fit for Naval use or some sort of local crop or agricultural bounty. America simply wanted the lands closest to their own borders.

Gladstone was sympathetic to this but the longtime British residency in the Bahamas and Bermuda prevented them from being easily used as trading pieces in a global game. The First Lord wouldn't even consider the idea just as Disraeli had refused as well.

However, Gladstone was eager to improve relations with America and instead opted to pursue a "charm offensive" with the Americans. Rumor had it that the French were considering a "gift" for the United States, no doubt in hopes of repairing the poor image America had of France. Gladstone wondered if Britain should do something akin to this. America seemed the perfect trading partner and perhaps ally. America was largely interested only in trading rights and held few inclination thus far to engage in colonial games (their acquisition in the West Indies non-withstanding).

America, under Hamlin, had actually been sympathetic to both China and Japan and he had publicly condemned the invasion of foreign peoples for colonial means. This had resulted in China giving slightly better access to Chinese markets that the Europeans. This was a long way from America forming an alliance with the Asiatics but certainly made the potential for aggressive European action in eastern Asia more problematic.

In the meantime, there were many calls for Gladstone to launch another war against China for "withdrawing the Concessions" forced upon them by Britain in the Opium Wars. This the First Lord refused to do as he was violently opposed to the criminal export of opium to the Chinese for British profit. Over the the past decades, Gladstone had seen his own sister Helen suffer from the drug. To fight a war to maintain Britain's profitable drug peddling was abhorrent. With the growth of the the domestic Chinese opium trade, the British Raj exports had been dropping precipitously for over a decade. The First Lord would flat out refuse to launch yet another expedition to China.

Instead, he sent trade representatives to Peking with the intent of reopening trade. Since China was no longer the divided nation of twenty years prior and had just evicted France from Vietnam, the First Lord doubted such heavy-handed tactics as in the Opium Wars would work again.

June

Madrid

King Alfonso XII of Spain, having finally convinced his mother to cede her claims to the throne and at least temporary exile in France, would seek to please his new moderate Ministers by passing a law to abolish slavery in the Spanish colonies over a period of 4 years. As Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico held relatively few slaves relative to the pre-abolition French and British colonies, this did not bring a great deal of resistance, particularly in Spain itself.

The King also fully supported a series of reforms granting greater autonomy to the colonial governments in economic and administrative issues. Indeed, the King (despite receiving some opposition from slave-owners) would be greatly feted in the New World for these newly progressive views. He would continue to encourage migration from Europe to the West Indies, a rather stubborn position intended to remind the public of the good his mother had done for Spain and her colonies.

In the meantime, the Spanish had....at great effort....managed to dispatch an expedition to the Philippines with the intent of reconquering the islands from Japan. The King quietly doubted that the haphazard collection of Spanish warships and transports would even REACH the Philippines, much less reconquer them, it was obvious that all political factions (now rapidly forming into Political Parties in the modern sense with the lifting of the ban on Parties) were intent on reconquering them.

July, 1875

Paris

Emperor Napoleon IV would cling to his advisor, Field Marshall Patrice MacMahan, in hope to reunify the nation under one banner. Blanket amnesty was issued for ALL factions had long been issued as Napoleon IV summoned Parliament back to Paris to "grant him desperately needed advice".

The French people were livid at the inept governance of the past decades which led to numerous expensive wars (Crimea, Southeast Asia, Mexico, North Africa, Egypt, etc) and the loss of the French Empire.

Napoleon IV would publicly stated that the endless expansion of colonialism almost always cost more than it was worth (British India was, of course, a significant exception). Calls to regain North Africa or Indochina, etc, were not to be answered and instead, the Empire of France would instead concentrate upon internal reforms.

This was generally well-received by the public, who had to pay the bills for foreign wars but cared very little about an Empire most would never visit. French public life was very much a domestic matter compared to the seemingly unquenchable thirst by even the most humble British Midlands textile worker for colonial conquest.

July, 1875

Regensburg

For months, the assorted Crowned heads of the victorious German would debate the distribution of the regained territories of Luxembourg, Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine. The three powers of Germany - Hanover, Prussia and Austria - were intent that the new rulers would not be beholden to any of the others.

In the end, a compromise was made for Luxembourg. The 2nd surviving son of King Willem III of the Netherlands would be offered the crown, being deemed "neutral enough" and a logical rightful inheritor.

Alsace-Lorraine (the Moselle region) was slightly more contentious. The Austrian Emperor demanded that the lands should rightly be returned to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. It had been Francis of Lorraine who had given up Lorraine a century and a half ago as part of a greater exchange of territories to maintain the peace in Europe.

Prussia, of course, didn't care much about this and demanded a more neutral party. However, the Prussians would lose this battle. The Austrians would proposed Ferdinand IV of Tuscany, who had lose his patrimony in the 1859, when the Italian people launched their war of Unification. His father died the same year and Ferdinand hardly had a chance to reign. His line would also be next in line for the throne of Lorraine (after the current Austrian branch) had Francis not traded it away so long ago.

Seeing no better option (or hope that he may regain Tuscany), Ferdinand IV would agree to formally give up all rights to Tuscany on behalf of himself and his dependents.

In the same Confederation Council meeting, the question of forming a true German Navy was brought up (only minor coastal ships were utilized by the northern Confederation nations to this time). This would be delegated to a committee.

 

[Alt History Buff]

September, 1875

Washington

Secretary of War Ulysses S. Grant would arrive nearly a half hour early for his appointment with the President. He was ushered into a waiting room to avoid the mass of job seekers which somehow always swamped the ground floor of the Presidential Mansion. If Grant had his way, there is no way in hell he'd allow every flim-flam man off the street to wait in the White House Lobby to see if they could get an appointment with the head of the nation.

He read through the packet of reports. Somehow, the amount of paperwork seemed to proliferate daily. He was outright incensed at the latest report from the Board of Ordnance. For reasons, he could not quite fathom, America somehow couldn't design a standard infantry rifle that was the match of the Europeans. For years, the Chassepot had been the best mainstream rifle on earth. Now, it was being replaced by the Martini-Henry in Britain, the new Mausers in Germany and reportedly the French had a new rifle called the "Gras" which was basically a Chassepot upgraded to metal cartridges.

America still hadn't come up with a rifle the equal of the OLD Chassepot.

Grant would demand a full accounting of the Ordnance Board. He wanted every option in America explored.....YESTERDAY.

The good news is that General Hunt had finally designed a series of cannon capable of matching the Krupps....not just THIS generation but the next one. THAT was what Grant demanded. The War Between the States, not to mention the British and French Wars, were won via new technological innovations. Grant had no intention of allowing another nation THAT advantage on America.

While the Secretary of the Navy was getting whatever he wanted for upgrading the fleet, the Army had been forced to steadily reduce her forces bit by bit, year by year. Grant understood this but he expected the men he DID have in uniform could match any on earth.

Finally, the President's aides ushered Grant into Hamlin's office. The man seemed to have shrunk a bit over the past years. Poor fellow probably had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Hamlin didn't waste any time, "Grant, I will not be standing for reelection next year."

This was hardly a surprise. Hamlin had done nothing to indicate that he would be running again. The next words were not particularly surprising either though they did bring mixed feelings in Grant.

"Grant, you are going to be my recommendation for the office next year at the Presidential Caucus."

"That is.....", Grant began, "a great honor that you think so highly of me."

"The nation thinks highly of you, Grant." Hamelin replied. "You are perhaps our greatest war hero from the war and a Republican Stalwart. You know how many of our nominal Republican brethren have been quite willing to vote with the Democrats over the years. There are more and more every election. Half would probably be willing to let the Freedmen vote be withdrawn if we let the matter drop. That can't be allowed to happen."

"No," Grant nodded, "I suppose not. But I am hardly a guarantee that the Caucus will select me."

Hamlin agreed, "It will take some doing. We need to start laying the groundwork now with our allies. But I think we can get you selected on the first ballot of the Caucus if we do it right."

To be truthful, Grant did have his bouts of ambition for the office. He probably would have accepted the nomination in 1872 if he hadn't been wounded in Italy all those years ago. As no one in America was sure he'd LIVE, the Republicans weren't willing to nominate him until he stood healthy before them. But Grant did not begrudge Hamlin. The man had thrown his all into the nigh-impossible task of governing a huge nation with a multitude of problems and done a commendable job. Grant respected the man and was honored to have served him. Now, Hamlin had handpicked HIM to be his heir. Given the huge resources available to a sitting President, this endorsement within the Party meant a great deal.

In the meantime, Grant determined to get back to the problem of finding a decent standard Infantry weapon.

 

[Alt History Buff]

September, 1875

Mexico City

President Lerdo de Tejada had followed Benito Juarez into the Presidency. In many ways, Lerdo had been more successful returning Mexico to normalcy than Juarez. He gave up the extraordinary powers assumed by Juarez (and never relinquished during his presidency) and tried to normalize relations with Congress.

Five years in power in Mexico. Now THAT was an accomplishment.

Lerdo was now ready to cede that awesome responsibility to someone else. But he needed someone trustworthy. Given the swarms of ambitious men festering in Congress, there were few enough trustworthy men to choose from.

In the end, he could think of only one name: General Ignazio Zaragoza.

The man could have led a revolt a dozen times. Instead, he did everything possible to reduce the power of the army. When he retired, he let it be known that he could only be enticed back into uniform if some General decided to achieve power by dint of Coup.

No one ever did.

Thus, when Lerdo was ready to return to the less stressful life of Congress.

Zaragoza had long stated that he could not imagine himself in public office. But he would have to learn. Five years prior, the General had convinced Juarez to retire in order to set an example for the Mexican people that politics was not intended to be dominated by one man. Zaragoza now would be put in the position of acting in the public good, not his own desires.

Batavia

Though it took months, a combined Dutch and Spanish squadron managed to stumble across the Indian Ocean to reach Batavia. By this point, the Japanese had long since crushed the local resistance on the island and also seized key ports on southern Sumatra.

The Japanese had estimated how long it would take for the European nations to learn of the attack on their far-off colonies and how long it would take to organize a counterstrike. They'd estimated that the earliest the Europeans could make it to Batavia was July, with late August at the latest.

When September finally brought the long-awaited smoke on the western horizon off of the Sunda Straight between Sumatra and Java, the Japanese were actually relieved.

