I think that besides of the above mentioned Austria, the Balkans and Italy would be interesting to know.
From Iron, Blood: A Bismark Assassinated TL
- Thread starter FillyofDelphi
- Start date
- Status
If it's too late to stop the Austro-Prussian War, then Italy is about the same as OTL. Austria probably loses some border territory in Bohemia and Moravia/Silesia.
It would be interesting to see the reaction of Prussian neighbours (France, Austria, Russia, Denmark) to the death of Bismarck.
FillyofDelphi
Banned
Nobody loved him, but he was at least considered a fair broker and honest with other diplomats and so "liked" as a trustworthy figure. He was exactly the kind of fellow who was good at producing a good compromise; the kind that leaves the most people the least unhappy, but not too unhappy to actually reject/resist.
I'm actually expanding the update to include the reaction of all the major powers in the Germanies and their neighbors (Your list, plus Saxony, Hanover, Bavaria, and Italy), rather than splitting it up into "Germany" and "Other" sections as I was originally planning. Hence the slight delay.
Unless you happened to be Danish, Austrian or French - though to be fair the first and last of those wars, at least, were probably unavoidable.
Chapter II: The Shot Heard 'Round the World (Part A)
FillyofDelphi
Banned
The Austrian Response
Though perhaps not fully agreeing on the theological details of the affair, the court at Vienna viewed the death of the much-despised Prussian minister as an act of divine fortune as his assassin did. Diplomatically, the strangely charismatic and flexable diplomat had served as a constant thorn in their side on matters of inter-German diplomacy; having masterfully grasped the reigns of and harnessed the rising popular sentiment towards German unification to Prussia's national advantage: pursuing further centralization and exploitation of the Zollverein customs union and its industrial resources in the Ruhr valley to establish commercial hegemony over the northern portions of the Confederation and undermine the rival forces of Scandinavian unity, culminating in his self-proclaimed diplomatic "masterstroke" at Gastein two years prior. With his almost supernatural ability to hold conflcting images to different parties; being perceived as a champion for all German peoples despite being a strong Hohenzollern dynastist, being able to push liberal policies while remaining a conservative and absolutist at heart to maintain the trust and acquiescence of both his King and parliament, there were many who'd worried that in the upcoming Confederation Diet the man would pull out another miracle and undermine Austria's millenium-long hegemony over the Germanies and the delicate balanced established by the illustrious Metternich yet further, despite the almost universal opposition among the powers-that-be within the ruling houses of the German states. As such news of the death was met with more than a few sighs of relief behind palace and chatue doors, despite the few spontanious shows of mourning by fervent German nationalist and Anti-semetic groups in the streets. With Prussia's policy position in a state of flux and the hegemony of the royal faction no longer a guranteed fact, for the first time since 1848 there seemed to be an opportunity to halt their rival's continious rising power... one which Austria was keen to take full advantage of.
Austrian forgein policy since that year of revolutions; when the young Emperor Franz Joseph inhierated an empire on the brink of disintegrating under the combined pressure of widespread internal revolts and external invasion by the radical rebels in the Italian penninsula, had largely been left to languish in favor of domestic iniatives directed towards stiching his patchwork of dynastic crownlands into a modern, centeralized state under his neo-absolutist ideal. While this had left Vienna diplomatically isolated; having been unwilling to take on the risk of supporting her former Russian ally during the Crimean Crisis and being obliged to borrow heavily to build up the nessicerily civil and physical infastructure to connect the dispirate regions of the Empire, by 1866 the policy investments were starting to show real dividends. Following the bungled and costly mobalization of the army during the Crimean Crisis had revealed the exact areas of weakness in the state-developed rail network, a decade of privatization had not only eased some pressure on the budget but provided a ready basis for an industrial and urban boom in the Danubian trading towns and was starting to spread into Bohemia. Politically, the declawing of the regional Diets that had begun with the repudiation of the liberal, Federalist March Constitution had reached a new zeneth under the Feburary Patent of 61; subverting the language and ideals of the liberal reforms to autocratic ends by forming a centeralized Imperial Parliament heavily weighted towards the (Mainly German and Conservative) landowners empowered to gurantee "equal protection to all subjects under the law"; a term which in practice meant overuling the ancient privlages of the local Diets and independent-minded nobility and preventing the bougious from trying to create reforms from "the bottom up" by establishing local policy. This had proven particularly effective in the former Kingdom of Hungary who, following the Crown's formal integration into Austria, had in the course of barely a decade and a half been stripped of virtually all their institutional power; their Constitution, ancient right to deny the Emperor his requests for funds if their preceding list of greivances weren't met, and their legal autonomy as a separate entity dominated by the local nobility, which had in the past been the main hinderence on royal authority. Thus, while federalism had regained some cultural force since the return of (highly limited) representative government, it had become a gift to be bestowed from above rather than demanded from below, and had been reframed from the democractizing cause of the intellectuals of 48 to a call for "traditional rights" by a consertive upper class; opening the door to Franz Joseph settling the ideological question for good under the guise of benevolant compromise. He was merely waiting for a moment of political prestige and international security to present an effective ultimatium to the Bohemians and Magyars... which humiliating and containing Prussia by moving the full might of the rest of the Germanies to threaten them would provide.
