For the Want of a King TL: Prussia loses the War of Austrian Succession
- Thread starter Gwrtheyrn Annwn
- Start date
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- Tags
- 1700s tl austrian tl
They joined the war because they have been traditionally on the side of Austria and they have been promised land in northern France if they help the Habsburg block.
The Italians, rather hilariously, are doing exceedingly well. I could see them annexing thw rest of Sardinia Piedmont at the end of this... maybe Provence though that seems over the top.
For that matter the Bishopric of Trent ould be given to North Italy. OTL they only were annexed to Austria at the Congress of Vienna, here that obviously doesn't apply.
Prussia is likely to lose land to Poland, though Russia might gain part of Ruthenia.
For that matter the Bishopric of Trent ould be given to North Italy. OTL they only were annexed to Austria at the Congress of Vienna, here that obviously doesn't apply.
Prussia is likely to lose land to Poland, though Russia might gain part of Ruthenia.
Sardinia Piedmont is likely, but I think Provence might be a tad too far.
Maybe, maybe.
Prussia might lose some land, but I'm not sure yet. Russia probably will get part of Ruthenia at the end of it.
The Great Habsburg War Ends!
Part 9: The Age of Colonialism 1826-1876: Section 3: The Great Habsburg War 1844-1846:
The period from 1844 to 1846 brought the Great Habsburg War to a close and dramatically changed the situation worldwide.
The European Theatre:
French Theatre:
In France itself, the North Italians were content to maintain their frontier along the River Rhone. They construct wooden forts at key points along the river and settled down to defend the river banks. Behind the lines, however, they moved to add Sardinia to the kingdom. 3 North Italian armies marched into Sardinia, from the north, the west and the east in February 1844, with the aim to meet in Genoa. The North Italians struck hard and fast, crushing feeble Sardinian resistance and, within 3 months, had reached Genoa. Genoa, itself, resisted significantly more fiercely than the surrounding countryside and the North Italians were forced to besiege the city. The city would eventually fall in September 1844. After the fall of Genoa the Duke of Sardinia, now in residence on the island of Sardinia itself, and the King of North Italy signed the Treaty of Genoa. Under the Treaty of Genoa:
1. Genoa and the surrounding area ceded to North Italy.
2. Sardinia’s independence and control of Corsica guaranteed by North Italy.
This treaty made Sardinia, in all intents and purposes, the vassal of North Italy. Shortly after this treaty, the North Italians and Dutch, who had become disillusioned with the war, signed the Treaty of Avignon with the French in December 1844. Under this treaty:
1. North Italy ceded territory east of Toulon.
2. The Netherlands receive a large sum of money.
3. North Italy and the Netherlands withdrew from the war in all theatres.
French soldiers near the Rhone River
German Theatre:
Meanwhile in Germany the war continued at a pace. The British launched an offensive across the Rhine into the Kingdom of the Rhine in March 1844, as before, the Rhenish forces were woefully unprepared and the British/Hanoverian smashed through their lines. It was only the difficulty that the British had in crossing the Rhine, brought on by bad weather, which prevented a total collapse of the Kingdom. As it was, half of what remained of the Rhenish territory was in the hands of the Hanoverians/British by June 1844. As such the Austrians were largely on their own in the German theatre now, minus the Poles to the east. Unfortunately for Austria, the Poles were now engaged in fighting the Russians and could do little more than defend what they had already gained. And so the Austrians fought on alone, albeit with the help of North Italian ‘volunteer’ regiments. Despite this, they managed to decisively defeat the Prussians in the outskirts of Berlin, which left only the British remaining. The British, how had long been Austrian allies, put a rather stronger fight than the Prussians had done. This meant that the fighting in Germany dragged on and on. The Austrians launched and offensive against Hannover, itself, in September 1844 only to see it repelled a mere 20 miles southeast of the city. The British responded with a counter attack through occupied Rhineland into Wurttemberg a month later, only to have that defeated near the Austrian border. Needless to say, by 1845 the casualties on both sides were adding up and so both decided on one last ditch effort to swing the conflict in their favour. The Austrians, under Count Heinrich von Wittelsbach, strategized that a triple pronged assault, through occupied Prussia, occupied Saxony and Wurttemberg would force the British into the surrender. The British meanwhile, under General Jonathan Montgomery, decided on an all out attack targeting Vienna. Inevitably, the armies of Austrian and Britain would clash again and in May 1845, they did. The Austrian East and West armies were both repelled as they tried to invade Hanover, with the East Army being brutally crushed near the Danish border and the West army being ambushed as it tried to cross the Rhine. Both suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreated. The main Austrian army, meanwhile, march headlong into combat with the British force, under General Montgomery. The two armies clashed at Dresden and the resulting battle was long and fierce. Lasting two days, the Battle of Dresden saw the deaths of thousands of men and was little more than a bloodbath by the end of it. Both sides suffering heavy casualties as cavalry charge after cavalry charge became bogged down in the quagmire, infantry soldiers also found themselves trapped as they tried to march across the field. The result was that hundreds died from artillery fire as the Austrian and British batteries rained down on the static fighting. Such was the scale of slaughter and the quagmire that the fields upon which the battle was fought would ever be known as the Bloody Fields and it is even rumoured that, if you dig deep enough, you’ll find layer of soil still red with the soldiers blood.
“Who would have thought that water from the heavens could have caused the death of so many.”
Doctor Henry Fletcher in his book: Heaven’s Wrath: The Battle of Dresden.
Following the horrific slaughter at the Battle of Dresden, also known as the Dresden Massacre, the British and Austrians agreed a ceasefire, though no treaty was signed.