The Japanese gambled the entirety of their fleet on this battle. Their instructions were:

1. If the Europeans (Spanish and/or Dutch) arrive alone, then face them in battle.

2. If they arrive with British or even French support.....retreat.

The latter would have been unthinkable and the Japanese sailors were infinitely grateful for the opportunity to serve the Emperor.

The allied fleet was nothing short of ramshackle as neither the Netherlands nor Spain had updated their ships in years. It had been a struggle to even manage to gather 16 warships between them that could reach the East Indies.

And six of these had suffered mechanical failure and were forced to be left behind at various ports along the way (Bordeaux, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Durban and even Madras). One of the six actually sank off the coast of Sri Lanka.

The ten warships which arrived were obsolete and in pitiful condition. The Japanese Forces, led by two Kalamazoo-class warships, one old French broadside purchased eight years prior and five assorted vessels fitted with iron armor in Japan. Another 6 wooden vessels (wind) completed the fleet.

In 2 hours, the European fleet was annihilated. Eight of the ten vessels were sunk or captured. It was obvious that neither Spain nor the Netherlands possessed the power to maintain an Empire in the face of any significant opposition from eight thousand miles away.

 

[Alt History Buff]

December, 1875

Mexico City

The fall election in Mexico City went as well as one might imagine. General Zaragoza was the greatest war hero since the Victoria Guadeloupe. What was more, the man had the charm of never having sought to overthrow the government. That mattered a great deal in a nation in which, until Lerdo, no sitting President had lasted a full term without a coup d'etat disrupting his Presidency since Guadeloupe Victoria himself.

Over the past five years, President Lerdo had restored democracy, continued to centralize the bureaucracy, reduced the power of the military and brought the national budget under control. Investment was entering the country in large amounts (mainly American).

Of course, things were not terribly well throughout the ENTIRE country as a series of raids by the Apache and other northwestern tribes would decimate the Sonora and Chihuahua regions.

The Mexican army had slowly evolved (under Zaragoza's helm, into a smaller, more efficient unit based upon loyalty to the central government and speed of maneuver, with a particular emphasis on cavalry. Zaragoza had reformed the Mexican Military Academy to emphasis the fealty to the nation, not politics. Younger officers who barely remembered the last coup which led to the French conquest would be taught on a daily basis that this disunity was the source of the nation's ills and weaknesses.

In the 1870's several Yaquis rebellions would cause chaos as well.

But Zaragoza would nevertheless inherit a relatively peaceful, viable nation.

Madrid

King Alfonso IV was already proving to the Cabinet and the Cortes to be a far more attentive to their needs. What was more, the King was actually driving reform.

In 1875, the young monarch publicly gave a speech condemning the continued existence of slavery in Spanish colonies. This echoed what many Cabinet ministers had been stating for years as Europe had largely left this institution behind. The previous summer, the King had supported calls to emancipate in four years. However, the strikers, riots and rebellions that erupted in throughout the colonies would bring this issue to the forefront.

While most of the country was distantly following the conflict in the Philippines (news of the grievous defeat to the Japanese would not arrive until January), the unrest in the colonies would be among the primary concerns of the government. With agreement with his cabinet, the King would formally declare Manumission of the slaves effective immediately.

Mosquito Coast, Nicaragua

For years, the old hardwood logging region of the "Moskito" people had been exploited by Britain via black slaves. Contracts with the Miskito called for this but the independence of most of Spanish America would lead to the new country of Nicaragua demanding that Great Britain hand over these regions to their authority.

In truth, Britain was more than happy to do so. It was no longer profitable in any particular measure and costly to administrate (pestilential rainforests were NOT popular posts in the Foreign Ministry of Ministry of Colonial Affairs). However, Britain DID feel honor bound not to hand over the territory unless it was sure that the long-time British clients, the Moskito people, and the freedmen which had worked the hardwood forests would have their territorial rights ensured.

Secretary of State Hamilton Fish would sail for Great Britain on a "goodwill tour" of various European countries and was courteously received by Queen Victoria, First Lord of the Treasury Gladstone and his Foreign Minister, Lord Granville.

After the obligatory series of flattering words spewed back and forth with the doughy little Queen (still bedecked in black in mourning for her late husband), the Queen excused herself and left the mundane discussions to the men. In truth, both parties were quite refreshingly candid and Fish would later point to this meeting as the first step in improved relations.

Gladstone and his old friend Granville would express their concerns about their allies and assure Fish that they had no intention of expanding into the Americas any further. However, they could not allow the Miskito people to be overrun by Nicaragua's government (not a terribly efficient or effective one given the poverty of the region).

Fish, of course, had his own ulterior agenda and, believing that the British were being honest, came clean as well. America had been considering investing in a canal through Central America. In 1859, the plans for a canal across Mexico had been agreed by then-President Juarez but Congress never ratified it. Such a venture was later reduced to mere railroads along the same route.

Plans for a canal across Panama had also been bandied about for decades, even centuries, but it did not seem likely that the political situation would allow this in the near future.

But Nicaragua had some promise on that matter and the leverage held by the British could be key to developing a canal across that nation. With the San Juan river and Lake Nicaragua already present to form most of the route, it seemed quite possible that a viable canal could be constructed. Fish and Granville agreed to discuss the matter more deeply at a later date. Rumor had it that the French were already planning an expedition across Panama and neither Great Britain nor the United States were keen on another country dominating such a key asset (if it proved feasible).

Overall, the trip would prove quite worthwhile for Fish as he came back with an improved trade treaty with Britain and assurances that Britain had no intention of expanding into the former Spanish Empire.

Another proposal would be to extend a sort of "Joint Protectorate" over Liberia (created by America as a home for freed slaves) and Sierra Leone (created by the British for the same reason). Instead of creating colonies in Africa, this would allow for joint rights and use and avoid the competitive costs of a fight for influence. Of course, America had no interest whatsoever in Africa and only kept an eye on Liberia out of obligation (some still hoped than large numbers of Freedmen would migrate there).

Great Britain, seeing the destruction of the French Empire and no other colonial powers of note remaining (Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark, etc) saw no reason to expend massive sums to conquer African tribes. As long as British traders and manufacturers were granted equal access to whatever the hell happened to be in central Africa, there was little reason for aggression.

Fish agreed to return to Washington with this in mind.

After bidding London adieu, the Secretary of State would visit King Willem III of the Netherlands (who concerned the American as possible being insane), as well as the new Kings of France and Spain. Both seemed intelligent young men who greeted him cordially.

Finally, Fish would arrive in Morocco, the first nation to ever recognize the United States as a sovereign country. The King of Morocco was plainly busy trying to exert control over Algeria, Tunisia and Tripolitania (all newly freed from France's colonial grip). The ambitious Khedive of Egypt was also trying to exert his influence by laying claim to the title of "Leader of Modern Arabian peoples". Both Morocco and Egypt had been allied to Britain against France but were not allies themselves. Indeed, the two nations were rivals seeking to dominate North Africa.

In a cunning move, the King of Morocco would instead play up the Maghreb's "Berber" heritage which also gained him the support of the Berber-speaking peoples of the interior. Both Egypt and Morocco would continued this tug of war for years. Egypt's Khedive sought to make his country a Muslim European nation while the King of Morocco sought to honor its ethnic Berber past. The King even went so far as to make Berber equal to Arabic in government and ensured that the rapidly expanding school system of the Maghreb would be taught in "indigenous" Berber languages first. As far as the King was concerned, Arabic was but a liturgical language, not a common language. This was a calculated political act intended to reduce the influence of the "Arab Egyptians".

But the American Secretary of State was surprised to hear that the King of Morocco already knew about the proposal for a "Joint Protectorate" of Liberia and Sierra Leone and inquired why no African nations were to be part of this theoretical governance. In truth, Fish had never considered that Morocco or Egypt or Ethiopia or any other polity in Africa may desire a say in the less developed Central African region.

Again, Fish could not find a reason why their opinions should not be heard. The Secretary of State ALSO knew that Great Britain's history as a colonial power would likely lead to them more actively expand into Africa than the United States. Adding a few more voices to that table may prove wise. Though it would take many years, the Secretary of State would eventually call for a Conference to debate the matter.

 

[Alt History Buff]

April, 1876

Boston

The Republican Party Caucus had been carefully prepared by Hamlin's allies of the "Stalwart" faction of the Party. While a number of candidates put themselves forward or had proxies do so for them, it was painfully obvious by April that Secretary of War Ulysses S. Grant would be the chosen candidate. This was supported even by many members of the "Half-Breeds" Or "Half-Republicans" who were less supportive of Reconstruction or Freedmen's rights. Though they may not agree with his politics, Grant's predicated vote-getting capabilities would be welcomed by all those down-ticket.

Baltimore

Seeing to win the Presidency for the first time since 1856, the Democrats would put together a ticket of Samuel Tilden of New York (a respected governor) for President and General Winfield Scott Hancock for Vice-President. Tilden had a reputation for anti-corruption (he sent Boss Tweed to prison) and Hancock was one of the few highly-ranked Democratic soldiers in the Union Army. It was as strong a ticket as could be imagined and hoped to be the first competitive election since 1860.

Madrid

After months of debate amongst his government, King Alfonzo XII stepped in and announced that he would not contest further the dismal war against Japan. Spain lacked the capacity to fight further. The best anyone could come up with was an alliance with France and the Netherlands (and perhaps Great Britain) in a war of reconquest of Southeast Asia (French Indochina, Spanish Philippines and Dutch East Indies). Since only France had a fleet of substance, inquiries were made of why France would fight for the East Indies or the Philippines. Why not simply conquer them for France and not bother pretending that Spain or the Netherlands mattered?

No one had a good answer for this.

Paris

As it was, France, still in the midst of reorganizing her government, wasn't interested at the moment of colonial matters. Indochina had cost hundreds of millions of francs to take and no one had ever proven to Napoleon IV that there had been any return on that investment. With rebellion so recent in the past, the new Emperor was concentrating entirely on getting his bickering collection of administrators to work in conjunction.

Reforms were needed in France as well and Prime Minister MacMahan was, at Imperial prodding, willing to accept Parliament's demands.

Lisbon

Portugal had not been any more fortunate that Spain or France over the past fifty years in her monarchy. The current King of Portugal, Luis I, was a somewhat weak man of a scientific bent. His wife, Maria Pia of Savoy, held little interest in politics and was known best for her extravagance in dress and charity towards the poor.

In May of 1875, the nation which had been quietly falling further and further behind the rest of Europe in education, manufacturing and military development. Much of this would be attributed to the policy of "Rotatavism" which would see the Liberals and Progressives alternate in power. Viewed as idiotic by Europe, this predictably ensured nothing would come of reform.