To create such a united front, however, Austria couldn't be seen as openly celebrating the death of their rival. The official statement of the court, however, retained a casually deniable warning to Whilhelm when it expressed "Our deepest sympathies to you in the lose of your trusted confidant and fellow guranteer of the ancient liberties of the German nations from forgein yolks. We most veimently denounce this and any action that imposes an unjust will on a sovergeins through naked resort to the gun", which was still easily interpretted posatively by pro-Bismarkian factions. Far more relevent however were the diplomatic cominiques exchanged with the local representatives of the major voting German states; particularly those of Saxony, Bavaria, and Hanover. In addition to possessing the most powerful armies outside the Great Powers within the Confederation, the monarchies of those three kingdoms were considered the most reliably anti-Prussian, having made up the "Three Kings Alliance" which had been the main voice for particularism\decenteralization during the crisis of the Frankfurt Parlament. In these messages, Vienna informed her potential allies of her intentions to vote for a mobalization of the Confederation armies against the "Brandenburger attacks on the legitiment international laws and impositions on the sovergein rights of your minor brother-nations, whom if you do not stand united against now may next turn their bayonets on your crowns" and ",,Guranteeinng the full support of His Imperial Majesty towards guranteeing your continued prosperity through whatever means are nessicery". Preliminary efforts were being made in case an actual mobalization became nessicery, they claimed, and it would be wise for them and their allies to do the same; though claiming that "given difficulties in the court, Whilhelm will no doubt see the wisdom in backing down without such a step being nessicery should we demonstrate our will."
And, in actuality, efforts were being made to organize the core military forces of the monarchy; an Imperial order being sent up to Bohemia to, now that the spring planting was over, to start gradually pulling in reservists to bring the corps up to a third strength and concentrate in Moravia to threaten the Prussian position in Silesia. In reality, this force served a duel purpose as described in a secondary, sealed order; to act as a a deterrent to potential Polish or Czech unrest once the Prussian inevitably backed down and his final plans for settling the status of the crownlands were presented to the local Diets, allowing for a quick crackdown in case of armed resistance before it could seriously organize.
Though perhaps not fully agreeing on the theological details of the affair, the court at Vienna viewed the death of the much-despised Prussian minister as an act of divine fortune as his assassin did. Diplomatically, the strangely charismatic and flexable diplomat had served as a constant thorn in their side on matters of inter-German diplomacy; having masterfully grasped the reigns of and harnessed the rising popular sentiment towards German unification to Prussia's national advantage: pursuing further centralization and exploitation of the Zollverein customs union and its industrial resources in the Ruhr valley to establish commercial hegemony over the northern portions of the Confederation and undermine the rival forces of Scandinavian unity, culminating in his self-proclaimed diplomatic "masterstroke" at Gastein two years prior. With his almost supernatural ability to hold conflcting images to different parties; being perceived as a champion for all German peoples despite being a strong Hohenzollern dynastist, being able to push liberal policies while remaining a conservative and absolutist at heart to maintain the trust and acquiescence of both his King and parliament, there were many who'd worried that in the upcoming Confederation Diet the man would pull out another miracle and undermine Austria's millenium-long hegemony over the Germanies and the delicate balanced established by the illustrious Metternich yet further, despite the almost universal opposition among the powers-that-be within the ruling houses of the German states. As such news of the death was met with more than a few sighs of relief behind palace and chatue doors, despite the few spontanious shows of mourning by fervent German nationalist and Anti-semetic groups in the streets. With Prussia's policy position in a state of flux and the hegemony of the royal faction no longer a guranteed fact, for the first time since 1848 there seemed to be an opportunity to halt their rival's continious rising power... one which Austria was keen to take full advantage of.