British soldiers at the Battle of Dresden
The Eastern Europe Theatre:
In Eastern Europe, meanwhile, things were most definitely looking up for the Russians, particularly after the Byzantine Rebellion in April 1844. First of the Russians defeated the counter-attacking Poles in Ruthenia, even driving them back, secondly they smashed the Swedish outside Novgorod and secured the return of Pskov, etc. to the empire. Finally, they achieved domination over, much of, the Balkans with the Byzantine Rebellion. This rebellion, which began in April 1844, is widely agreed to have been funded by the Russians. It began in Constantinople itself as ‘protestors’ outside the Austrian and Polish concessional territories were ‘fired upon’ by ‘Austrian and Polish’ soldiers. The result was that the ‘protestors’, who were remarkably skilled in combat for civilians, stormed the concessions of Austria and Poland and proceeded to lynch much of the Austrian and Polish diplomatic staff. The Austrians and Polish were furious and sent what few soldiers they could. Unfortunately for them, their ongoing involvement in the Great Habsburg War meant that the detachments were insufficient and promptly defeated by the ‘civilian’ mobs. As word of the captured of Constantinople by the ‘rebels’ spread more and more people began to rise up against the Austrian and Polish officials, but suspiciously not the Russian ones. As things got worse and worse and the ‘rebels’ occupied more and more land, the Austrians and Polish were forced to pull out their forces, due to their on going commitment to the war. As soon as the last Austrian and Polish forces were withdrawn, the Russian forces moved in. Within the month the ‘rebellion’ had been ‘defeated’ and the Byzantine Empire was firmly a Russian puppet. The Austrians and Polish protested, but since both were fighting the Russians there was little they could and so, in July 1844 Austria and Poland ceded they stakes in the control of the Byzantine Empire to Russia. The war in Poland itself, continued with things looking increasingly desperate for the Polish. With the Austrians now fighting a titanic conflict against the British, the Polish were forced to fight the Russians with only the Swedish for support. Unsurprisingly things did not go well. The Russians continued to advance into Poland and occupied eastern Lithuania in October 1844 Courland and Swedish Estonia followed in January 1845. After the fall of Estonia the Swedish and Russians signed the Treaty of Novgorod. Under this treaty:
1. Sweden paid large amounts of war reparations.
2. A 20 non-aggression pact was agreed between the two countries.
3. Estonia ceded to Russia.
Shortly after this, in February 1845, the Russians entered Polish occupied East Prussia and were in sight of Konigsberg. Eager to try and gain East Prussia, the Poles agreed to sign the Treaty of Vilnius in March 1845. Under this treaty:
1. East Ruthenia was ceded to Russia.
2. Courland was ceded to Russia.
3. Control of Moldavia was ceded to Russia.
4. Russia agreed to support the Polish claim to East Prussia.
The Treaty of Paris:
Whilst conflict would continue in North America, the Treaty of Vilnius concluded the fighting between the European powers and in June 1845 all the European nations sat down together, again, to draw up the Treaty of Paris. This treaty, not only finalised the peace terms of the Great Habsburg War, but also began to work on the partitioning of the African continent. The treaty debated for days, by representatives from Austria, Britain, Denmark, the German states, the Netherlands, North Italy, Poland-Lithuania, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Spain and Sweden. Eventually the following treaty was agreed upon:
1. The territorial transfers from all previous treaties in the Great Habsburg War are confirmed and ratified.
2. In addition to those: East Prussia is restored to Poland. All Rhenish land east of the River Rhine is ceded to British Hanover. Prussia granted Mecklenburg under the condition that the Duke of Mecklenburg retains partial control over it as a governor.
3. The Habsburg Alliance will pay a moderate amount of war reparations to the French allies, this replaces all previous agreements to war reparations.
4. All African land between British Mali and Portuguese Congo is designated as for British colonisation.
5. All African land between Portuguese Congo and Ethiopia is designated as for Portuguese colonisation.
6. All African land north of British Mali designated as for Spanish colonisation.
7. All African land south of Portuguese Congo designated as for Dutch colonisation.
8. The French king is restored and the French Colonial Government and French homeland are reunited into one state once more.
Unsurprisingly most of the rulings on Africa were not followed, but they formed a basis for the Africa colonisation process and indeed North-West Africa became Spanish and West Africa became British.
The North American Theatre:
Whilst all this was happening in Europe, Louisiana and the URA continued to fight it out over the Ohio River Valley. The Mexicans continued their advance into California, besieging Los Angeles in March 1844. The city fell 3 months later and in early July 1845 California fell to total Mexican control. A month later the nation was annexed and added back into the Mexican empire. In Ohio, meanwhile, Louisiana remained in control, though the URA’s superior manpower was taxing the Louisianan armies. As such, Louisiana decided to quit whilst it was ahead and to a partition of the disputed territory with the URA in October 1844.
The world in 1845
Part 9: The Age of Colonialism 1826-1876: Section 3: The Great Habsburg War 1844-1846:
The period from 1844 to 1846 brought the Great Habsburg War to a close and dramatically changed the situation worldwide.
The European Theatre:
French Theatre:
In France itself, the North Italians were content to maintain their frontier along the River Rhone. They construct wooden forts at key points along the river and settled down to defend the river banks. Behind the lines, however, they moved to add Sardinia to the kingdom. 3 North Italian armies marched into Sardinia, from the north, the west and the east in February 1844, with the aim to meet in Genoa. The North Italians struck hard and fast, crushing feeble Sardinian resistance and, within 3 months, had reached Genoa. Genoa, itself, resisted significantly more fiercely than the surrounding countryside and the North Italians were forced to besiege the city. The city would eventually fall in September 1844. After the fall of Genoa the Duke of Sardinia, now in residence on the island of Sardinia itself, and the King of North Italy signed the Treaty of Genoa. Under the Treaty of Genoa:
1. Genoa and the surrounding area ceded to North Italy.
2. Sardinia’s independence and control of Corsica guaranteed by North Italy.
This treaty made Sardinia, in all intents and purposes, the vassal of North Italy. Shortly after this treaty, the North Italians and Dutch, who had become disillusioned with the war, signed the Treaty of Avignon with the French in December 1844. Under this treaty:
1. North Italy ceded territory east of Toulon.
2. The Netherlands receive a large sum of money.
3. North Italy and the Netherlands withdrew from the war in all theatres.
French soldiers near the Rhone River
German Theatre:
Meanwhile in Germany the war continued at a pace. The British launched an offensive across the Rhine into the Kingdom of the Rhine in March 1844, as before, the Rhenish forces were woefully unprepared and the British/Hanoverian smashed through their lines. It was only the difficulty that the British had in crossing the Rhine, brought on by bad weather, which prevented a total collapse of the Kingdom. As it was, half of what remained of the Rhenish territory was in the hands of the Hanoverians/British by June 1844. As such the Austrians were largely on their own in the German theatre now, minus the Poles to the east. Unfortunately for Austria, the Poles were now engaged in fighting the Russians and could do little more than defend what they had already gained. And so the Austrians fought on alone, albeit with the help of North Italian ‘volunteer’ regiments. Despite this, they managed to decisively defeat the Prussians in the outskirts of Berlin, which left only the British remaining. The British, how had long been Austrian allies, put a rather stronger fight than the Prussians had done. This meant that the fighting in Germany dragged on and on. The Austrians launched and offensive against Hannover, itself, in September 1844 only to see it repelled a mere 20 miles southeast of the city. The British responded with a counter attack through occupied Rhineland into Wurttemberg a month later, only to have that defeated near the Austrian border. Needless to say, by 1845 the casualties on both sides were adding up and so both decided on one last ditch effort to swing the conflict in their favour. The Austrians, under Count Heinrich von Wittelsbach, strategized that a triple pronged assault, through occupied Prussia, occupied Saxony and Wurttemberg would force the British into the surrender. The British meanwhile, under General Jonathan Montgomery, decided on an all out attack targeting Vienna. Inevitably, the armies of Austrian and Britain would clash again and in May 1845, they did. The Austrian East and West armies were both repelled as they tried to invade Hanover, with the East Army being brutally crushed near the Danish border and the West army being ambushed as it tried to cross the Rhine. Both suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreated. The main Austrian army, meanwhile, march headlong into combat with the British force, under General Montgomery. The two armies clashed at Dresden and the resulting battle was long and fierce. Lasting two days, the Battle of Dresden saw the deaths of thousands of men and was little more than a bloodbath by the end of it. Both sides suffering heavy casualties as cavalry charge after cavalry charge became bogged down in the quagmire, infantry soldiers also found themselves trapped as they tried to march across the field. The result was that hundreds died from artillery fire as the Austrian and British batteries rained down on the static fighting. Such was the scale of slaughter and the quagmire that the fields upon which the battle was fought would ever be known as the Bloody Fields and it is even rumoured that, if you dig deep enough, you’ll find layer of soil still red with the soldiers blood.
“Who would have thought that water from the heavens could have caused the death of so many.”
Doctor Henry Fletcher in his book: Heaven’s Wrath: The Battle of Dresden.
Following the horrific slaughter at the Battle of Dresden, also known as the Dresden Massacre, the British and Austrians agreed a ceasefire, though no treaty was signed.
British soldiers at the Battle of Dresden
The Eastern Europe Theatre:
In Eastern Europe, meanwhile, things were most definitely looking up for the Russians, particularly after the Byzantine Rebellion in April 1844. First of the Russians defeated the counter-attacking Poles in Ruthenia, even driving them back, secondly they smashed the Swedish outside Novgorod and secured the return of Pskov, etc. to the empire. Finally, they achieved domination over, much of, the Balkans with the Byzantine Rebellion. This rebellion, which began in April 1844, is widely agreed to have been funded by the Russians. It began in Constantinople itself as ‘protestors’ outside the Austrian and Polish concessional territories were ‘fired upon’ by ‘Austrian and Polish’ soldiers. The result was that the ‘protestors’, who were remarkably skilled in combat for civilians, stormed the concessions of Austria and Poland and proceeded to lynch much of the Austrian and Polish diplomatic staff. The Austrians and Polish were furious and sent what few soldiers they could. Unfortunately for them, their ongoing involvement in the Great Habsburg War meant that the detachments were insufficient and promptly defeated by the ‘civilian’ mobs. As word of the captured of Constantinople by the ‘rebels’ spread more and more people began to rise up against the Austrian and Polish officials, but suspiciously not the Russian ones. As things got worse and worse and the ‘rebels’ occupied more and more land, the Austrians and Polish were forced to pull out their forces, due to their on going commitment to the war. As soon as the last Austrian and Polish forces were withdrawn, the Russian forces moved in. Within the month the ‘rebellion’ had been ‘defeated’ and the Byzantine Empire was firmly a Russian puppet. The Austrians and Polish protested, but since both were fighting the Russians there was little they could and so, in July 1844 Austria and Poland ceded they stakes in the control of the Byzantine Empire to Russia. The war in Poland itself, continued with things looking increasingly desperate for the Polish. With the Austrians now fighting a titanic conflict against the British, the Polish were forced to fight the Russians with only the Swedish for support. Unsurprisingly things did not go well. The Russians continued to advance into Poland and occupied eastern Lithuania in October 1844 Courland and Swedish Estonia followed in January 1845. After the fall of Estonia the Swedish and Russians signed the Treaty of Novgorod. Under this treaty:
1. Sweden paid large amounts of war reparations.
2. A 20 non-aggression pact was agreed between the two countries.
3. Estonia ceded to Russia.
Shortly after this, in February 1845, the Russians entered Polish occupied East Prussia and were in sight of Konigsberg. Eager to try and gain East Prussia, the Poles agreed to sign the Treaty of Vilnius in March 1845. Under this treaty:
1. East Ruthenia was ceded to Russia.
2. Courland was ceded to Russia.
3. Control of Moldavia was ceded to Russia.
4. Russia agreed to support the Polish claim to East Prussia.
The Treaty of Paris:
Whilst conflict would continue in North America, the Treaty of Vilnius concluded the fighting between the European powers and in June 1845 all the European nations sat down together, again, to draw up the Treaty of Paris. This treaty, not only finalised the peace terms of the Great Habsburg War, but also began to work on the partitioning of the African continent. The treaty debated for days, by representatives from Austria, Britain, Denmark, the German states, the Netherlands, North Italy, Poland-Lithuania, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Spain and Sweden. Eventually the following treaty was agreed upon:
1. The territorial transfers from all previous treaties in the Great Habsburg War are confirmed and ratified.
2. In addition to those: East Prussia is restored to Poland. All Rhenish land east of the River Rhine is ceded to British Hanover. Prussia granted Mecklenburg under the condition that the Duke of Mecklenburg retains partial control over it as a governor.
3. The Habsburg Alliance will pay a moderate amount of war reparations to the French allies, this replaces all previous agreements to war reparations.
4. All African land between British Mali and Portuguese Congo is designated as for British colonisation.
5. All African land between Portuguese Congo and Ethiopia is designated as for Portuguese colonisation.
6. All African land north of British Mali designated as for Spanish colonisation.
7. All African land south of Portuguese Congo designated as for Dutch colonisation.
8. The French king is restored and the French Colonial Government and French homeland are reunited into one state once more.
Unsurprisingly most of the rulings on Africa were not followed, but they formed a basis for the Africa colonisation process and indeed North-West Africa became Spanish and West Africa became British.
The North American Theatre:
Whilst all this was happening in Europe, Louisiana and the URA continued to fight it out over the Ohio River Valley. The Mexicans continued their advance into California, besieging Los Angeles in March 1844. The city fell 3 months later and in early July 1845 California fell to total Mexican control. A month later the nation was annexed and added back into the Mexican empire. In Ohio, meanwhile, Louisiana remained in control, though the URA’s superior manpower was taxing the Louisianan armies. As such, Louisiana decided to quit whilst it was ahead and to a partition of the disputed territory with the URA in October 1844.
The world in 1845
A new update!
Part 9: The Age of Colonialism 1826-1876: Section 4: The Scramble for Africa 1847-1876 Part 1: For Prussia (and Riches)!:
After the Great Habsburg War, and the vast casualties suffered by many of the European nations, the powers of Europe turned they attention firmly on to colonialism. The idea, and arguably ideology, of colonialism was not new, having been toyed with by Austria, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain over the years, but it was only now that it was adopted on a massive scale.
The Treaty of Paris had drawn up the start of colonial borders in Africa, but the nature of the African scramble was such that these borders were largely ignored. This was because the European powers decided to use puppet states as a means of colonisation; this idea sprang from the writings of the Austrian explorer von Stauffenburg and was adopted by many following the Great Habsburg War. Austria, Britain, Portugal and the Netherlands had all already begun putting von Stauffenburg’s ideas into to practice and controlled the puppet states of Ethiopia, Mali, the Congo and the Zulu Kingdom respectively, but now other nations began to implement as well. The first to do so, post-1846, was Prussia.
The Prussian colonial efforts were hindered by the difficulty of getting colonists and explorers to Africa, etc. They already controlled a colony on Timor and in Australia and so the Prussian East Indian Company decided to put this into us. The plan was to turn Mysore, a small independent southern Indian nation, into a puppet state and use it to colonise Zanzibar and thereby establish a trading triangle within the Indian Ocean. The wealth obtained from this would be used to fund colonisation in Timor and Northwest Australia. As such the Prussian East Indian Company began the process of puppetising Mysore. This was relatively easy as Mysore was a simple target, due to the nation’s fear of the powerful Marathas to their north, nevertheless it took Prussia 2 years to get Mysore under their control as a puppet state. Once this was achieved, however, things progressed quickly. The Prussian target, Zanzibar, was home to a native empire that flourished on trade, thus merchants from Mysore could easily obtain access. As in Mysore, the Prussians aimed to set up a puppet state but this time it would be a puppet state of Mysore (obviously the Prussians were masters of Mysore and so would be in control of Zanzibar as well). Soon enough, in around 1852, Zanzibar fell into Mysore’s (and by extension Prussia’s) sphere of influence and the Prussian project was well and truly underway. The success of they plan, though it did take 5 years, spurred the Prussian East Indian Company on to greater ambitions. Under the leadership of Count Heinrich von Papen, they next targeted Burma, a source of many valuable resources, which were perfect for trading.
Before this could happen, however, Prussia had to secure passage back to the European market. Prussia’s position meant that it was hard enough to get the resources back to Prussia from her colonies in peacetime, let alone during wars. The Suez Canal, which would have dramatically cut the distance and difficulty was still under construction, and even if it was built was under the control of Austria who hated Prussia. Instead they resorted to an alternative route through the Ottomans. The idea was that the Prussian ships could carry the goods up the Euphrates and then they would be transported by land through Syria and then by sea round to Prussia, this would in theory cut off a fair bit of time by cutting the corner of sailing around Africa, all they would need to do is secure a port concession in Ottoman Syria and secure access through to Prussia from the North Sea. Both were simple enough and achieved within the year, with Prussia gaining the port concession of Tripoli (the one in Lebanon) and signing the Treaty of Copenhagen with Denmark that guaranteed Prussian boats free access through to the Baltic Sea in exchange for significantly reduced tariffs on Danish goods coming into Prussia. The result was that Prussia became the main supplier of tropical goods to Sweden, Saxony-Wurzburg and Russia; they also invested heavily in Ottoman infrastructure, for obvious reasons. As such, Prussia’s wealth grew and von Papen was able to implement the Burma Plan in 1855. As before, merchants and advisors from Prussia and Mysore descended upon Burma and swiftly monopolised trade and packed the king’s court with themselves and supportive natives. Soon enough, Burma fell into Prussian influence, this time after 3 years in around 1858. It was here that the Indian Ocean project ended and von Papen and the rest of the Prussian East Indian Company turned its attention to furthering its control in East Africa.