The little nation would be rocked when an assassin fired three bullets into King Luis' chest at close range as he visited his aquarium. The assassin was immediately killed by police but an investigation of his belongings would lead to close connections to the Conservatives. As it so happened, the Liberals were in command of the government at the time and led a significant crackdown on any potential insurgents. This included the elderly Duke of Saldanha, who had participated in at least seven coups over the past fifty years. Saldanha would die in prison the following winter, making him a martyr to the cause.

Queen-Dowager Maria Pia would be placed as Regent for her twelve-year-old son and order her government to hunt down any dangers to the still-uncrowned King Carlos I of Portugal.

 

[Alt History Buff]

November, 1876

Bombay

After years of unrest, India was only starting to return to some semblance of normalcy. The last of the outright martial defiance had been brought under control but demands for political change were emerging from all corners of society. The newly founded (with the Viceroy's permission) the Indian National Congress spent as much time arguing with one another as preparing to confront the Viceroy over various reform issues.

To be fair, the Viceroy had made great strides in attempting to keep the peace. He'd extended the hand of friendship and most of the educated classes were adamant that a unified India based on modern governmental principles was the only conceivable path forward. These were opposed by many of the traditionalists in the Princely states who jealously guarded their status.

Having faced two Mutinies in the past two decades, the British Raj was not inclined to do anything to incense the Indian people. But so diverse a region in language, religion and culture would be a struggle for any government to please everyone.

Among the latest reforms (concessions as some Britons would call it), the Viceroy John Lawrence would agree to form Asia's first stock market in Bombay (one of the financial capitals of the subcontinent).

Naples

Over the past fourteen years, the newly unified Kingdom of Italy had sought to keep pace with the British, French, Americans and Russians in armored vessels. By 1875, no fewer than 14 warships had been commissioned into the Regia Marina (Italian Navy). Most of the early ships had been purchased from France or America. However, the new dockyards of Naples in particular were producing the newer Roma-class, Prince Amadeo-class and now the first ship of the Duilio-class which would bear the largest cannon ever mounted on a ship (the guns were purchased from America).

As most of the ships built in the 1860's were already obsolete (and perhaps not the best their American and French builders could produce even then), the King of Italy was unwilling to fall further behind. With a developing domestic shipbuilding industry, Italy was intent on retaining its independence in a European environment in which Britain had once again assumed ascendancy.

France's attempts to modernize her fleets had been stalled during the war and now budget problems were further slowing the French shipbuilding. Who knew what Russia was building and it was unlikely the Czar would ever again put his nation out for others. He'd learned THAT lesson in the Crimean War just a few years after he'd helped many European monarchs retain their thrones in the Revolutions of 1848.

There seemed to be no realistic opportunity for a strong ally in the near future thus Italy's King wanted to exert all effort to protect her own shores.

Washington

For a short period, President Hamlin and General Grant were concerned about the 1876 election as several key eastern states, including vital New York and Pennsylvania (the home states of the Democratic President and Vice-Presidential candidates). The Democrats also carried New Jersey, the "border states" of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland and Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina and Cahaba.

Fortunately for Grant, the Grant/Wheeler ticket would carry all of New England, all of the Midwest (though some states just barely), Calusa, Kanawha, Nickajack, Washington, Mississippi and all of the Western states except for Texas.

While the electoral votes were relatively close (185 to 140), the General did win the overall popular vote with 55%. Had the Democratic ticket not represented New York and Pennsylvania, both of which just barely were carried, the election may have been a rout.

But the Republicans would, once again, carry the day against the strongest Democratic ticket in 20 years (by a wide margin).

Though the Republicans had won, the Democrats were heartened to have been in the race for real. They could not claim this since 1860. The Democrats were also aided Tilden and Hancock's assurance that they would not end Reconstruction in states which had not come to terms with the Civil Rights Bill. While some (mainly Republicans) doubted they meant it and it was only a sop to northern and western voters, this would certainly increase Democratic votes in those regions. It also alienated many southerners (though most of these states would still vote reliably Democrat).

The Republicans maintained their large majority in the Senate 45 to 30 but only barely kept a 28 seat lead in the House. Had the economy been weaker or the remaining Confederate states returned to the Union, things may have been very different.

 

[Alt History Buff]

February, 1877

Washington

Secretary of War and Presidential-elect Ulysses S. Grant had spent the much of the winter preparing his Cabinet for their new positions. In truth, the 1876 Republican Caucus had been among the first where large numbers of Cabinet positions were NOT promised in order to gain votes.

Grant saw no reason to relieve Secretary of State Hamilton Fish or Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman. Both were quite bluntly exceptional in their respective offices and Grant could not imagine better men for the jobs.

Secretary of Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass would announce his retirement and Grant swiftly determined that Senator Frederick Douglass Jr. of Washington would make a more than acceptable replacement. Controlling the "unredeemed" Confederate states and their Reconstruction meant fighting the toughest battle their was....getting the Southerners to accept Black Suffrage and Equality.

As for the new Secretary of War, Grant leaned towards Henry Hunt, the current leader of the Board of Ordnance. Grant and Hunt had worked closely together on upgrading the munitions and armaments of the Army. Given the rapid change of weapons over the past two decades, Grant wanted a man who looked to the future, not the past.

With the death of Admiral Dahlgren in 1876, the Assistants had carried the load for several months. That left a major position open. Grant wanted someone who knew the job and would push for continued modernization of the fleet. He would go with Assistant Secretary Robeson. For Robeson's old position, Grant was pleased to select Robert Lincoln.

Grant also had to nominate a new Secretary of the Interior and Indian Affairs, a key position given that Grant had many internal improvements as well as a firm but supportive hand for the Indians. Grant had personally promised Chieftains like Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Bigfoot and others that their rights would remain inviolable.

To be fair, for the first time in American history, most recent agreements between the Federal Government and the Indians had been upheld on the part of the White Man. There remained some controversy regarding the sale of land by certain tribes in Wichita...but that had not been pressured by the government. Various lawsuits promised to clog the courts for years.

For the Attorney General position, Grant had selected a rather controversial figure given his past history as a Democrat but Edwards Pierrepont was a ruthless hunter of corruption and Grant needed someone without a hint of scandal in that position.

Mexico City

Having served as President of Mexico for over a year, President Ignacio Zaragoza knew he would never congratulate a friend for achieving such a position. The unspeakable levels of paperwork (he had no idea how Juarez or Lerdo did it) were matched only by the constant, self-interested bickering in Congress.

Thank God he was a believer in the single term limit.

Zaragoza had maintained the peace in the nation (except for some Indian trouble which did not threaten the government directly) for over a year after an easy transition from Lerdo.

What was more, the Mexican budget was balanced for the first time in years and the debt was being pushed down a bit. Exports were up and imports (tariffs being a key source of funds for the government) were up as well.

America had been a staunch ally despite claims from some quarters that Lincoln or Seward or Hamlin would attempt to conquer Mexico at various points over the years. This never occurred and the United States had been instrumental in both evicting the French and regaining a good financial footing. Investment was up, mainly from America in recent years, but more from Europe with the peace across the seas.

Railroads were rapidly expanding as was mining and manufacturing.

Unfortunately, an old American plan for a canal across Mexico had been cancelled, no doubt for cause as even Zaragoza could look at a map and figure out there were easier places to cross the Atlantic to the Pacific.

President-Elect Grant had proposed a meeting over the summer. Apparently, the General was planning on travelling up the Mississippi and would sail down to Veracruz if Zaragoza would meet him. The American Ambassador had implied that Grant wanted to forge an Agreement with various Central and South America countries to create a unified from European colonialism.

By 1877, it was apparent that "European Colonialism" was Britain as France was apparently out of the game and most of the other European colonial powers no longer mattered.

Could a regional association not only limit further foreign interference but act to prevent local disputes?

Zaragoza knew he could not come up with a reason to say "no". The Ambassador also commented that it was important that a strong "Spanish" voice be the first heard by the other Nations of the Americans. This made sense. Though America had rarely had any negative relations with various Latin Nations (barring a few "filibusters"), a predominantly Protestant-English speaking nation could hardly expect to entice a regional confederation alone.

But the Mexican President, with his own set of problems, was not sure if he could also try to play peacekeeper with the United States for the rest of the Americas.

 

[Alt History Buff]

March, 1877

Kyoto

Nearly a thousand disaffected samurai, once considered among the ruling elite of Japan, had spent years grumbling about being left behind by the new army of conscripted peasants. With a modern army and navy, elite swordsmen were considered obsolete. Some noble warriors even quietly plotted insurrection to restore the old order. However, this was swiftly shut down by observant Ministers and Generals serving the Emperor. Instead, they offered these men a way to retain their honor.

In the name of the Emperor, those who remained willing to serve were ordered to sail for Sumatra, where the Dutch and Aceh Sultanate were (ironically) joining forces to resist the Japanese invasion. If the professional warriors (mostly still bearing swords), crushed the foreigners, so be it. If they were wiped out, a source of discontent was eliminated.....in an honorable way, of course. It was a cunning manner to eliminate potential rebels.

As it turned out, the latter would be the case. While neither the Dutch nor the Sultan bore the latest in armaments, the old Enfields, Dreyse Needle Guns, etc. would prove more than adequate in wiping out a bunch of Samurai. Those that bullets eluded would often succumb to tropical diseases (they were NOT given malaria medications).

In the meantime, another army of potential dissenting warriors were dispatched to Mindanao, in the Philippines. Here the Muslims would prove just stubborn but less well armed. A few thousand Samurai wreaked great havoc with the population as they sought to establish order.

The more modern draftees of the Japanese Army, however, were solidly in position in Luzon and Java, where they had crushed the worst of the native opposition in just two years.

Vladivostok

With the sudden expansion of both Japanese and Chinese power, the remote Russian outpost of Vladivostok was looking increasingly vulnerable. The only good news for the Russian Pacific Commander was that the Americans had ceased producing ships for the Oriental Nations (as both were involved in wars, America, as a "neutral" would not sell weapons to them). China and Japan were both still struggling to build shipyards capable of matching western vessels (though Japan was the closer of the two).

This allowed the Russians to reinforce their Pacific squadron to the point where Vladivostok actually stood a chance to defend itself.

