For the Want of a King TL: Prussia loses the War of Austrian Succession

All fellow readers, I have an important announcement to make.
(Clears throat)
From now on for an undefined period I will be posting updates on Ankh Von Hapsburg's behalf. He has been having some problems with his Internet (or PC ; I don't exactly remember).

So the updates will undoubtedly be written by Ankh but I will be posting them here.

Any contribution to the TL will be appreciated if you get permission from the author to do that.

I too will be contributing my part of the Indian situation whenever it becomes possible for me.

So here is the new update.

Part 9: The Age of Colonialism 1826-1876: Section 4: The Scramble for Africa 1847-1876 Part 3: The Saharan Crusade:

At the Congress of Vienna, the Empire of the Spanish had been assigned the Saharan territory north of British Mali and in 1849 they moved to make good their claim. Their first target was Morocco, which hadn’t been granted to them but was a threat to their trade to and from their North African colonies in Algiers and Tunis. Thus, in 1850 after a year’s worth of preparation the Spanish invaded Morocco, officially to protect their trade from pirates (the Barbary pirates having been forced to relocate to Morocco by the Spanish acquisition of Algiers). However, it was little more than a blatant land grab by the Spanish. Morocco was a backward nation, but they fought valiantly and boosted by the prestigious naval strength of the Barbary Corsairs, Morocco held out for 4 long years against Spanish incursion. They defeated a Spanish fleet of the coast of Granada and even succeeded in bombarding the city in early 1853. Despite this audacious assault, the Moroccan capital of Rabat fell to the Spanish at the turn of the year and the Kingdom of Morocco fell under Spanish rule in April 1854 and by 1855 they were a member of the Empire of the Spanish.

Having achieved this long-term aim of dominion over the North African coast. The Spanish embarked on a campaign to establish the beginnings of a colonial network along north-west African coast line, heading south towards British Mali. To that aim Fernando Baston, a Spanish naval captain, sailed south from the newly-conquered Rabat and explored and charted the African coast as far the British controlled territory Gambia river. During this journey, he plotted suitable areas for Spanish settlements to add to the existing settlements, both colonial and native.

In the meantime, the North Italians began their own ‘Saharan Crusade’, this time against the Berbers of Fezzan. The North Italians had received no African territory at the Congress of Vienna, but had earlier received Tripolitania and Cyrenaicaand thus targeted Fezzan, to add to their African dominions. Thus, in 1852 the North Italian desert troops invaded Fezzan with the help of Libyan supporters. The Berbers had a significant advantage over the North Italian forces, i.e. the fact that they were used to desert combat whilst the North Italians were more accustomed to fighting in the more pleasant European climate. As such the Fezzan War was long and drawn out. The North Italian troops gradually made progress but suffered heavy losses to both enemy action and the heat. Despite this, the North Italians were victorious and in 1861 Fezzan fell under North Italian dominion, albeit with continued guerrilla resistance by the Berber tribesmen. The conquest of Fezzan ended the military action of the so-called Saharan Crusade.

The ’crusade’ continued throughout the Scramble for Africa, but it was a cultural crusade rather than a militant one. The Spanish launched an extensive colonisation campaign on the western coast of Africa, whilst the North Italians remained secure in their territories in Libya and Fezzan. They staked a claim to the desert territory that surround Libya, but made no coherent effort to actually colonise it, largely due to the inhospitable climate of the Sahara. By 1876 the Spanish had established numerous settlements, both large and small, along the West African coast, whilst the North Italians largely remained within Libya.
 
Will there be maps ? I like graphics since it gives a visual representation of the world that one might miss writing down.
 
Here's the next update:
Part 9: The Age of Colonialism 1826-1876: Section 4: The Scramble for Africa 1847-1876 Part 4: The Struggle for Congo and South Africa:

The final sphere of struggle in the Scramble for Africa was Congo and Southern Africa. The Congo had long been the preserve of the Portuguese but in 1854 the Louisianans made their move, beginning the longest struggle of the Scramble. The Louisianan Emperor Alexandre V, motivated by a wish to stamp his mark on history and the tales of wealth and riches in the Congo, sent Admiral Louis Carterton with a naval task force the Congo estuary to make contact with the Kingdom of Congo in the world’s first example of warship diplomacy. Admiral sent an envoy to the King of the Congo who was greeted on board the Louisianan flagship, Louis, and presented with an offer he could not refuse. The terms were thus, Louisiana would take the Congo under their protection and provide the Kingdom with economic and military aid in return Louisiana would have control of the Congo’s foreign policy and be the Congo’s sole trade partner, if the King refused he would be killed and his kingdom ravaged by the Louisianan forces. Needless to say, the King agreed and Admiral Carterton and his men established a naval base on the Congo coast, two months later the first of the Louisianan cargo vessels arrived and Admiral Carterton returned to Louisiana. At this point the Portuguese struck back and sailed their own navy to the Congo and burned the Louisianan base to the ground.


Tirailleurs_Senegalais.jpg

Louisianan colonial forces

Undeterred Admiral Carterton was ordered to turn about his fleet and he arrived to trap the Portuguese forces camped in the remnants of the Louisianan base and routed the Portuguese. Afraid of a second Portuguese assault Carterton remained in the Congo for 6 months and New Montreal was established. Under Louisianan control the Kingdom of the Congo spread into Central Africa and established domination over the Congo rainforest. But then in 1860 following the Portuguese loss of Zanzibar and the discovery of Zemoine the Portuguese decided the time was right for a new assault to regain the Congo. The Portuguese, under Fernando Alves, marched north from their colony in *Angola* towards New Montreal along the coast. The army was accompanied by a naval force also.The Portuguese and Louisianans clashed on the southern bank of the Congo river and the Louisianans were scattered the combined Portuguese naval and land assault, and the Portuguese forces marched in to New Montreal that same day. With the fall of New Montreal so ended, temporarily, the Louisianan control of Congo.

In the meantime the Dutch began extensive colonisation efforts in southern Africa. They first sent military advisors in to the territory of their Zulu puppet in order to raise, arm and train a Zulu force. This force was then used, under Dutch directive, to forcefully expand the Zulu state, dubbed Zulurijk by the Dutch, and, by extension, Dutch power in south Africa. As well as acting through the Zulus, the Dutch used their own colonials, particularly after the discovery of zemoine in 1860 which they believe to be something of a cure-all though its benefits were in fact limited in the southern African clime. They eventually made a deal with the Portuguese in 1865 to work collaboratively to bring the area directly south of Portuguese Congo under European control, thus creating the Dutcho-Portuguese Co-Dominion of the South Congo. The two colonial powers sent men and resources into the Congolese jungle and establish ties with the local tribes, one such notable explorer was the Dutch missionary Doctor Arjen Rijkgard who extensively explored the *Katanga* jungle in 1867-8. By 1872 some semblance of Dutcho-Portuguese control had been put in place of the South Congo, albeit largely nominal but then the Louisianans returned to take the North Congo from the Portuguese for good.

spionkop.jpg

Dutch soldiers in South Congo

Having already achieved some success with warship diplomacy the Louisianans returned to continue the practice but in far greater numbers. Sailing from the British island of Fernando Po, the Louisianan fleet of 10 warships, under Admiral Francois Remy bombarded and recaptured New Montreal (which had been renamed New Lisbon) from the Portuguese garrison. They then, once more, enlisted the support of the local chieftain with promises of gold and power and marched south into Portuguese Congo along the Atlantic coast. They eventually met the Portuguese force outside the trading post of Leona. After heavy fighting the Louisianan army emerged victorious from the skirmish and in effective control of the northern Congo due to the distinct lack of much Portuguese military forces in the area (they had largely relied on locals for auxiliary forces, even after the Congolese King’s earlier betrayal), but the Portuguese grip on the southern Congo, *Angola*, was too strong and Louisiana couldn’t displace them. The Portuguese would continue to harass Louisianan forces and colonists in North Congo for many years and it remained a source of great tension in the area, not to mention in global politics, throughout the 19thcentury and even beyond.

World in 1879 at the end of the Scramble for Africa:

0
 
Here is the new update. Sorry for the delay, I myself was having some issues with my PC ,but I sorted it out. Any and all comments are welcome. If anyone feels like contributing to the story it would be welcome (but first you need to have permission from the author ,which I can help you get if you want to contribute;)).

And hoping that you all love the update.
 
Top