The first issue on this front was that Zanzibar was in the area of Africa that had been assigned to Portugal in the Treaty of Paris and so Prussia had to move quickly to secure their control and prevent the Portuguese attempting to claim the land as theirs. In order to achieve this, the Prussian East Indian Company built forts in all the main trading ports, such as Mombasa, as well as encouraging the people of Mysore to colonise the lands. Thus, when the Portuguese challenge came, the Prussians fought it off easily. The Portuguese attempted to seize Mombasa, and other port towns, in early October 1858 but unable to capture the Prussian forts and subsequently driven away. The Prussian-Portuguese rivalry over Zanzibar would last a long, long time but it would remain in Prussian hands. Having secured Zanzibar, von Papen’s next aim was to drive into the heart of the Dark Continent but there was a problem. The men that were sent kept dying of strange and deadly tropical diseases, for which no cure could be found. As such, the Prussian East Indian Company proceeded to sink much of its wealth in the search for a cure. They sent botanists, doctors and biologists into every corner of the globe and in late May 1860 Doctor Otto Zemo discovered zemoine (OOC: OTL quinine), a crystalline compound formed from the bark of cinchona tree that worked wonders on the tropical diseases (i.e. malaria). The Prussian East Indian Company promptly provided their men with supplies of zemoine and sent them into the dark heart of Africa.
Over the next 5-6 years the Prussian explorers travelled widely in eastern Africa. Colonel Franz Blucher reached, what would become to be known as, Kaiser’s Lake (OOC: OTL’s Lake Victoria) and converted some of the native tribes to Christianity, Doctor Alexander von Falkenhayn crossed great swathes of grassland to reach Ethiopia and Prince Wilhelm travelled up the Great Nile from its source to where it was met by the Stauffenburg Nile. Whilst these explorers were planting the Prussian flag at every opportunity, the Prussian East Indian Company was making efforts to colonise Zanzibar and spread Prussian control further into Africa, von Papen’s plan was to bring the tribes converted by Colonel Blucher under Prussian control and then work to bridge the gap between the two areas. The aforementioned tribes were brought under Prussian ‘protection’ with relative ease in around 1875 and then work began on colonising the grasslands in between. This colonisation effort would continue long after the end of the Scramble for Africa but by 1876, and the Scramble’s end, the land south of Ethiopia, north of Portuguese Mozambique and between Kaiser’s Lake and the Indian Ocean was, at least in name, under the colonial rule of the Prussians.
Part 9: The Age of Colonialism 1826-1876: Section 4: The Scramble for Africa 1847-1876 Part 1: For Prussia (and Riches)!:
After the Great Habsburg War, and the vast casualties suffered by many of the European nations, the powers of Europe turned they attention firmly on to colonialism. The idea, and arguably ideology, of colonialism was not new, having been toyed with by Austria, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain over the years, but it was only now that it was adopted on a massive scale.
The Treaty of Paris had drawn up the start of colonial borders in Africa, but the nature of the African scramble was such that these borders were largely ignored. This was because the European powers decided to use puppet states as a means of colonisation; this idea sprang from the writings of the Austrian explorer von Stauffenburg and was adopted by many following the Great Habsburg War. Austria, Britain, Portugal and the Netherlands had all already begun putting von Stauffenburg’s ideas into to practice and controlled the puppet states of Ethiopia, Mali, the Congo and the Zulu Kingdom respectively, but now other nations began to implement as well. The first to do so, post-1846, was Prussia.
The Prussian colonial efforts were hindered by the difficulty of getting colonists and explorers to Africa, etc. They already controlled a colony on Timor and in Australia and so the Prussian East Indian Company decided to put this into us. The plan was to turn Mysore, a small independent southern Indian nation, into a puppet state and use it to colonise Zanzibar and thereby establish a trading triangle within the Indian Ocean. The wealth obtained from this would be used to fund colonisation in Timor and Northwest Australia. As such the Prussian East Indian Company began the process of puppetising Mysore. This was relatively easy as Mysore was a simple target, due to the nation’s fear of the powerful Marathas to their north, nevertheless it took Prussia 2 years to get Mysore under their control as a puppet state. Once this was achieved, however, things progressed quickly. The Prussian target, Zanzibar, was home to a native empire that flourished on trade, thus merchants from Mysore could easily obtain access. As in Mysore, the Prussians aimed to set up a puppet state but this time it would be a puppet state of Mysore (obviously the Prussians were masters of Mysore and so would be in control of Zanzibar as well). Soon enough, in around 1852, Zanzibar fell into Mysore’s (and by extension Prussia’s) sphere of influence and the Prussian project was well and truly underway. The success of they plan, though it did take 5 years, spurred the Prussian East Indian Company on to greater ambitions. Under the leadership of Count Heinrich von Papen, they next targeted Burma, a source of many valuable resources, which were perfect for trading.