One of the biggest winners in the new standoff would turn out to be the Joseon Empire. Only nominally a tribute state to China (which didn't actually WANT anything from the Joseon Kingdom), the "Hermit" Kingdom was able to regain her autonomy. The last foreign invaders on Gangwa Island (Russian, American and Japanese) had finally withdrawn over the winter (the Russians were the last to leave).

In hopes to protecting their position, the Russian Government formally withdrew any of their "grievances" against Joseons and announced that they would be "supportive of Joseon Independence". This was a rather cynical concession to the fact that Japan seemed far more likely to seek territorial gain in the region than China (which had seldom paid much attention to their tributary state over the centuries).

Grateful over their "victory", the court of the Joseon Emperor (a puppet if there ever was one to his own nobles) would seek to retain their dominance by withdrawing even further away from the rest of the world. Trade was discouraged and the Joseons largely forgotten by everyone.

Durban, Boer Republic

The British Consul was, at least nominally, the only British figure allowed in the Boer Republic. For years, the British Cape Colony and Boer Republic had growled sullenly across the border at one another. The British had been livid at being forced to concede Natal to the Boers and the Boers resented British incursion into "their lands" which had forced the Boer Treks into the Transvaal and Orange Free State to begin with.

Both had expanded greatly over the past decade as immigration was openly courted in the Republic (accepting all Europeans save Britons, at least officially) and the Cape Colony had received an influx of migrants from Britain and other parts of the world due to the stunning Kimberly diamond field production.

In truth, there were plenty of Boers who, at least temporarily, crossed the border to work the Kimberly mines. For the most part, they were left to dig if they kept quiet and didn't cause trouble. The Boers were never more than a modest minority and were not a threat to British rule.

However, the discover of gold in the Republic would cause friction between the two nations as British miners were immediately arrested and, if they were lucky, forced back across the Cape/Republic border with a rifle prodding them in the back. If the Boers were not a threat to conquer the Cape, the British certainly WERE to reconquer the Republic.

Most of the Boers were farmers and cattle-ranchers. They doubted that it would be worth the British time to conquer them. However, discovery of gold and other precious metals may tempt the British back eastwards. Thus any British citizen was immediately arrested and deported. This would cause much friction between the neighbors.

Making matters worse was rapidly escalating violence between the Xhosa tribes and the Boers. A disproportionate number of the European settlers (Dutch, German, French, Swiss, Polish, etc) were settling in the old Xhosa lands and the tribes reacting violently to the encroachment. Though the Republic "European" population had doubled in the past 15 years, the Republic could scarcely afford a full army. Thus, irregular militia, bereft of much oversight, would often blunder in to warfare with the local tribes. Eventually, in 1877, the Republic ordered all Xhosa to be expelled from Boer Territory (which was inexorably expanding north and east).

Rumors of a British-inspired "tribal insurrection" among the black and mulatto populations that were the descendants of former slaves (which, oddly, were not "tribal" in any way but few remarked on this contradiction) would lead to a decision to....."repatriate" (i.e. evict)....these black and mulatto populations back to West Africa (where many of their ancestors had largely been taken). The American Protectorate of Liberia was always accepting new migrants and the Boers would harshly board tens of thousands of South African-born blacks and mulattos back to the new "joint-protectorate" of Liberia, Sierra Leone and the former French colony of Senegal.

Guinea, Portuguese Africa

Over the centuries, the coast of Guinea had been utilized as a slaving station by the Portuguese. However, the abolition of slavery throughout the western World would see the few coastal fortifications of Guinea under Portuguese influence wane into obscurity and lack of investment. Seeking a way to physically link the southern regions of Sierra Leone and Liberia to Senegal, the British and Americans had quietly offered to "buy" the rights to these backwater fortresses which, no doubt, cost far more for Portugal to maintain than they ever generated in revenue.

However, the offer was largely ignored as the Portuguese Queen-Regent and Her government were more interested in crushing political opponents in the wake of the her husband's assassination. Thus, when yet another local war between Guinean tribes reached the gates of the handful of Portuguese settlements, the British-American African squadron (about 90% British with just enough American vessels to claim participation) would sail into the various harbors to "protect the citizenry".

Within weeks, it became apparent that Portugal wasn't even going to pretend to do anything about the matter and the British and Americans would effectively take over what passed as government in Guinea.

As neither the British nor American officers had any form of authorization to do this, the diplomatic repercussions would last for months. However, behind the scenes, the British and Americans would quietly agree upon a policy of joint-government of the Co-Protectorate which now included Guinea.

Both governments had reasons for their actions. Many Americans quietly hoped as many of their Freedmen as possible would willingly (or even unwillingly) sail for a return to their "motherland". The British Caribbean islands were rapidly descending into squalor as the old sugar production industry, which had once been the most lucrative in the world, stagnated into unprofitability. Unrest among unemployed Freedmen was causing concern on many islands and British administrators dreamed of shipping their surplus populations....well....anywhere else.

As it so happened, a religious revival was spreading through the American and West Indian black populations which called for a "return to Africa". In truth, actual migration would only moderately increase over these years from either America or the West Indies to Africa but the existence of the movement was supported by many white Americans and Britons as political unrest in the American south and various Caribbean islands continued.

With the trickle of Freedmen continuously arriving from the Americas (roughly 5000 per year), members of both governments welcomed the news that the Boers were shipping tens of thousands of former slaves "Home" to West Africa (though many of their ancestors were actually from East Africa) as it meant that there would be a "Westernized" core of people who could be counted upon to serve the interests of the governments against the tribal leaders. It was envisioned that these "Europeanized" peoples would become the new administrative and economic elites of the "Co-Protectorate".

That all of this was happening without serious oversight from the highest levels of either government (President Grant and First Lord Gladstone were not even informed until later) was rather remarkable. Without any active direction or policy, the orders of a few dozen remote officials and sailors, often working entirely at cross-purposes, would lead to radical events to come.

 

[Alt History Buff]

September, 1877

London Aquarium

Queen Victoria, in a relatively rare public appearance, would attend a rather crass even at the London Aquarium. As was her custom, the Queen was ostentatiously dressed in black in honor of her now sixteen years dead husband. Among the "entertainments" was a seventeen year old circus performer called "Zazel" who was to be....of all things.....shot out of a cannon.

The young girl would enter the cannon and...in an unfortunate series of events related to poor maintenance of the "spring-style" cannon which was supposed to propel her into a net. A powder explosive would be ignited simultaneously to give the effect of an actual explosion.

However, this explosion, set only for visual effects, would actually explode prematurely and wobble the cannon slightly. The girl was shot at a 45 degree angle to the direction intended and she would sail directly into a steel wire hanging over the crowd. The wire would decapitate her. By remarkable happenstance, "Zazel's" head would land into the Royal Box (set up in anticipation of the Royal Visit) directly upon the lap of Princess Beatrice, the Queen's youngest daughter.

Both women fainted dead away as the crowd screamed in the background.

Washington

President Grant would deflect calls from the Democrats and even many Republicans to end Reconstruction. The army would NOT pull out from the southern states until all members of society were granted the right to vote without obstruction.

By 1877, seven states still had not been returned to the Union. Only Tennessee and Arkansas were actively working to return to that status. Tennessee had been granted a THIRD opportunity to return to the Union while Arkansas, split geographically down the middle between black settlers in the west and whites on the eastern coast, had surprisingly managed to vote on a referendum to return to the Union (and upheld the 13-15th Amendments).

There had been huge population transfers in population in both states. Tennessee had seen over 75% of her black population depart the state (with East Tennessee already broken off into Nickajack). This ensured the white majority would dominate. The suppression of black voters had been self-defeating.

In Arkansas, the bulk of the prewar population had been located in plantations along the western shore of the Mississippi. An astonishing 90% of Freedmen in these districts had moved on to other regions (abandoning the plantations) including the western side of Arkansas where huge swathes of land had been opened up for settlement (not only for Freedmen but all migrants).

Tennessee and Arkansas would hold their election in November of 1877. Grant had every intention of ensuring a free and fair election and dispatched enough soldiers to every county to prevent any intimidation.

Most of the physical and financial rebuilding of the south had already been accomplished by 1877. Only the social reawakening was truly holding the former Confederates back.

As it was, Grant had his own hands full with new elections in North Carolina. There had been large amounts of intimidation recorded during the last election and Grant had voided the results. Naturally, that brought howls of opposition but Grant was not inclined to care. He had enough of his own problems.

A run on several northeastern banks had led to several collapsing. Fortunately, the effect was limited due to the new Central Bank authorized under Lincoln. In past decades, this may have led to a multi-year national depression.

Grant also his Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish, trying to work out what the hell was going on in Africa. America and Great Britain had at least nominally been allied for decades in preventing the slave trade from Africa (though the Royal Navy had carried by far the greater load). The "Co-Protectorate" idea had been the brainchild of Fish and whoever the hell his counterpart in Britain was. The idea was that Britain and America would cooperate to resettle Freedmen in to a safe haven Africa. In truth, this was proving a silly idea as the heavy bulk of Freedmen in America (and the West Indies, etc) knew no more of Africa than Grant did of Scotland and had no desire to return "home".

Overall, the "Co-Protectorate" was as much intended to keep the assorted West African "colonies" from being contested than anything else. Britain clearly had little interest in the region but France and Spain had both held large swathes of North Africa under colonial domination while Italy was reportedly also licking its chops. By organizing the peoples of North Africa into a self-governing block, the chances of this colonialism extending southwards dropped (if only because the two "Protectors" would object). It was a quick, easy and, most importantly, CHEAP way to continue to have access to local markets without the associated costs.

Precisely how this situation morphed into British and America vessels occupying Portuguese Guinea (though apparently the Portuguese only maintained control over a few coastal regions), Grant did not know. The President was already hip-deep in Spanish protests over America seizing the Mariana Islands after the Philippines fell to the Spanish (though negotiations had already reached a settlement, currently be reviewed by the young King of Spain). The United States Navy had entered a power vacuum in which it didn't want the Royal Navy or the Japanese to enter in the Pacific.

But Guinea?

The American officer in command had been recalled to explain himself. Yes, the idea of "acquiring" Guinea so the "Co-Protectorate" could have a contiguous line from Liberia to Senegal but no one had been authorized to act in any manner.

Perhaps the Portuguese Empire was simply collapsing. But Grant did not want to extend America's commitments (or alliance) any further than necessary. And Guiana was WELL out of American interests.