Austrian forgein policy since that year of revolutions; when the young Emperor Franz Joseph inhierated an empire on the brink of disintegrating under the combined pressure of widespread internal revolts and external invasion by the radical rebels in the Italian penninsula, had largely been left to languish in favor of domestic iniatives directed towards stiching his patchwork of dynastic crownlands into a modern, centeralized state under his neo-absolutist ideal. While this had left Vienna diplomatically isolated; having been unwilling to take on the risk of supporting her former Russian ally during the Crimean Crisis and being obliged to borrow heavily to build up the nessicerily civil and physical infastructure to connect the dispirate regions of the Empire, by 1866 the policy investments were starting to show real dividends. Following the bungled and costly mobalization of the army during the Crimean Crisis had revealed the exact areas of weakness in the state-developed rail network, a decade of privatization had not only eased some pressure on the budget but provided a ready basis for an industrial and urban boom in the Danubian trading towns and was starting to spread into Bohemia. Politically, the declawing of the regional Diets that had begun with the repudiation of the liberal, Federalist March Constitution had reached a new zeneth under the Feburary Patent of 61; subverting the language and ideals of the liberal reforms to autocratic ends by forming a centeralized Imperial Parliament heavily weighted towards the (Mainly German and Conservative) landowners empowered to gurantee "equal protection to all subjects under the law"; a term which in practice meant overuling the ancient privlages of the local Diets and independent-minded nobility and preventing the bougious from trying to create reforms from "the bottom up" by establishing local policy. This had proven particularly effective in the former Kingdom of Hungary who, following the Crown's formal integration into Austria, had in the course of barely a decade and a half been stripped of virtually all their institutional power; their Constitution, ancient right to deny the Emperor his requests for funds if their preceding list of greivances weren't met, and their legal autonomy as a separate entity dominated by the local nobility, which had in the past been the main hinderence on royal authority. Thus, while federalism had regained some cultural force since the return of (highly limited) representative government, it had become a gift to be bestowed from above rather than demanded from below, and had been reframed from the democractizing cause of the intellectuals of 48 to a call for "traditional rights" by a consertive upper class; opening the door to Franz Joseph settling the ideological question for good under the guise of benevolant compromise. He was merely waiting for a moment of political prestige and international security to present an effective ultimatium to the Bohemians and Magyars... which humiliating and containing Prussia by moving the full might of the rest of the Germanies to threaten them would provide.
To create such a united front, however, Austria couldn't be seen as openly celebrating the death of their rival. The official statement of the court, however, retained a casually deniable warning to Whilhelm when it expressed "Our deepest sympathies to you in the lose of your trusted confidant and fellow guranteer of the ancient liberties of the German nations from forgein yolks. We most veimently denounce this and any action that imposes an unjust will on a sovergeins through naked resort to the gun", which was still easily interpretted posatively by pro-Bismarkian factions. Far more relevent however were the diplomatic cominiques exchanged with the local representatives of the major voting German states; particularly those of Saxony, Bavaria, and Hanover. In addition to possessing the most powerful armies outside the Great Powers within the Confederation, the monarchies of those three kingdoms were considered the most reliably anti-Prussian, having made up the "Three Kings Alliance" which had been the main voice for particularism\decenteralization during the crisis of the Frankfurt Parlament. In these messages, Vienna informed her potential allies of her intentions to vote for a mobalization of the Confederation armies against the "Brandenburger attacks on the legitiment international laws and impositions on the sovergein rights of your minor brother-nations, whom if you do not stand united against now may next turn their bayonets on your crowns" and ",,Guranteeinng the full support of His Imperial Majesty towards guranteeing your continued prosperity through whatever means are nessicery". Preliminary efforts were being made in case an actual mobalization became nessicery, they claimed, and it would be wise for them and their allies to do the same; though claiming that "given difficulties in the court, Whilhelm will no doubt see the wisdom in backing down without such a step being nessicery should we demonstrate our will."
And, in actuality, efforts were being made to organize the core military forces of the monarchy; an Imperial order being sent up to Bohemia to, now that the spring planting was over, to start gradually pulling in reservists to bring the corps up to a third strength and concentrate in Moravia to threaten the Prussian position in Silesia. In reality, this force served a duel purpose as described in a secondary, sealed order; to act as a a deterrent to potential Polish or Czech unrest once the Prussian inevitably backed down and his final plans for settling the status of the crownlands were presented to the local Diets, allowing for a quick crackdown in case of armed resistance before it could seriously organize.
FillyofDelphi
Banned
Oh .he was an unfriendly scoundrel, no doubt about it. But he was at least willing to be upfront about it and was more than flexible in giving you the specifics you wanted to get the general trends he wanted. That meant, at the very least, everyone felt they could deal with him.
Well, Cohen IS an Austrian subject...
But how true was this in 1866?
It certainly became true post-1870, when everyone had learned to take him very seriously indeed. But in 1866 he'd been in office for less than four years, and my impression is that he was still widely seen as a political adventurer unlikely to last very long.