Before this could happen, however, Prussia had to secure passage back to the European market. Prussia’s position meant that it was hard enough to get the resources back to Prussia from her colonies in peacetime, let alone during wars. The Suez Canal, which would have dramatically cut the distance and difficulty was still under construction, and even if it was built was under the control of Austria who hated Prussia. Instead they resorted to an alternative route through the Ottomans. The idea was that the Prussian ships could carry the goods up the Euphrates and then they would be transported by land through Syria and then by sea round to Prussia, this would in theory cut off a fair bit of time by cutting the corner of sailing around Africa, all they would need to do is secure a port concession in Ottoman Syria and secure access through to Prussia from the North Sea. Both were simple enough and achieved within the year, with Prussia gaining the port concession of Tripoli (the one in Lebanon) and signing the Treaty of Copenhagen with Denmark that guaranteed Prussian boats free access through to the Baltic Sea in exchange for significantly reduced tariffs on Danish goods coming into Prussia. The result was that Prussia became the main supplier of tropical goods to Sweden, Saxony-Wurzburg and Russia; they also invested heavily in Ottoman infrastructure, for obvious reasons. As such, Prussia’s wealth grew and von Papen was able to implement the Burma Plan in 1855. As before, merchants and advisors from Prussia and Mysore descended upon Burma and swiftly monopolised trade and packed the king’s court with themselves and supportive natives. Soon enough, Burma fell into Prussian influence, this time after 3 years in around 1858. It was here that the Indian Ocean project ended and von Papen and the rest of the Prussian East Indian Company turned its attention to furthering its control in East Africa.
The first issue on this front was that Zanzibar was in the area of Africa that had been assigned to Portugal in the Treaty of Paris and so Prussia had to move quickly to secure their control and prevent the Portuguese attempting to claim the land as theirs. In order to achieve this, the Prussian East Indian Company built forts in all the main trading ports, such as Mombasa, as well as encouraging the people of Mysore to colonise the lands. Thus, when the Portuguese challenge came, the Prussians fought it off easily. The Portuguese attempted to seize Mombasa, and other port towns, in early October 1858 but unable to capture the Prussian forts and subsequently driven away. The Prussian-Portuguese rivalry over Zanzibar would last a long, long time but it would remain in Prussian hands. Having secured Zanzibar, von Papen’s next aim was to drive into the heart of the Dark Continent but there was a problem. The men that were sent kept dying of strange and deadly tropical diseases, for which no cure could be found. As such, the Prussian East Indian Company proceeded to sink much of its wealth in the search for a cure. They sent botanists, doctors and biologists into every corner of the globe and in late May 1860 Doctor Otto Zemo discovered zemoine (OOC: OTL quinine), a crystalline compound formed from the bark of cinchona tree that worked wonders on the tropical diseases (i.e. malaria). The Prussian East Indian Company promptly provided their men with supplies of zemoine and sent them into the dark heart of Africa.
Over the next 5-6 years the Prussian explorers travelled widely in eastern Africa. Colonel Franz Blucher reached, what would become to be known as, Kaiser’s Lake (OOC: OTL’s Lake Victoria) and converted some of the native tribes to Christianity, Doctor Alexander von Falkenhayn crossed great swathes of grassland to reach Ethiopia and Prince Wilhelm travelled up the Great Nile from its source to where it was met by the Stauffenburg Nile. Whilst these explorers were planting the Prussian flag at every opportunity, the Prussian East Indian Company was making efforts to colonise Zanzibar and spread Prussian control further into Africa, von Papen’s plan was to bring the tribes converted by Colonel Blucher under Prussian control and then work to bridge the gap between the two areas. The aforementioned tribes were brought under Prussian ‘protection’ with relative ease in around 1875 and then work began on colonising the grasslands in between. This colonisation effort would continue long after the end of the Scramble for Africa but by 1876, and the Scramble’s end, the land south of Ethiopia, north of Portuguese Mozambique and between Kaiser’s Lake and the Indian Ocean was, at least in name, under the colonial rule of the Prussians.
Cool, one problem though, Portugal has a much better history of seafaring and colonialism and more importantly is BFFs with Britain.... which has obvious implications.
Likely, given Britain's probable desire to prop up Prussia as a check against Austria, London would mediate the dispute before it came to open war and Portugal and Prussia divide Zanzibar between them.
Likely, given Britain's probable desire to prop up Prussia as a check against Austria, London would mediate the dispute before it came to open war and Portugal and Prussia divide Zanzibar between them.
True, true.
However, the Prussians have a proven history of fighting the Austrians (though not always successfully) whereas the Portuguese have played a bit part role in the wars against the Austrians. Thus, Britain has reasoned that the Prussians would be a more effective block towards Austrians expansion than the Portuguese. This has been exasperated by the Austrian focus on Ethiopia. (As will be detailed in the next update.) Furthermore, the Portuguese still retain extensive claims across the rest of central Africa and the Brits convinced them that Zanzibar was a price worth paying.
Hope that answers your query.
True, true.
However, the Prussians have a proven history of fighting the Austrians (though not always successfully) whereas the Portuguese have played a bit part role in the wars against the Austrians. Thus, Britain has reasoned that the Prussians would be a more effective block towards Austrians expansion than the Portuguese. This has been exasperated by the Austrian focus on Ethiopia. (As will be detailed in the next update.) Furthermore, the Portuguese still retain extensive claims across the rest of central Africa and the Brits convinced them that Zanzibar was a price worth paying.
Hope that answers your query.
Maybe I misunderstood the timeline, but if it is not the case then:
What Portugal is doing is telling the world that they can't protect their claims, so anyone can grab them... it really doesn't fit well in this timeline because Prussia is a lot weaker than in OTL, or at least seems to be. Prussia doesn't seem to be a special naval power too. How can they suply their forts in Africa when the portuguese navy have bases in India, Africa, South America and Timor? On the other hand Portugal is stronger than in OTL, it keeps Brazil and is untouched by war. To a nation that have so many depopulated territorial claims in South America and Africa they can't afford to show so much weakness.
I am not saying that Portugal will enter in outright colonial war against Prussia, instead what I think that could happen is that Prussia will negotiate something with Portugal and UK, buy some parts or the entirety of Tanzania and Kenya and give some commercial and financial concessions to Portugal.