 

[Alt History Buff]

November, 1877

Nashville, Little Rock, Raleigh

For weeks, the United States Colored Cavalry and other units had been conspicuous in their presence with the intention of reminding all that intimidation and violence would not be accepted. For the most part, it worked. On the third try, the State of Tennessee would return to the Union.

Even more surprising was the fact that Arkansas' vote was largely without fraud or violence. The state divided into two camps, the Freedmen and other recent migrants in the west and the former Confederates in the east, the state also seemed more poised for war than peace.

Little Rock had been an inland capital city of Arkansas and had been a center of Confederate activity. Since the war, the city had grown greatly as Freedmen and other migrants moved into western Arkansas. Former Confederate Generals Patrick Cleburne and Thomas Hindman had been friends in Helena for years prior to the war as they ran a newspaper together. Cleburne was Irish born (immigrated in 1849) and Hindman was the scion of a Tennessee political family. Cleburne had no particular views on slavery while Hindman was a noted "fire-eater" but both would advocate a peaceful reintegration into the United States.

Having many of the Freedmen armed to the teeth with modern weapons also ensured that few Negroes were prevented from voting.

The North Carolina election was also repeated. It had been annulled by order of President Grant based upon an investigation into fraud and intimidation. The second attempt was peaceful enough and relatively free of intimidation. Grant was accept this re-ballot and seated the officials in Congress.

On the whole, the Democrats would take four of the six Senatorial seats (both of Arkansas' Senate seats went to Republicans) and about 2/3rds of the Congressional seats. As this was slightly BETTER than the Republicans expected, Grant considered it a win.

Vancouver City, Columbia

In 1877, the predominantly Negro workforce of the Northern Pacific Railroad would complete the third of three major tracks across the country, this one ending in Vancouver City. It had been a great accomplishment and physically as well as symbolically united the country.

Of course, the journey had not been easy as labor disputes had led to a great reckoning with the railway. On more than one occasion, the bulk of the labor force had seen to it that progress ground to a halt over poor conditions and late pay. At one point, the workers forged a Union and forced the Railroad to recognize it. Pay was caught up and food and shelter were at least marginally improved.

On the opposite side of the country, the burgeoning steel and coal industries of Pennsylvania and the textile workers of western Massachusetts were similarly organizing into embryonic Unions.

Rio de Janeiro

Emperor Pedro II was getting tired of his many duties. Having watched his sons die (and one of his daughters), the Emperor lacked a direct male heir (his grandson was 2 years old) and had long wondered about the future of his dynasty.

Falling ill in the spring of 1877 (fall in the Northern Hemisphere), the Emperor would begin to realize that he would not live forever. Though he recovered quickly, Pedro II wondered if he may return to Europe yet again. He had enjoyed the relative obscurity of Europe in which he may walk the streets without a care....without constant demands upon his time.

If Pedro had a full-grown son, he would have abdicated years ago. Exhausted, he just wanted his cares to be over.

Learning of another good-will tour by the Americans and Britons the next year, Pedro II was gratified to accept passage on the new American warships. As it was, Brazil was working on new designs for their own fleet....either by building their own or purchasing them from America or Britain.

He looked forward to seeing Lisbon and Madrid and Rome and Vienna....and all of these delightful locales again where he could walk the streets as a common man.

 

[Alt History Buff]

February, 1878

Rome

Pope Pious IX would die in February, after the longest confirmed reign in Papal history. Though rather controversial (and unpopular in Italy for his repeated attempts to hold on to temporal power in the Papal States), the Pope was nevertheless greatly mourned.

New Jersey

Thomas Edison would formally file a patent for the phonograph.

March, 1878

Calcutta

The "Daily Congress", the first Hindu newspaper, was officially approved by the Raj to print in March. It would be the first of many as the lighter hand of a new British Raj allowed greater freedom of expression among the natives of India.

Regensburg

The German Confederation would gather her Crowned Heads in March in hopes of halting several political deadlocks. However, the rivalries between Austria Prussia and Hanover prevented further serious integration in terms of the movement of peasants throughout Germany.

While many German Kings (and Princes) would allow their people to move about as they pleased, several (like Mecklenburg) would still require official permission. In some Kingdoms, the peasants remained little more than serfs. This sort of thing was preventing the continued integration of Germany.

In the years following the shocking defeat of France by German arms, France was plainly recovering while Germany seemed to be devolving.

Warsaw

A student protest of the University of Warsaw demanding the right to be taught in Polish was viciously put down by the Russian authorities. It would be Christmas before the University was allowed to reopen.

March, 1878

Rio de Janeiro

Both America and Britain had dispatched a squadron to visit various South American ports, both as a goodwill gesture and to remind the South Americans of their power. Finally, the pseudo-allies (in the Co-Protectorate of West Africa anyways) would arrive in Rio de Janeiro where their officers were feted in various upper crust parties and finally welcomed the Emperor himself aboard the USS Maine, the latest of the Massachusetts-class warships (and last as a new design was already being laid down). The Massachusetts class had been beset with problems but none of these prevented Maine being selected as the carrier for his Imperial Majesty for the Massachusetts-class engines were considered the most reliable in the American fleet.

The slow thaw in relations between the Americans and British had resulted in the cooperation in Africa and this joint "goodwill" tour which had stopped at the Havana, Cartagena, Caracas, the Argentine Confederation, the Republic of Buenos Aires, Uruguay and finally Rio de Janeiro where the ships would sail to the Old World, starting in Casablanca, then on to Naples, Toulon (this would be the first "peaceful visit" of British ships to France in years), then finally Barcelona and Lisbon (where the Emperor would disembark).

Initially, the plan had been for Pedro II to be delivered to Lisbon first. However, the Emperor, seeing the opportunity to see more of Europe, "requested" to accompany the flotilla throughout all their stops. The Anglo-American commanders were taken aback as having an Emperor present during the official visit to foreign nations would, by definition, alter the intent of the tour. However, it was difficult to say "no" to such a polite and gentlemanly Emperor and Pedro II got his way.

Beijing and Tokyo

Both China and Japan were eager to maintain their momentum against the westerners (and each other) and actively sought to purchase more and more modern vessels.

Both would issue orders to both Britain and America for new warships.

 

[Alt History Buff]

April, 1878

Naples

Admiral David Dixon Porter, commander of the USS Maine and the US contingent of the US/British expedition across South America and Europe, would play host to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil for several weeks and had come to enjoy the modest and unprepossessing man's presence. As promised, Pedro II made every attempt not to draw attention to himself during the many stops along the way.

More than anything, the Emperor seemed to enjoy wandering the streets of the various European (and African) cities with abandon, often with only his wife. Porter shuddered at the thought of this and finally put his foot down and made the Emperor's continued passage on the USS Maine contingent upon taking several officers on his travels as bodyguards. The Emperor agreed provided the men were in civilian clothes.

Lisbon

Anti-British and, to a lesser extent, anti-American riots would spread throughout Lisbon. News that the Anglo-American "Co-Protectorate" assuming control over Guinea had reached Portugal long before but the news that the Anglo-American fleet would arrive shortly was enough to incense the crowds.

In addition to Guinea, the British (or rather the Australians) had seized Portuguese East Timor years before when the Australians assumed control over the Sunda Islands of the Indonesian archipelago.

Now rumors abounded that Britain not only refused to acknowledge the Portuguese claim over the inland territories of southern Africa between Angola and Mozambique....but were planning on seizing these far more developed and prosperous Portuguese colonies as well.

The Queen-Regent demanded that the government break up the riots. With Pedro II of Brazil coming with the Britons and Americans, such disorders could not be accepted.

Madrid

The peace between the Spanish and Japanese were formally agreed in April of 1878. The young King signed away his rights to the Philippines after over 300 years of Spanish domination.

Within days, the King would also approve the "sale" of the Mariana Islands to the Americans who had been occupying them for years for a nominal fee.

Brooklyn

Having started to lose the Irish vote to the Democrats, President Grant and his Republicans had turned increasingly to the German, Polish, Jewish Russian and other immigrant groups in New York and other Eastern Cities in hopes of turning around the Party's fortunes in the vital states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

As the past two Democratic Presidential nominees were popular New York governors, the highest populated state fell easily to the Democrats. But Grant was not willing to cede New York so easily.

As it was, the Democrats were having their own problems. Ironically, it started without the politicians of the newly readmitted Southern states who were starting to cause problems. Oddly enough, it was not the resentment at granting Freedmen equality in their states but the friction was more to do with various economic policies.

The Democratic party's base included small farmers whose major desire was increased money supply (free silver), the embryonic Unions and Catholics. However, the extremely export dependent southern cotton farmers would demand as, all primary resource producers wanted, lowered tariffs. This was directly in opposition to not only the Republican industrialists but the increasing number of industrial laborers were no less eager for higher tariffs to protect their young textile, steel and other industries.

This would be but one major division among the Southern Democrats and their northern and western brethren. Beyond this, many northern Democrats were supportive of Civil Rights and the constant reported abuses in the South would bring the southerners in disrepute.

Arguments of this nature would soon cause divisions among the Democratic Party as a common platform was proving impossible to form.

 

[Alt History Buff]

June, 1878

Portugal

Several newspapers were forced to close as the Portuguese government found their agitations potentially embarrassing to the government. "Patriots" continued to occasionally riot in the streets, calling for the Government to blow the British (and, one supposed, American) ships from Lisbon's expansive harbor when they arrived.

As the Queen-Regent sought to retain sanity amid the economic depression and political upheaval (the two major parties continued to rotate power in a bizarre agreement), the people of Portugal were getting increasingly resentful of the Crown and Government altogether. Radicals of various sects would proliferate. Socialists, anarchists, Conservatives, Liberals, Monarchists, Republicans, etc.

This backwater of Europe hosted a plethora of restless factions made all the more violent by the apparent loss of much of the Portuguese Empire, with Timor and Guinea taken with almost contemptuous ease.

But the Queen-Regent did not wish to put her country in such a bad light before three foreign nations (Brazil, Britain and America). Emperor Pedro II would receive a warm welcome.

Russia

Over the past years, Alexander II continued to reform the economic and technological elements of the nation but had slowed down on social reforms. Russians were free to migrate at will....but freedom of the Press or a permanent Parliament was simply not acceptable.

In hopes of mitigating dissent, the Czar would formally issue an order reducing the land transfer payments by the rural peasants to the former landholders by 1/3rd.

Mississippi Valley

The Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878 would kill over 13,000 people, particularly in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Italy

The Enrico Dandalo, the second of the Duilio-class ironclads, would launch in 1878. The heavy guns made the Italian ships the most dangerous in the Mediterranean. The Royal Navy, in particular, would actively work upon new designs superior to the new Italian vessels.