The Shot Heard 'Round the World (Part B)
FillyofDelphi
Banned
The Bavarian Response
In the world of mid-19th century German diplomacy, Bavaria occupied a unique and arguably highly enviable position. As the largest, most populous, and most powerful of the states without extra-Confederation territories and obligations, it had for many decades played the role of "decisive weight" in the continued power struggle between Prussian efforts towards centeralization and Austria's desire to maintain the status quo. While Vienna had focused on its internal affairs, she'd often stepped up in support of their mutual interests, having been one of the few states to universally and initially reject the demands of the Frankfurt Assembly when her south German neighbors (Baden in particular) had been swept up in the heady tide of revolution. She also demonstrated a particular resistance to the Pan-German sentiments that had grown increasingly popular among the middle and lower-upper class as of late, thanks in no small part to her uniquely Catholic identity and traditions in the face of the (largely Protestant) cultural sympathies of the Liberals who viewed the Holy Mother Church as a bastion of reaction. Combined, these made her a natural poll for those Germans in favor of particularism; the continuation of regional identities and the propagation of the legal traditions emphasized under the old Holy Roman Empire model of a weakly executive, decenteralized Federalism that could gurantee the rights of the small states against economic and political domination.
Few figures embodied this philosphy than the twice minister-president and dominant party in Bavarian politics, Ludwig von der Pfordten. In contast to the Prussian model of "Little Germany" and the Austrian's prefered "Greater Germany" project; both of which would result in a single German nation, Pfordten's political plan called for Trias; a "Third Germany" made up of the mid-sized German states in loose confederation. Such a state, he beleived, would not only play a vital domestic and moral role of maintaining the time-honored German Freedoms, but serve a stablizing role in European peace as well, buffering tensions between the Austria and Prussia as well as hedging their ambitions in the directions of the extra-German states. In many ways, Schleswig-Holstien was a vital test case towards the viability of its projection; as an example of a nation trying to maintain its historic autonomy and legally-guranteed inseperability and independence in the face of pressure from the Great Powers. As such, though he'd never stated so openly, in his private writings he viewed supporting the rights of Duke Fredrick as a fully sovergein ruler with in the Confederation as the vital "Northern Anchor" of his Trias; acting in consort with Hanover, Saxony, and his own Bavaria and providing a buffer between Prussia and the Scandinavian states.
Facilitating his goals was the highly complementary nature of his sovergein, the dreamy (in more ways than one) King Ludwig II. Barely 21 years old, the King had the brooding romanticism and casual libertarianism of youth that cast him in sharp contrast to his serious and ambitious counterparts in Berlin and Vienna. Lacking either the talent or passion for governing affairs, it was often said that he reigned rather than ruled: instead, he left the task of running the nation in the capable hands of von Pfordten and the court he inheireted from his father. This salutary neglect not only allowed the veteran beuracracy to govern to Bavaria's benefit, but freed the King to pursue his personal passions; the arts, architecture, and traveling amongest his subjects, which were increasingly making Bavaria the driving force of Kultar as Austria and Prussia increasingly turned from asstetic to practicalpractical. If Berlin was increasingly Germany's iron heart and Vienna it's scheming mind, than Ludwig had transformed Munich into it's soul; serving as the Unser Kini of the idealist, intellectual, and romantic nationalists who viewed his light ruling style as the perfect fit for the sovergein of a true liberal, representative state in the spirit of 48'.
To both parties, the news of von Bismark's death and Austria's iniatives was music to their ears. Pfordten's administration, among all the German states, was the first to respond to Franz Joseph's proposition; using the lattitude he knew he possessed to send is approval without bothering to disturb his monarch (Who was out on one of his pastoral excursions in any case) or debate with internal opposition (of which there was little) and assure his full support. The relative proximity of Munich to Vienna too was an advantage; allowing the two governments to engage in some degree of conversation and co-ordinated action, with orders going out to the Rhinish Paletunate to start mobalizing the reserves and send out agents to start ralleying liberal volunteer militias with the resonating goal of "Pressuring the Junker aristocracy to abandon the reactionary policies of Bismark and secure responsible,representative government for Schleswig-Holstein... carrying their propagandizing into the liberal hotbed of the Prussian Rhineland if at all possible.
In the world of mid-19th century German diplomacy, Bavaria occupied a unique and arguably highly enviable position. As the largest, most populous, and most powerful of the states without extra-Confederation territories and obligations, it had for many decades played the role of "decisive weight" in the continued power struggle between Prussian efforts towards centeralization and Austria's desire to maintain the status quo. While Vienna had focused on its internal affairs, she'd often stepped up in support of their mutual interests, having been one of the few states to universally and initially reject the demands of the Frankfurt Assembly when her south German neighbors (Baden in particular) had been swept up in the heady tide of revolution. She also demonstrated a particular resistance to the Pan-German sentiments that had grown increasingly popular among the middle and lower-upper class as of late, thanks in no small part to her uniquely Catholic identity and traditions in the face of the (largely Protestant) cultural sympathies of the Liberals who viewed the Holy Mother Church as a bastion of reaction. Combined, these made her a natural poll for those Germans in favor of particularism; the continuation of regional identities and the propagation of the legal traditions emphasized under the old Holy Roman Empire model of a weakly executive, decenteralized Federalism that could gurantee the rights of the small states against economic and political domination.