What you say about Portugal is true, but you've missed the fact that Prussia is very similar to Portugal ITTL, having invested heavily in their navy and their colonial activities following defeat in the War of Austrian Succession. They also have bases in Timor, Australia, Mysore and Burma all of which provide support for the Prussian venture in East Africa. Furthermore, the Portuguese has colossal claims in Africa and the loss of Zanzibar is not significant, particularly to an 'ally'. As I said in an update, the lines drawn up in the Treaty of Paris are a guide, not definite.
Reading again the TL I still think that it is not clear about the capacity of Prussia in the seas.
The same as above. I would like to know what is their power compared, like population, economy and military.
It seems more dumb to just relinquish their lands, they are shouting to the world that anyone can come and get a slice of land for free. Thats why the portuguese destroyed France Antarctique.
It isn't explicitly stated, but it is fairly clear that the Prussians have a far more significant naval capacity that IOTL, in fact their naval capacity ITTL is somewhat akin to the Dutch IOTL.
In case you haven't noticed, the main focus of this TL is on Austria...
They didn't just give up their claims, they were pressured in to doing so by the British.
I would have liked to see it updated. Really and the Indian section demands attention here.
Ok, guys I would love to continue this TL, but unfortunately I have very limited access to AH.com at the moment. I can dig up what I have left for the TL then post it, but after that I'd need to hand the reins over to somebody else (who would contact we through gmail). PM me if you're interested. Open to all!
Part 9: The Age of Colonialism 1826-1876: Section 4: The Scramble for Africa 1847-1876 Part 2: Africa isn’t all that’s out there:
Whilst the Prussians were building themselves and extensive Indian Ocean colony network, their German cousins were trying to do the same. Austria, a great power in Europe, had had little colonial presence in America and was determined no to miss out on Africa and Asia. They had a head start on many others, due to their control of Egypt and strong influence over Ethiopia.
However, things took a turn for the worst in 1848 when the Egyptians began to rebel against Austrian overlordship. It is widely agreed that this rebellion was caused, not just by underlying religious tensions between the Egyptians and the Austrians, but also by Russian stirring. The rebellion broke out in and around Cairo shortly after the Ramadan of 1848 as Egyptian Muslims began protest against Christian rule over their nation outside several Coptic churches in the city. Austrian troops moved to restrain the crowds, but as so often happens things got out of hand and the protests turned into full-scale riots as the soldiers and protestors clashed violently. Several protestors died and were promptly proclaimed martyrs; word of the fighting spread up and down the Nile and riots broke out in many of the towns and cities. Then the Russian guns began to arrive, unbeknownst to the Austrians at the time, and the rioters became occupiers, occupying Cairo, Thebes, etc. Only Alexandria escaped this threat due to its high European presence, thanks to begin under direct Austrian rule for so long. It went form bad to worse when the Russian advisors began to arrive, still without Austrian knowledge, and the rebels organised and fought the Austrian forces as they tried to counter-attack. Within months all of the Austrian puppet state of Egypt (minus Hejaz) was in the hands of Russian backed rebels and by 1850 the Austrian were driven from Alexandria and forced to the Suez Canal where, fortunately for them, there was a line of forts that had been built to defend the canal. It was here, on the west bank of the Suez Canal that the final frontier was drawn up.
Despite the rebellions Austria managed to maintain it influence over Hejaz. The reason for this was that they significantly loosened their hold over the area and allowed a great amount of religious freedom. Following the establishment of the Sultanate of Egypt (the new Russian influenced nation), the Caliphate of Mecca was proclaimed in Hejaz, under Austrian influence. The foundation of the Caliphate led to many Muslims living in Austrian Jerusalem to move south into the “Muslim homeland’. This in turn resulted in more Europeans (particularly the religious fanatics) emigrating to Palestine and Jerusalem. As such, the city of Jerusalem and its surroundings swiftly became very European, with Emperor Franz Leopold commissioning the expansion of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Dome of Rock, the Muslim Mosque, remained but attendance dropped as the Muslim population moved south and it became little more than a tourist attraction for the Christian populace, becoming part of the Grand Tour before long.
Despite the loss of Egypt to a quasi-independent new Sultanate, Austria maintained its strong connection with Ethiopia, and thus control over the Red Sea. In 1856, the Austrians, seeking to cement their control over the horn of Africa, proceeded to pump more money, advisors and technology into Ethiopia. In response, the Ethiopians launched a campaign of “Exploration and Conquest” south along the Great Nile. With the aid of guides from near *Burundi* an Austrian and Ethiopian joint exploration mission departed from Addis Ababa and made their way to the confluence of the Great Nile and Stauffenburg Nile, from there they travelled south down the Great Nile, reaching the tribes and states of the Great Lakes nearly 10 years before the Prussians. They failed to establish influence, or even friendly connections, with these tribes and, less than a month after arriving they were hounded out of the area by tribal war band. Despite this setback, which ultimately led to the Prussian control of the region, the Ethiopians would continue to expand southwards but, for now at least, their attention was shifted westwards to the lands of the Somali people. The Ethiopians, as before in Sudan, moved swiftly combining traditional tribal warfare with guns and modern stratagems. The Somali, only employing one of these 3 things, were crushed, despite resisting fiercely every step of the way. The Ethiopians won the war inside two years, though Somali guerrilla fighting would continue for sometime. As it was, however, the Ethiopians were masters of the Horn of Africa by 1861.
The Austrian Colonial Company, the Austrian version of the Prussian East Indian Company, meanwhile, was smarting over the loss of Egypt and particularly the brazen message that had been delivered to Count Friedrich Metternich, the company’s head, by a Russian affiliate. The message had simply said, “Africa isn’t all that’s out there.” The Colonial Company proceeded to take this message’s advice literally, particularly after the adventures of the Prussians in the Indian Ocean. They, as they had done in Ethiopia and formerly in Egypt, set about to try and establish a new puppet state in Asia.