Transylvania

After years of unrest, outright rebellion would tear Hungary apart. This time, there would be no Austria or Russia to aid the Habsburg King of Hungary (Maximilian) in putting down the Romanian uprising in the east.

Tripolitania

Though it had taken many years, the King of Morocco had managed gain the allegiance of enough urban nobles and tribal leaders to assume the title of King of Algeria and Tunis as well.

Tripolitania, likewise, fell under the King's command. But this was challenged by Egypt where the Khedive sought to extend his influence.

 

[Alt History Buff]

July, 1878

Lisbon

Pedro II was, as expected, given a warm greeting in Lisbon. The Queen-Regent Maria Pia did not share the belief of several of her paranoid loyalists that Pedro desired to somehow regain the throne of Portugal. Rumor had it he didn't even want HIS throne any more and had done nothing to prepare his daughter for reigning after his death. Maybe he thought his grandson may assume power.....or maybe he just didn't care if a Republic replaced the Empire.

But the Queen-Regent had met the Emperor on more than one occasion and had been assured that there was no threat involved with Pedro II visiting his homeland. He tended to eschew the expected diplomatic circuit and instead travel throughout Europe almost incognito. His spouse Teresa Christina had not made the voyage this time and remained in Rio de Janeiro with her daughter. This gave the Emperor even more liberty to travel about.

For several days, the American and British officers were feted (grudgingly) by the Lisbon society. While the Americans were warmly welcomed honestly enough, the British were greeted through gritted teeth. They had not been forgiven for seizing Portuguese Timor or Guinea (which was actually taken by BOTH Britain and America but Britain was predominantly blamed by the Portuguese aristocracy). Once close allies, Britain and Portugal's respective politics no longer merged and the alliance had frayed over the years.

The local government of Lisbon, eager to keep the peace, would generously donate large quantities of coal, food, water, etc to the respective American and British ships. By the dozen, sullen Portuguese longshoremen would row out to the foreign vessels and deliver assorted goods like, they thought, tribute to a foreign power. Though adequate army forces had been dispatched to the capital to "keep the peace", the population remained resentful of the foreign presence (which had not been, technically, invited).

Naturally, local dignitaries were welcomed aboard the respective vessels for tours, dinners and informal dances. More goods were given including several gifts intended for the respective heads of state courtesy of the Queen-Regent and city of Lisbon. Within days, it became a common sight for dozens of strangers to be wandering the decks and bowels of the "allied" fleet.

However, a modest riot in Lisbon would put an end to the pretensions of affection. Reports that torpedoes or bombs would be placed along the hulls of the British and American ships abounded (even making it into newspapers which were quickly hushed up by the Queen-regent). The Portuguese Army would put it down quickly enough but the sailors determined that perhaps the "good will visit" had reached its logical conclusion. Unfortunately, the fleet was delayed as no one could find the Emperor. Pedro II had last been seen boarding a train a week earlier (again without bodyguards) and disappeared into the interior of Portugal. Eventually, he was found on the inland estate of an old friend and politely informed that, if he did not return to Lisbon at once, he would have to find his own passage home.

Indeed, this had been the initial plan. However, by the time he reached Lisbon, reports were emerging from Brazil of trouble in the provinces and the Princess-Regent quietly requested her father shorten his "tour". The Americans had no intention of sailing to Rio de Janeiro, they were planning to sail directly home from Lisbon, but one didn't leave an Emperor in the lurch.

Thus, the Americans (and British) waited for the Emperor to return. Pedro II belatedly said his goodbyes to the Queen-Regent and boarded the USS Maine. The Royal Navy commander had expected to sail days earlier but departing without a formal farewell to Pedro II would have been appallingly bad manners. Thus a hasty feast was prepared on that final evening in port for the Emperor and the senior allied officers.

Pedro II stood to offer a grateful toast (which most of the assembled sailors would probably not understand anyway as the Emperor's English was choppy at best) when a sudden blast rippled through the steel decks. Within moments, secondary blasts tore the vessel in two and a great wave of flame exploded outwards. All attendees of the dinner party were incinerated within moments while only a few members of the Maine's crew would survive the explosion.

The second-in-command (and sometimes third-in-command) of the various British and American vessels looked on in horror as virtually every senior officer of the combined "goodwill tour" vanished in an instant of concussive and incendiary force.

And the Emperor along with them.

Louisville, Kentucky

Abraham Lincoln was enjoying his modest retirement. HIs memoirs were selling well and the Board of Director positions he'd taken on several banks and railroads had ensured Lincoln and Mary's financial future for the remainder of their lives. Though his own memoirs did not sell as well as General (now President) Grant's, the man born in a log cabin was more than well off even by the generous standards of the largely prosperous nation.

The former President even had time to travel to Louisville for the anticipated race between the racehorses Molly McCarty and Ten Broeck....along with an estimated 30,000 spectators at the Louisville Jockey Club.

Lincoln was planning his own belated "Grand Tour" of Europe...if Mary could be lifted from her moods. The former President swore that the woman sucked all the fun out of life. Having served for 8 years at President (arguably the harshest 8 years of any Presidential reign), Lincoln wanted to spend his senior years living life to the fullest.....not putting up with Mary's tantrums.

Hell, Lincoln abruptly decided, if Mary doesn't want to come to Europe....let her stay in Springfield.

 

[Alt History Buff]

August, 1878

Tripolitania

Ludwig Karl Detroit, now in his mid-thirties, had fled his parents' home in Magdeburg at sixteen to a life at sea. Eventually, he washed up on the shores of the then-powerful Ottoman Empire. After accepting Islam (and circumcision), the youth was sent by a sponsor to military school. Afterwards, "Mehmed Ali" would serve against the Russians in the Crimean War, then the terrible defeat in the now-Russian province of Armenia.

After that, the loss of most of the Ottoman Empire (including Istanbul) would see massive internal conflict as minorities were crushed underfoot. Greeks, Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Shi'a.....all suffered retaliation. Even the Prussian born convert to the faith who served loyally in multiple wars was nearly executed. Fleeing for his life, Mehmad Ali would manage to reach Greece. Given that the Greeks were less than welcoming of Muslims at this time, the Prussian Protestant Ludwig Karl Detroit was reborn.

Having rejected his faith and his nation of birth, Detroit sought employment....really anywhere. Eventually he was welcomed by the King of Morocco, who was struggling to maintain control over local vassals and inland tribes across north Africa (Algeria, Tunisia and Tripolitania) under the loose and unofficial title of "Berber Kingdom". The King was engaging in a war of philosophy and culture with the Khedive of Egypt over the people of North Africa. The Khedive hoped to bring most or much of North Africa under his own control.....hopefully without actual warfare.

The Khedive positioned himself as a "modern Islamic leader" in the mold of European Kingdoms while the King of Morocco called much upon the region's common and ancient "Berber" heritage as a unifying factor. Both the King and Khedive sought to use education and language as a weapon. The Khedive asserted the use of Arabic while the King sought to expand the usage of the various Berber dialects in government and education. Indeed, the massive educational reforms in the haphazard "Kingdom of the Berbers" would utilize Berber as the primary language over the coming decades in an effort to culturally unify the peoples of Northern Africa.

However, the Egyptian Khedive would not so easily accept the formation of a powerful nation to the west. Less-than-subtly the Khedive would encourage dissent among various Tripolitanian chieftains in hopes of weakening the King of Morocco. Thus the King would hire several foreign mercenaries (European mostly) to train his forces. The Prussian-born "Karl Detroit" who spoke Turkish and Arabic was an ideal candidate for command. Now in his mid-thirties, the newly promoted "Pasha" Detroit would be granted the military governorship of Tripolitania. Detroit would marry a Jewish woman from Tunis (who didn't mind the circumcision) and assiduously cultivate tribal and urban support in the region in the name of the King.

When Detroit discovered a cache of weapons being transported by Egyptian agents, he ordered them arrested and brought to Tripoli where he publicly outed the Khedive for inciting rebellion. This would normally not bother the Khedive but the British Empire was an ally of the Berber Kingdom as well as Egypt and did not wish to see the two North African states in conflict. This could potentially leave the door open to a French or Italian intervention on the North African mainland.

Thus the British government would demand that the Khedive formally recognize the Moroccan hegemony in Tripolitania and all lands to the west.

Grudgingly, the Khedive did so, knowing to refuse would likely put his own Empire under threat. The Khedive had actively sought to modernize Egypt (and the Levant) both economically and socially, banning any discrimination against religious minorities and putting aside many Islamic traditions. By seizing control over the Suez Canal (which he had once sold to the French to pay off a few debts), the Khedive was among the first rulers in history to actively encourage tourism in Egypt and the Holy Lands. Rich Europeans were paying enormous fees to see the Sphynx (excavated only a few years prior), the Pyramids, the Temple Mount and Bethlehem. With exports rising and steadily rising revenues from the Canal, Egypt was slowly returning to economic sustainability. Public education was rapidly expanding and even light industry developing.

The Khedive wanted his nation to reflect Paris and London, not Baghdad.

The British could destroy this with a modest blockade of the Nile and the Suez. Worse, they could cut off their finance, which could prove catastrophic. The Khedive's family was not ancient. The threat to the throne remained omnipresent. Thus peace MUST be maintained for stability.

Swallowing his pride, the Khedive made no further approached west. Let the King of Morocco deal with the dizzying complexities of tribal North Africa.

Of course, the Khedive's problems were not over. A reactionary radical Islamic movement was taking place in the Sudan and the King of the Hejaz remained stubbornly opposed to the Khedive's "anti-Muslim" social reforms, particularly in terms of women's rights, and there were even threats that Egyptians would not be welcome in Mecca. The idea seemed shocking but certainly possible. The inbred Arab tribes of Arabia could not be trusted with anything.

To the north, the Ottoman Empire seemed to be returning to relevance as a similar western-central move towards modernization (often a byword for non-traditional Muslim culture) in hopes of retaining even the semblance of region power. Oddly, this occurred just a few years after the Ottoman ejected every conceivable minority from the rump state in Western Anatolia. Now the Turk sought to emulate them?

The world could be very odd.

Washington

"What do you mean the Maine "blew up"?" President Grant demanded. "What of these threats to torpedo or mine the US and Royal Navy vessels?"

The Secretary of State, Secretary of War and Secretary of the Navy could hardly answer. They'd read the same report as Grant.