Few figures embodied this philosphy than the twice minister-president and dominant party in Bavarian politics, Ludwig von der Pfordten. In contast to the Prussian model of "Little Germany" and the Austrian's prefered "Greater Germany" project; both of which would result in a single German nation, Pfordten's political plan called for Trias; a "Third Germany" made up of the mid-sized German states in loose confederation. Such a state, he beleived, would not only play a vital domestic and moral role of maintaining the time-honored German Freedoms, but serve a stablizing role in European peace as well, buffering tensions between the Austria and Prussia as well as hedging their ambitions in the directions of the extra-German states. In many ways, Schleswig-Holstien was a vital test case towards the viability of its projection; as an example of a nation trying to maintain its historic autonomy and legally-guranteed inseperability and independence in the face of pressure from the Great Powers. As such, though he'd never stated so openly, in his private writings he viewed supporting the rights of Duke Fredrick as a fully sovergein ruler with in the Confederation as the vital "Northern Anchor" of his Trias; acting in consort with Hanover, Saxony, and his own Bavaria and providing a buffer between Prussia and the Scandinavian states.
Facilitating his goals was the highly complementary nature of his sovergein, the dreamy (in more ways than one) King Ludwig II. Barely 21 years old, the King had the brooding romanticism and casual libertarianism of youth that cast him in sharp contrast to his serious and ambitious counterparts in Berlin and Vienna. Lacking either the talent or passion for governing affairs, it was often said that he reigned rather than ruled: instead, he left the task of running the nation in the capable hands of von Pfordten and the court he inheireted from his father. This salutary neglect not only allowed the veteran beuracracy to govern to Bavaria's benefit, but freed the King to pursue his personal passions; the arts, architecture, and traveling amongest his subjects, which were increasingly making Bavaria the driving force of Kultar as Austria and Prussia increasingly turned from asstetic to practicalpractical. If Berlin was increasingly Germany's iron heart and Vienna it's scheming mind, than Ludwig had transformed Munich into it's soul; serving as the Unser Kini of the idealist, intellectual, and romantic nationalists who viewed his light ruling style as the perfect fit for the sovergein of a true liberal, representative state in the spirit of 48'.
To both parties, the news of von Bismark's death and Austria's iniatives was music to their ears. Pfordten's administration, among all the German states, was the first to respond to Franz Joseph's proposition; using the lattitude he knew he possessed to send is approval without bothering to disturb his monarch (Who was out on one of his pastoral excursions in any case) or debate with internal opposition (of which there was little) and assure his full support. The relative proximity of Munich to Vienna too was an advantage; allowing the two governments to engage in some degree of conversation and co-ordinated action, with orders going out to the Rhinish Paletunate to start mobalizing the reserves and send out agents to start ralleying liberal volunteer militias with the resonating goal of "Pressuring the Junker aristocracy to abandon the reactionary policies of Bismark and secure responsible,representative government for Schleswig-Holstein... carrying their propagandizing into the liberal hotbed of the Prussian Rhineland if at all possible.
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FillyofDelphi
Banned
I'll readily admit I probably have so much information about the man in my head right now that the lines between his different "phases" of policy/perception are blurring somewhat. From what I have in my notes, however, he was still seen as a kind of wunderkin who was going hot... though at a very real risk of burning out fast if he made a wrong move.
The Shot Heard 'Round the World (Part C)
FillyofDelphi
Banned
The Saxon Response
Though considered the second most prominent among the minor German states, The Kingdom of Saxony was in many ways a pale shadow not only of its contemporaries but just as much of it's past self. For centuries, it had been the driving force of German development; the cradle of the Protestant Reformation, European industry, and having been the state to most wholeheartedly spread the Napoleon's reforms through the nation. Yet since the fall of that Imperial system, to which she'd been one of the last states to remain loyal, the nation had been driven to and seemingly powerless to escape a state of increasing inrelevence. It's monarch Johann I of the House of Wettin was already an old man without having acheived nearly the same noterarity as his rival sovergeins, seemingly resigned to his mediocrity and having proven unwilling to push Dresden's rights in international affairs. No clearer had this been demonstrated than in the following up of the Schleswig-Holstein War when, despite his army having shed so much of it's blood in it's capture he'd allowed Prussia to expel them from their rightful garrison in the prestigious and strategic town of Rendsburg without so much as a single shot.