The first step they took was to purchase Dutch Malaya from the Netherlands for a substantial fee. This was followed by a second purchase, this time of the Spanish Philippines. These two purchases gave the Austrians a base upon which to build an Asian colonial empire to accompany their pseudo-colonies in Africa and the Middle East. There was just one problem. The two purchases had all but bankrupted the Austrian Colonial Company and it could not afford to finance expeditions to Thailand or even Borneo. As such, the Asian project was put on the backburner for now.
Thus, in early 1864 the Austrian focus returned to the pre-existing puppet state in Africa.
Whilst the Prussians were building themselves and extensive Indian Ocean colony network, their German cousins were trying to do the same. Austria, a great power in Europe, had had little colonial presence in America and was determined no to miss out on Africa and Asia. They had a head start on many others, due to their control of Egypt and strong influence over Ethiopia.
However, things took a turn for the worst in 1848 when the Egyptians began to rebel against Austrian overlordship. It is widely agreed that this rebellion was caused, not just by underlying religious tensions between the Egyptians and the Austrians, but also by Russian stirring. The rebellion broke out in and around Cairo shortly after the Ramadan of 1848 as Egyptian Muslims began protest against Christian rule over their nation outside several Coptic churches in the city. Austrian troops moved to restrain the crowds, but as so often happens things got out of hand and the protests turned into full-scale riots as the soldiers and protestors clashed violently. Several protestors died and were promptly proclaimed martyrs; word of the fighting spread up and down the Nile and riots broke out in many of the towns and cities. Then the Russian guns began to arrive, unbeknownst to the Austrians at the time, and the rioters became occupiers, occupying Cairo, Thebes, etc. Only Alexandria escaped this threat due to its high European presence, thanks to begin under direct Austrian rule for so long. It went form bad to worse when the Russian advisors began to arrive, still without Austrian knowledge, and the rebels organised and fought the Austrian forces as they tried to counter-attack. Within months all of the Austrian puppet state of Egypt (minus Hejaz) was in the hands of Russian backed rebels and by 1850 the Austrian were driven from Alexandria and forced to the Suez Canal where, fortunately for them, there was a line of forts that had been built to defend the canal. It was here, on the west bank of the Suez Canal that the final frontier was drawn up.
Despite the rebellions Austria managed to maintain it influence over Hejaz. The reason for this was that they significantly loosened their hold over the area and allowed a great amount of religious freedom. Following the establishment of the Sultanate of Egypt (the new Russian influenced nation), the Caliphate of Mecca was proclaimed in Hejaz, under Austrian influence. The foundation of the Caliphate led to many Muslims living in Austrian Jerusalem to move south into the “Muslim homeland’. This in turn resulted in more Europeans (particularly the religious fanatics) emigrating to Palestine and Jerusalem. As such, the city of Jerusalem and its surroundings swiftly became very European, with Emperor Franz Leopold commissioning the expansion of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Dome of Rock, the Muslim Mosque, remained but attendance dropped as the Muslim population moved south and it became little more than a tourist attraction for the Christian populace, becoming part of the Grand Tour before long.
Despite the loss of Egypt to a quasi-independent new Sultanate, Austria maintained its strong connection with Ethiopia, and thus control over the Red Sea. In 1856, the Austrians, seeking to cement their control over the horn of Africa, proceeded to pump more money, advisors and technology into Ethiopia. In response, the Ethiopians launched a campaign of “Exploration and Conquest” south along the Great Nile. With the aid of guides from near *Burundi* an Austrian and Ethiopian joint exploration mission departed from Addis Ababa and made their way to the confluence of the Great Nile and Stauffenburg Nile, from there they travelled south down the Great Nile, reaching the tribes and states of the Great Lakes nearly 10 years before the Prussians. They failed to establish influence, or even friendly connections, with these tribes and, less than a month after arriving they were hounded out of the area by tribal war band. Despite this setback, which ultimately led to the Prussian control of the region, the Ethiopians would continue to expand southwards but, for now at least, their attention was shifted westwards to the lands of the Somali people. The Ethiopians, as before in Sudan, moved swiftly combining traditional tribal warfare with guns and modern stratagems. The Somali, only employing one of these 3 things, were crushed, despite resisting fiercely every step of the way. The Ethiopians won the war inside two years, though Somali guerrilla fighting would continue for sometime. As it was, however, the Ethiopians were masters of the Horn of Africa by 1861.
The Austrian Colonial Company, the Austrian version of the Prussian East Indian Company, meanwhile, was smarting over the loss of Egypt and particularly the brazen message that had been delivered to Count Friedrich Metternich, the company’s head, by a Russian affiliate. The message had simply said, “Africa isn’t all that’s out there.” The Colonial Company proceeded to take this message’s advice literally, particularly after the adventures of the Prussians in the Indian Ocean. They, as they had done in Ethiopia and formerly in Egypt, set about to try and establish a new puppet state in Asia.
The first step they took was to purchase Dutch Malaya from the Netherlands for a substantial fee. This was followed by a second purchase, this time of the Spanish Philippines. These two purchases gave the Austrians a base upon which to build an Asian colonial empire to accompany their pseudo-colonies in Africa and the Middle East. There was just one problem. The two purchases had all but bankrupted the Austrian Colonial Company and it could not afford to finance expeditions to Thailand or even Borneo. As such, the Asian project was put on the backburner for now.
Thus, in early 1864 the Austrian focus returned to the pre-existing puppet state in Africa.
I don't think I've ever seen a colonial Austria TL before. All the Hapsburgs need is the Americas and they'll rule land in every continent!