"Find out, dammit?" Grant thundered. "If some damn Portuguese coward violated our hospitality to set a bomb or torpedo or something on the Maine, there will be hell to pay!"

Hamilton Fish, the Secretary of State, grimaced. He'd spent his years in office seeking to avoid conflicts like this. He certainly didn't believe that the government of Portugal had anything to do with the attack....if indeed it WAS an attack and not some sort of accident. It was true that rumors of a bomb had been reported in Lisbon newspapers in the days leading up to the tragedy....and ships usually didn't just BLOW UP on their own....but was it not possible some idiot just lit a pipe in the powder room?

Just twenty-four hours after news of the disaster reached American shores, there were already newspapers calling for war with Portugal.

With PORTUGAL?!!!

The entire situation seemed absurd.

And Fish hadn't even heard from the British or the Brazilians, the latter of which just lost their beloved Emperor.

 

[Alt History Buff]

September, 1878

Indiana

As the "outrage" spread throughout the nation regarding the sensationalist accounts of the "murder of the USS Maine" by, of all nations, Portugal (!), life went on in America as the nation prepared for the midterm election.

By 1878, all but a few of the old Confederate states had been restored to the Union and, somewhat surprisingly, the Freedmen were largely left alone. President Grant's resolution to enforce Freedmen's rights had something to do with this.

However, it was no only in the former Confederacy where Freedmen were suppressed. In the unlikely state of Indiana, a series of violent events and acts of intimidation would see election monitors dispatched from the Capital. Come November, they would not like what they saw.

Washington

The black Republican Congressmen and Senators would swiftly learn to use their power to their own advantage. It soon became apparent when a deeply debated key issue was being debated in Congress and the black representatives were more than happy to throw their weight with.....or against....any piece of legislation.....provided that their white counterparts responded in kind.

Among the latest demands of the Freedmen of America was the integration of schools. This was shocking even to many long-standing supporters of abolitionism. Did Americans - both white and black - really want their children sitting next to one another in a classroom?

London

While the militant arm of the "Fenian" movement had largely died out over the past decade under the heavy hand of the British government in Ireland.

First Lord Gladstone would spend much of the past few years attempting to sustain his modest majority in Parliament. To do so, he was forced to move his Party's position on "Home Rule" in Ireland in order to gain the support of the Irish MP's. However, this largely failed as, for every vote gained by the Irish (and the odd pro-Irish Home Rule British MP), there was a corresponding loss among the rural representatives who were historically the backbone of the Conservative Party.

The Ministerial majority wavered despite the Liberals being in disarray after the disasters of the Palmerston/Russell ministry (both men now dead that Russell had expired earlier in the year). Gladstone was still blamed by his own Party for costing the Conservatives the government years before.....also regarding Home Rule.

But Gladstone had given his word. And that meant a lot to him.

What was more, Gladstone did not want to be caught on the wrong side of history again. He had become convinced that Home Rule was the only way to ensure Ireland within the Empire long term. Long before, Gladstone had been tepid at best in the Abolition of slavery in Britain. Indeed, the then MUCH younger man was more interested in ensuring his plantation-owning father received a huge settlement from the government in for the manumission of his slaves.

Not for the first time, Gladstone would realize that the common classes of Britain were ahead of the ruling classes. He vowed never to ignore this again. However, the public were perhaps not so ready to accept Home Rule. Gladstone could practically hear the Liberals licking their chops.

The First Lord would grasp the deteriorating situation in Portugal like a drowning man reaching for a life-preserver. The deaths of over a half-dozen high-ranking Royal Navy officers cried out for retribution....only Gladstone was not certain that the Portuguese deserved it. He very much doubted that the Portuguese Queen-Regent (now Queen Mother but still commonly referred to as "Queen-Regent" had any part in the destruction of the USS Maine. Even the Admirals expressed skepticism with an accident being deemed more likely by several high ranking officers.

But Gladstone was also keenly aware that the Portuguese were intent on creating a new Empire in southern Africa, one intended to cross from Angola to Mozambique.....which would isolate the Cape Colony.

Perhaps it was time for the twitching corpse that was the Portuguese Empire to end. This would serve the British in Africa and Gladstone would be damned if he could think of a realistic scenario in which Portugal would ever serve British interests again as it had generations prior as a steady ally (and naval base) against Spain.

Gladstone was perhaps more willing to heed the cries of revenge called for by the scandal rags. Indeed, Gladstone was inclined to reshuffle his ministry. While the First Lord of the Treasury was long considered the defacto leader of any government, this was not truly the case anymore. Gladstone was long since more interested (and better qualified for) the role as Foreign Secretary or even Home Secretary than the dull confines of the Treasury.

As long as Gladstone was the leader of the Government, it did not matter which office he held. Indeed, the idea of "Prime Minister" was gaining traction as the leader of the Government regardless of who held the Treasury office (long the defacto leader of government).

Gladstone determined to take the Foreign Ministry where he would assume direct control over Foreign affairs as opposed to allowing a colleague to do so.

Palace of Sao Cristovao, Rio de Janeiro

Having given birth to her second son in January, Princess Isabel had been granted the Regency while her father was in Europe. The Princess-Regent was not a "hands-on" ruler and largely was happy to leave the Ministers to their jobs. But the restiveness expanding through the country - labor issues in Minas Gerais, a slave strike in the north and opposition-led obstructionism in Parliament was enough for the Regent to ask her father to cut short his visit to Europe.

Receiving the news that her father had been killed made for the worst day in Isabel's life, even worse than the deaths of her mother and sister.

For now, Isabel was informed if she was not immediately crowned, the monarchy was finished. Brazil was not a nation inclined towards female leadership, even an Empress. But her sons were young children. To reject the throne was to rob her heir of his birthright. This Isabel could not accept.

The Empress was crowned on September 15th as a stunned Brazil attempted to process just what the hell happened.

The opposition, including a large number of slave-holders who had not forgotten the Princess' part in Law of Free Birth (which meant that all children born to slaves would be free as of age 21), were actively plotting behind the scenes to assume control over the government.

The Duke of Eu, Isabel's husband, was born in France and not terribly popular in Brazil for this reason. However, the Duke was more than connected enough to ally with loyalists to root out the source of the potential rebellion. Trusted men were put in key positions throughout the local army units, ensuring that there would be no overnight coup.

 

[Alt History Buff]

October, 1878

Bogata, United States of Colombia

After nearly three years of Civil War, the victorious Liberal Party would unify to elect Julian Trujillo as their President. It had not been a good decade for Colombia as the civil war destroyed her commerce and caused the nation to fall further and further behind her neighbors.

Indeed, the long-contested Guajira Peninsula, an eastern border region between Colombia and Venezuela whose indigenous population had, for centuries, prevented major European settlement, had been seized by Venezuela amid Colombian protests.

To the northwest, the French soldier and explorer Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte Wyse had led expeditions in 1876 and 1877 to the Darian region of Panama with the intent of verifying if a canal could be established. Initial feedback was good and Wyse returned to France excitedly spreading the good news. However, the initial French preference was to purchase the Panama Region....not lease the land from the Colombian government. Unfortunately for the French emissaries, the Foreign Ministry sought to negotiate with the Conservative government in Bogota at the time (this being during the Civil War). The Liberal victory would promptly end any sort of negotiation with France. However, British newspapers were report ongoing discussions in Paris regarding seizing the Isthmus with aid of local rebels.

This naturally infuriated the Colombian people and new President Trujillo would dispatch emissaries to both Britain (whose moribund colony of British Guiana was also experiencing a territorial dispute with Venezuela) and the United States (who still maintained a claim to the Monroe Doctrine).

Of course, both Britain and America were already knee-deep in their own problems at the moment.

London and Lisbon

"Prime Minister" and new Foreign Secretary Henry Gladstone had reshuffled his Ministry the previous month and taken direct control over foreign affairs. With the Irish Question and the 2nd Indian Mutiny still foremost in British thoughts, the Prime Minister (he would be the first to regularly use this term) would seize upon the "Maine Incident" to rather callously slide a knife in the back of an old ally.

Britain and Portugal had already long been in diplomatic loggerheads over the defacto conquest of Timor by the Commonwealth of Australia (not that Portugal could have protected it from Japan) and Guinea (the Anglo-American Co-Protectorate had seized the coast after a regional rebellion). Ill-feeling lingered and the destruction of the USS Maine with large numbers of high-ranking American and British officers, not to mention the Emperor of Portugal, would cause this rancor to increase.

Gladstone would send half a dozen ships to Lisbon directly to "help investigate". In the meantime, he ordered large numbers of Royal Navy vessels and several army units to remain on standby for sailing to the remnants of the Portuguese Empire throughout the globe (by this point mostly Angola and Mozambique but also Goa, Sao Tome and Princip and a few other petty holdings).

Washington

President Grant convened his cabinet. He was not in any way certain that the destruction of the USS Maine was deliberate. Indeed, he found it more likely it had been an unfortunate accident. He CERTAINLY did not believe the government of Portugal had anything to do with it (though he conceded a bomb might have been set by irritated local Radicals).

Though Grant was more than willing to resist the increasing calls to war the Yellow Journalists had incited half the damn population of American to support, in truth the President was more concerned with the British. It was obvious that Gladstone had every intention of using the moment to seize what was left of the Portuguese Empire.

THIS Grant was not willing to accept.....not without American getting her due share as well.

Of course, Grant held no interest in Angola or Mozambique. Hell, the man had never HEARD of these places until Fish pointed them out on a map in a recent cabinet meeting. He certainly had NO interest whatsoever in American colonies in Africa.

That young whippersnapper Commander Alfred Mahan (the favorite adjutant of the Secretary of the Navy) had managed to bend the President's ear over the past year regarding the importance of naval power. Grant was more than willing to fight Congress for a reasonable Naval budget but was hesitant to expand to all corners of the globe in search of naval bases to protect trade. That seemed a good way to pick a fight with Britain. While America had done well enough in the three previous wars with Britain, it was also true that Britain had been fighting those wars at the end of a very long supply line. America sailing out to the high seas would be reversing that advantage.

Very few nations prospered over the past three or four centuries challenging Britain on the high seas.

Mahan also argued the the proposals made by President's Lincoln and Seward to trade various overseas possession (Guan, Tahiti, Samoa, Guyana, the former Danish Virgin Islands, the former Dutch West Indies) to Britain for more proximate possessions like Hawaii, the Bahama/Turk/Caicos Islands and Bermuda was folly. Even if Britain WERE to agree to the trades, this did not mean America's shorelines were significantly more protected from British assaults. It would only mean that America's naval REACH would be fatally compromised.