Everything the Saxon court produced, it seemed, ended up as the poor man's substitute. The political system remained half-reformed, lacking the liberalization for true legislative autonomy and citizen empowerment or the speed and efficiency of the centeralizion increasingly embraced by the Great Powers. While having built up her industrial infastructure and the debt that came with it, the railways had simply served to flood the region with Silesian and Bohemian products that hamstrung her domestic capitalists: presented from raising protective or revenue generating customs by a half century of treaties. Her position as a cultural center had been lost; her centers of learning and historical note having mostly been stripped away at the Congress of Vienna and awarded to Prussia along with their Polish crown. Even in matters of political philosophy she could be considered a mockery, having as her Minister of State her own aspiring counterpart to Bismark and Pfordten in the game of directing Germian affairs.
Friedrich von Beust, who in his twin roles as state and forgein Minister was largely responsible for directing Saxon policies during series of misfortunes that was its mid-1800's. A highly controversial figure, he is generally considered to be a compitent beuracrat who was severely hampered by circumstances that overwhelmed the meager resources at his disposal and sought to get the best settlement despite their obvious weakness. By inclination a follower of the same Trias ideal as Pfordten, he could not take such a risky stance as attempting to resist both the Austrian and Prussian influences that literally and physically surrounded his nation and so as a matter of prudence as aligned with the cause of Grosdeutchland under the leadership of Vienna. This gave Saxony one of two notable cards she had to play in the international arena; the ability to call on Austrian support, and possession of the most experienced and effective army among the German minors; capable of moving quickly and forcefully enough to seize the iniative in a conflict.
It was this capability that von Beust hoped to leverage in order to escape the tightening Prussian stranglehold on the Confederation and regain some of Saxony's lost territory and prosperity. This ambition and trust in their ally is what caused him to take the fateful step of embracing Franz Joseph's scheme almost reflexively; not even bothering to make a fig-leaf statement of condolences over his hated rival's death and stopping just short of openly celebrating it. No sooner had the news arrived that he ordered the immediate full mobalization of the Saxon army; openly calling for the Prince of Augustenburg to be invited to the upcoming Diet as a fully recognized sovergein to pre-empt even a debate on the matter. It was his firm belief that such an ultimatum, facing Prussia in this time of political crisis and leaving no time for Whilhelm to stall for the time to assemble a new, reliable council, was the only way the strong willed King could be made to blink and would win further good graces with Vienna. Only time would tell the wisdom or foolishness of this haste...
Though considered the second most prominent among the minor German states, The Kingdom of Saxony was in many ways a pale shadow not only of its contemporaries but just as much of it's past self. For centuries, it had been the driving force of German development; the cradle of the Protestant Reformation, European industry, and having been the state to most wholeheartedly spread the Napoleon's reforms through the nation. Yet since the fall of that Imperial system, to which she'd been one of the last states to remain loyal, the nation had been driven to and seemingly powerless to escape a state of increasing inrelevence. It's monarch Johann I of the House of Wettin was already an old man without having acheived nearly the same noterarity as his rival sovergeins, seemingly resigned to his mediocrity and having proven unwilling to push Dresden's rights in international affairs. No clearer had this been demonstrated than in the following up of the Schleswig-Holstein War when, despite his army having shed so much of it's blood in it's capture he'd allowed Prussia to expel them from their rightful garrison in the prestigious and strategic town of Rendsburg without so much as a single shot.
Everything the Saxon court produced, it seemed, ended up as the poor man's substitute. The political system remained half-reformed, lacking the liberalization for true legislative autonomy and citizen empowerment or the speed and efficiency of the centeralizion increasingly embraced by the Great Powers. While having built up her industrial infastructure and the debt that came with it, the railways had simply served to flood the region with Silesian and Bohemian products that hamstrung her domestic capitalists: presented from raising protective or revenue generating customs by a half century of treaties. Her position as a cultural center had been lost; her centers of learning and historical note having mostly been stripped away at the Congress of Vienna and awarded to Prussia along with their Polish crown. Even in matters of political philosophy she could be considered a mockery, having as her Minister of State her own aspiring counterpart to Bismark and Pfordten in the game of directing Germian affairs.
Friedrich von Beust, who in his twin roles as state and forgein Minister was largely responsible for directing Saxon policies during series of misfortunes that was its mid-1800's. A highly controversial figure, he is generally considered to be a compitent beuracrat who was severely hampered by circumstances that overwhelmed the meager resources at his disposal and sought to get the best settlement despite their obvious weakness. By inclination a follower of the same Trias ideal as Pfordten, he could not take such a risky stance as attempting to resist both the Austrian and Prussian influences that literally and physically surrounded his nation and so as a matter of prudence as aligned with the cause of Grosdeutchland under the leadership of Vienna. This gave Saxony one of two notable cards she had to play in the international arena; the ability to call on Austrian support, and possession of the most experienced and effective army among the German minors; capable of moving quickly and forcefully enough to seize the iniative in a conflict.
It was this capability that von Beust hoped to leverage in order to escape the tightening Prussian stranglehold on the Confederation and regain some of Saxony's lost territory and prosperity. This ambition and trust in their ally is what caused him to take the fateful step of embracing Franz Joseph's scheme almost reflexively; not even bothering to make a fig-leaf statement of condolences over his hated rival's death and stopping just short of openly celebrating it. No sooner had the news arrived that he ordered the immediate full mobalization of the Saxon army; openly calling for the Prince of Augustenburg to be invited to the upcoming Diet as a fully recognized sovergein to pre-empt even a debate on the matter. It was his firm belief that such an ultimatum, facing Prussia in this time of political crisis and leaving no time for Whilhelm to stall for the time to assemble a new, reliable council, was the only way the strong willed King could be made to blink and would win further good graces with Vienna. Only time would tell the wisdom or foolishness of this haste...
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The Shot Heard 'Round the World (Part D)
FillyofDelphi
Banned
The Hannoverian Response
These natural advantages, sadly, were largely squandered in the hands of her "mule-headed" monarch, George V. Possessing the toxic combination of poor understanding of statecraft and a firm conviction on royal authority not dissimilar to his namesake, George III, the King surrounded himself with the most sycophantic council imaginable while esclating even petty disputes with the elected Parliment. This left the state, more often than not, without a consistent policy that made quick or directed action impossible, leaving the government in the hands of a corrupt bureaucracy who's members were selected more for loyalty to the Crown than any actual skill. Thus, while the territory of Hanover was thriving, it's widely understood this was in spite of rather than because of it's leadership.
This lack of iniative only magnified the impact of the distance between Vienna and the North Sea coast, meaning Hanover was one of the last parties to learn about the Imperial plan. This in theory should havd played out to the King's advantage; news of the Prussian offer to the Duke of Augustenburg having already made it's name to the royal ear before he was obliged to consider a course of action. With this fact, the very real chance of the cause for conflict disappearing made the prudent course of action; avoiding the expense and political controversy of mobalization in a time of peace was obvious. Ironically, however, this very obviousness doomed the Kingdom to the opposite policy; the Parliment, having actively embraced neutrality, driving King George to take a belligerent stance as a matter of principal. Secretly however he also hoped to use the oppritunuty to emulate his idok Napoleon III: exploiting the crisis and availability of the military to envoke the "Seige Clause" of the Hanover Constitution and, through staging a self-coup under his emergency powers, purge the liberal opposition from his bothersome legislature once and for all. Circumventing the usual channels, George took a course of action that from the outside seemed to make no military sense; sending out the mustering orders for the full army without the accompanying marching orders, leaving them distant from the potential zone of conflict on the border and instead positioned in strategic fortresses and population centers throughout the nation. Nominally, this was justified as "Retaining freedom of action" by not committing to a particular front, which made some sense given the bredth of Prussian territory on their borders, but barely had the telegrams been received that several liberal-sympathetic officers among the army started to smell a rat...
"It would be more fitting, than, if the banner of Hannover were blazened with a rampent mule. For though possessing the might and spirit of the Brunswick mare which birthed her, its potential is wasted under the leadership of the head of an ass"
-Exert from the London Times serial, A Timely Tour of our Germanic Brotherlands
Though intended for potential gentleman travelers, the above quotation has become famous for encapsulating the fundimental shortcomings of the Kingdom of Hannover during the Inter-German Crisis of 1866. The only one of the three middle German kingdoms to contest rather than collaborate with Napoleon, the Kingdom was most noticable as the ancestorial domain of the the British royal family; only recently having gained full independence following Queen Victoria's disqualification for inheiritence under ancient Salic Law. Sitting at the strategic crossroads of the Rhine River valley, industrial heartland of the Rhine, and the traditional transit-trade centers of the Haenseatic City-States and the Neatherlands, the nation had benefitted greatly from the economic integration of the Confederation and the resulting decades of prosperity of the north-west. Despite her close proximity to Prussia, her traditional ties to extra-German Powers and stiff fortifications, backed by a loyal, well drilled army 20,000 strong, allowed her to operate without fear of getting sucked into the violence of the Austro-Prussian rivalry, content to pursue an independent policy of standoffish neutrality.-Exert from the London Times serial, A Timely Tour of our Germanic Brotherlands
These natural advantages, sadly, were largely squandered in the hands of her "mule-headed" monarch, George V. Possessing the toxic combination of poor understanding of statecraft and a firm conviction on royal authority not dissimilar to his namesake, George III, the King surrounded himself with the most sycophantic council imaginable while esclating even petty disputes with the elected Parliment. This left the state, more often than not, without a consistent policy that made quick or directed action impossible, leaving the government in the hands of a corrupt bureaucracy who's members were selected more for loyalty to the Crown than any actual skill. Thus, while the territory of Hanover was thriving, it's widely understood this was in spite of rather than because of it's leadership.