Grant understood the argument even if he didn't agree with it....though he couldn't DISAGREE with it either. The President was uncertain if America was truly READY to take such a daring leadership role in the world. A very provincial people at heart, Americans had long been relatively happy to trade with the world under protection of other navies.

Americans certainly did not like PAYING for Navies or foreign wars, that was for sure. Indeed, even the "Co-Protectorate" was greatly debated in Congress and throughout the country. There seemed to be very little in the way of benefit to this....but the threat that remote areas of Africa may somehow bring America into remote and inexplicable conflicts.

But Grant also knew that, to European colonial eyes (really just Britain by this point), these were status symbols and the impact of such in international relations could not be ignored.

Seeing the Portuguese situation as both a threat and an opportunity, Grant hedged his bets. He would sent a "peaceful investigative commission" on several warships to Lisbon (intended more for British purposes than any plan to war upon Portugal itself). He would also prepare a fleet of warships and transports to sail on short notice.

But where would they sail?

Grant was not willing to contest a British conquest of Angola or Mozambique, much less Goa or Timor. That would be both pointless and suicidal. But the Portuguese DID possess several island chains which young Commander Mahan would salivate at the idea of seizing. These included the Azores, Madeira and Sao Tome and Princip. These were lightly populated and would make quite useful naval bases.

Grant, in great secrecy, ordered his Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of War to prepare a plan to seize these islands......should the "investigation" in Lisbon go poorly, of course.

In the meantime, Grant had received a rather odd offer from a Welsh-born American journalist who had made a remarkable series of journeys in Africa, particularly the Congo. Mr. Stanley had explored on the dime of American newspapers and offered President Grant first rights at purchasing the series of agreements he'd made with dozens of tribal chiefs. Grant had initially dismissed the idea but hadn't formally rejected Stanley's offer. The man was reportedly still in New York and had less than subtly insinuated he'd sell the treaties to the highest bidder. Rumor had it even the King of the Belgians was interested despite that nation having no previous history in colonialism.

Grant sighed and had his aide dispatch an invitation to Mr. Stanley to Washington to discuss the matter again. Though the President had no interested in governing MORE of Africa, he also knew that the balance of power with Britain in Africa would swiftly shift should Angola be seized by Britain. Grant needed a counterbalance and control over the mightiest river in central Africa was probably the best America could expect to do.

 

[Alt History Buff]

November, 1878

Lisbon

Over the past months, over a dozen official and unofficial commissions appointed by Portugal, America, Britain, Brazil (and several self-appointed commissions or those dispatched by various newspapers) and the result was.....confused.

Indeed, the only commission to conclude deliberate sabotage would be the Brazilians...and even they didn't go so far as to accuse the Portuguese government. However, the events were spiraling beyond control. Gladstone's edicts were already in motion as British forces were sailing toward Angola and Mozambique. There were also orders sailing to India for the Viceroy to seize Goa and the other tiny Portuguese exclaves in India.

As Brazil's naval officers lobbed accusations, Britain was already moving. Grant knew he must move quickly too. In a remarkable series of executive orders, the United States Navy and assorted army units were "dispatched on fact-finding missions to the Azores, Madeira and Sao Tome", apparently with the intent that they should find some evidence of Portuguese nefarious purposes in these regions.

The landing of American troops upon these remote regions were uncontested and not explicitly a conquest. No declaration of war had been issued by Congress. But, by Christmas, the Portuguese Empire had largely vanished from the world just as the Dutch, Danish, French and most of the Spanish Empire had done before.

Grant also sent a quiet communique to his counterpart Gladstone, announcing America's assumption of Stanley's treaty "obligations" in the Congo and invited Gladstone to discuss the matter "when the unsettled international situation" was resolved. When he received the letter, Gladstone laughed out loud, his estimation of Grant rising another notch.

Grant also quietly noted that "French Influence" in Colombia would not be welcomed nor would the Monroe Doctrine allow such foreign acquisition on mainland American soil. However, the President WAS willing to discuss with Britain a joint proposal to the new President of the United States of Colombia for a canal, one in which American, British AND Colombian interests were served (and one which could potentially save a great deal of money for both America and Britain).

Indiana

Though "raiders" in the former Confederate style were rare in the "Copperhead" states of the Midwest, that did not mean that Freedmen were welcomed nor joyfully granted equality.

When several county clerks refused to register black voters in their counties, the Freedmen's Bureau were summoned. When they discovered numerous accounts of intimidation and fraud related to Freedmen's voting rights in the 1878 Congressional elections, they immediately presented their position to the President: Indiana had not overseen a free and fair election.

To his credit, the President did not hesitate a moment. He annulled the results of the election as quickly as he would have in any former Confederate state (Louisiana, the truncated south Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina had not even SOUGHT readmittance lest their eyes be offended by seeing former slaves VOTING). While Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Virginia, Mississippi and North Carolina's elections went largely peacefully, the innumerable accounts of fraud in Indiana forced grant into action. He annulled the vote (despite over half the Congressmen and both Senators of Indiana being Republican) and ordered the army to assist the Freedmen's Bureau in setting up a new election.

Naturally, this brought outrage from many quarters of the country but even the Democrats had to acknowledge that the President was being even-handed in cancelling the results of an election which favored Republicans. The Democratic leadership were torn. Should they openly criticize the President for his action?

The decision was made not in Party headquarters but in the south as many of the former Confederates, particularly in Georgia and South Carolina, used the occasion to call upon the northerners to "rise up against the Republican extremists and suppress black suffrage". Even the Democrats could not stomach THAT LINE and quietly let the public roast the President.

 

[Alt History Buff]

December 1878

Washington

"The British DO WHAT?!!!" President Grant replied incredulously.

With careful patience (not to show his IMPATIENCE), Secretary of State Hamilton Fish would explain again how the Indian Civil Service was educated. First, a candidate had to take an exam (in either India or England) and those highest scores would be sent to one to two years at local Universities (In England, this was Oxford or Cambridge, which insinuated the level of scholarship) to learn the local language, culture and history of the Indian department they were to serve. The local Indian recruits would do the same at the best regional universities of the subcontinent. There were other methods to join the Indian Civil Service like promotion from the Provincial Civil Services or being called the Bar, but this was the most common. By 1878, nearly half the Indian Civil Service comprised of actual Indians, though the upper levels remained disproportionately British despite numerous concessions by the Indian government since the 2nd Mutiny.

The wage scale, once translated to United States Dollars, would similarly raise eyebrows. If Grant had known one could be paid so well in India, he may have opted for service THERE (though, he admitted, he was less than sure he could have scored highly enough on the exam given the obvious high levels of competition and education among the applicants).

American Civil Service, even after years of reform to eliminate the spoils system (still something of a work in progress, really), was not NEARLY as rigorous in hiring. Men were not expected to go to college to be clerks or postal workers. Showing up on the right day was a key factor in gaining employment.

While both America and Britain were more than busy elsewhere, the continued development of the "Co-Protectorate" Government in Western Africa (now including Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia) could not be delayed. A corps of educated administrators, teachers and assorted bureaucrats were necessary if Anglo-American influence were to be extended.

The President was already thinking ahead to the day when he would propose adding Angola and Mozambique (no doubt well along the process of being conquered by Britain) to the "Co-Protectorate" in exchange for America donating their new "tribal alliances" purchased from Stanley along the Congo River.

But the requirements for such an organization were staggering. It never crossed Grant's mind that only the cream of the crop would be accepted into the "African Civil Service", or whatever it would eventually be called, nor that he would have to set up affiliations with various universities to train employees/civil servants in local culture prior to arrival in Africa.

Not for the first time, Grant was rethinking this whole "Co-Protectorate" thing. But that would be a humiliating confession of inadequacy to the British who, despite being nominal allies, were also the only likely threat to America in the foreseeable future. For the provincial "Cousin Jonathan" to feebly hand over ANYTHING to Britain in such a manner was unthinkable.

It had been the British Foreign Minister (Prime Minister Gladstone now that he had switched positions) that recommended copying the Indian Civil Service for the administration of the Co-Protectorate. Grant, upon studying the institution, could not disagree. Gladstone even proposed heavily encouraging the black populations of America and the British West Indies to apply. As it was unlikely that the Co-Protectorate could ever pay as well as the Indian Civil Service, Grant imagined few alumni of Oxford or Yale would be applying as "Factors" or "Clerks" or whatever.

The British West Indies, since the abolition of slavery two generations prior, had actively sought to educate the majority black population as best they could. Given the economic doldrums in the West Indies since the collapse of the sugar industry, there would likely be no shortage of bureaucrat position applications among the impoverished West Indians who were no doubt desperate for a job.

American Negro education was being led by the Freedman's Bureau. Much progress had been made, particularly among the young....but still the majority of Negroes were not yet literate. With better paying positions for educated Negroes available, Grant was not so sure that there would be a huge number of Negro applicants. He invited the Freedman's Bureau Director, Mr. Frederick Douglass. The venerable Negro had been among the first black Senators (though certainly not the last) and had led the Bureau for years.

To Grant's surprise, Douglass' reaction to the proposal was mixed. Douglass wondered how the actual AFRICANS would react to this. Were the people to be governed going to be consulted? Would THEY be able to apply for these positions?

In truth, Grant never considered this. "I agree, Mr. Douglass, I shall have this issue brought up with the Ambassador, who had been tasked with proposing the structure of government of the Co-Protectorate to our government. I see no reason why they should not be free to participate."

"But the other proposals?" Grant pressed.

Douglass took his time to think about the matter before answering. "I would recommend the following, Mr. President...."

Douglass went on to present several practical suggestions, including affiliating the Co-Protectorate training plan to four different colleges, one each from north, south, east and west. He also pointed out that people of the American colonies of the Virgin Islands, the Dutch Islands and Guyana may seek employment in the African Civil Service. Grant ruminated on this for a moment and replied that the British intention of forming a "College of the West Indies" may be a better place to accept American colonial recruits. Certainly none of the American West Indies colonies seemed good candidates for a University at the moment.

Douglass was invited to attend a meeting with the British Ambassador later this week to discuss the matter in more detail.

In the meantime, Grant returned to his ongoing impatient waiting for news from Lisbon, the Azores, Madeira and Sao Tome. It would be a very nervous New Years.