This lack of iniative only magnified the impact of the distance between Vienna and the North Sea coast, meaning Hanover was one of the last parties to learn about the Imperial plan. This in theory should havd played out to the King's advantage; news of the Prussian offer to the Duke of Augustenburg having already made it's name to the royal ear before he was obliged to consider a course of action. With this fact, the very real chance of the cause for conflict disappearing made the prudent course of action; avoiding the expense and political controversy of mobalization in a time of peace was obvious. Ironically, however, this very obviousness doomed the Kingdom to the opposite policy; the Parliment, having actively embraced neutrality, driving King George to take a belligerent stance as a matter of principal. Secretly however he also hoped to use the oppritunuty to emulate his idok Napoleon III: exploiting the crisis and availability of the military to envoke the "Seige Clause" of the Hanover Constitution and, through staging a self-coup under his emergency powers, purge the liberal opposition from his bothersome legislature once and for all. Circumventing the usual channels, George took a course of action that from the outside seemed to make no military sense; sending out the mustering orders for the full army without the accompanying marching orders, leaving them distant from the potential zone of conflict on the border and instead positioned in strategic fortresses and population centers throughout the nation. Nominally, this was justified as "Retaining freedom of action" by not committing to a particular front, which made some sense given the bredth of Prussian territory on their borders, but barely had the telegrams been received that several liberal-sympathetic officers among the army started to smell a rat...
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Weekly Author Announcement I (OOC)
FillyofDelphi
Banned
Hello, my fans!
First off, allow me to express my thanks for all the input and interest in this. I was a little hesitent in terms of pursuing this timeline, but it seems the community really does enjoy my writing and is looking forward to my updates. I hope we can deeply explore a long period over a broad area in this unique timeline during the critical second half of the 19th century, and I pledge to do my best to keep it both realistic and entertaining... though of course it woulden't be fun if things went exactly the same as OTL *sly smile*
Anyways, I suppose this requires an explanation. In order to help keep myself responsible and organize opportunities for community input, I plan to write up these little out of character sections in which I plan to discuss broader trends, likely update schedules, answer or present questions to the community, and the like. I hope through these to be responsive to all your needs and, at the very least, help maintain your interest by providing some expectations and things to look forward to. Since this is my first version of this, I don't have any such information to present right now (having no format set up or questions to answer), but its more to inform you that you're free to present questions that will be answered in bulk in the next week's update. So, don't get impatient or think you're ignored if you ask something and it isen't answered in a couple of days.
I look forward to many more wonderful updates with you. Next up, we'll see our last important German state covered and find out Duke Fredrich's response to potentially taking up Bismark's mantle... so stay tuned!
First off, allow me to express my thanks for all the input and interest in this. I was a little hesitent in terms of pursuing this timeline, but it seems the community really does enjoy my writing and is looking forward to my updates. I hope we can deeply explore a long period over a broad area in this unique timeline during the critical second half of the 19th century, and I pledge to do my best to keep it both realistic and entertaining... though of course it woulden't be fun if things went exactly the same as OTL *sly smile*
Anyways, I suppose this requires an explanation. In order to help keep myself responsible and organize opportunities for community input, I plan to write up these little out of character sections in which I plan to discuss broader trends, likely update schedules, answer or present questions to the community, and the like. I hope through these to be responsive to all your needs and, at the very least, help maintain your interest by providing some expectations and things to look forward to. Since this is my first version of this, I don't have any such information to present right now (having no format set up or questions to answer), but its more to inform you that you're free to present questions that will be answered in bulk in the next week's update. So, don't get impatient or think you're ignored if you ask something and it isen't answered in a couple of days.
I look forward to many more wonderful updates with you. Next up, we'll see our last important German state covered and find out Duke Fredrich's response to potentially taking up Bismark's mantle... so stay tuned!
AussieHawker
Banned
complementary
ally. what caused
reflexively
I feel the punctuation is a bit off. Perhaps a comma after shadow to break up the sentence and 'not only of it's contemporaries'. Or a split into two sentences.
disqualification
poor . Hopefully.
statecraft
sycophantic
bureaucracy whose members
idol
the
accompanying
breadth . I think.
sympathetic
There may be other errors that I didn't catch. I didn't start until I noticed a few in quick succession. Grammar and spelling is hard to catch in your own writing, so perhaps try running your story posts through a program.
Also is the text size and I think font supposed to change? I know AH.com doesn't handle copy pasted text well, but it is slightly weird while reading.
Anyway I can't say much of the history, as it isn't really a area of expertise for me. So nothing to say there. The TL looks fine for the most part.
- Status