I agree with what others have said. Both formats work for me and I have no problem with you going back and forth. This TL is amazing and I have been thoroughly enjoying it.
God is a Frenchman - a Timeline (Seven Yrs War POD)
- Thread starter George_Apley
- Start date
I like what you've been doing since the start of your work, sometimes it's important to explain in details en event or have a narative chapter wich gives lots of character and immersion to the timeline but I also like your "quick-hits to go over world events and quickly passing time as you say! But do watever feels comfortable to you ^^
1837-1838 -- Preparing for War
GIAF: 1837-1838 -- Preparing for War
The Coalition of Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Saxony declares war against Henri of France and Spain in December, 1837 to prevent the solidification of Franco-Spanish union and the strengthening of its hegemony over Europe. By the new year the rest of the Holy Alliance, including Naples, Parma, Venice, and Savoy-Sardinia, declare war against the coalition as a bloc. The Rhenish Confederation votes in February, 1838 to grant the Alliance use of their infrastructure and safe-passage through their territories, but stop short of declaring war against the Coalition. A volunteer Deutsche Korps of Rhinelanders does mobilize in France early in the new year. Rome adopts a similar policy to the Rheinbund for the Papal States, while the Dutch, Danes, and Swedes announce their neutrality along with Great Britain, Hanover, and Portugal. Europe has not been at war since 1817 and warring parties are eager to test their forces against one another.
The French are able to mobilize quickly given the professionalization of the French Royal Army and the well-established network of reserve divisions that can be swiftly activated across the arrondissements of France. Recent experiences in North Africa have given many French officers and sergeants valuable experience and many of the field and general officers still remember Talleyrand’s War. Spain’s continued policy of rotating regiments to the colonies in America makes for an experienced force, but generally more familiar with internal actions rather than field formations. Indeed, the War of French Succession marks the first time in many decades that Spanish troops fight in large numbers outside of Iberia and the Spanish Empire. To enhance the Spanish contribution, a number of French officers are sent to Spain to recruit and train new regiments that will join French and Italian divisions on the northern and southern European fronts.
Austria’s army has undergone its own modernization in the last two decades since Talleyrand’s War, modeled in part after the reforms made by France under the Marquis de Lafayette in Louis XVII’s early reign. Nobility no longer have a monopoly on officer commissions and the officer ranks also display a strong level of ethnic diversity, not just German, Hungarian, and Czech. Many Poles, both native to Silesia and Galicia or migrants fleeing Russian despotism in the Commonwealth, are in leadership roles in the Austrian military as well as Croats and Serbians, whose mettle in combat was clearly demonstrated in Talleyrand’s War. Prussia and Saxony both have a reputation for well-formed and drilled troops, but Prussia is also known for failing in spite of its professionalism and Saxony hasn’t used its army in war since the 1760s. Russia, despite its great size is slow to mobilize, partly due to the large commitment of troops that are committed to occupying and pacifying central Asia. Russia has the most conservative military on the continent, having had astonishingly little recent engagement with the armies of Europe other than relatively brief wars against Austria and Sweden. Tsar Paul II is eager to showcase his army’s abilities after their experiences fighting against the Kazakhs, Turkmen, and Uzbeks east of the Caspian Sea.
Regarding naval strength, the French far outstrip any of their opponents, in spite of having mothballed a large number of older warships in the late-1820s. King Louis XVII had directed the Royale to begin experimenting with modernizing warships in 1829, producing a number of iron-plated and steam-paddle warships by the mid-1830s. France also engaged in a modernization and refurbishment campaign to prepare more than three-dozen hulking ships-of-the-line from the 1810s for modern warfare. The Spanish likewise have a formidable force at their disposal, as Henri mirrored many of his father’s naval policies in Spain. Naples is the weak link in the Holy Alliance’s navy, with few modern warships in its aging fleet.
Compared to France and Spain, the Coalition hardly compares with naval power. The Austrian fleet has greatly deteriorated in the last twenty years as resources increasingly poured into rebuilding the army after the defeat in Talleyrand’s War. The ability of the Austrians to project any power beyond the Adriatic is slight. Russia’s navy is in better shape than Austria’s, but the Russians lack any tradition of power projection on the high seas and have few tempting targets close to any of their naval bases in the Baltic and Black seas. Prussia’s naval forces are even weaker than Austria’s, almost entirely made up of older corvettes and frigates designed more for customs duty than fleet action. It is this weakness that leads the Coalition to so aggressively court Great Britain to join their war against the French.
Despite decades of frequent economic hardship and political upheaval, the British remain a significant naval power and use their mastery of the seas to maintain their far-flung colonial empire. As France is well-aware, British disengagement on the continent of Europe has not led to a deterioration of their military acumen. What Britain has done though, is downsize their naval assets, maintaining 1st-rate warships mainly for deterrence and homeland defense. The Royal Navy has a large number of state-of-the-art frigates of various classes that experiment with durability and speed using iron plating and steam power. The British also build a fleet of armed clippers in the envied Dominion shipyards of North America; these ships are astonishingly fast and nimble enabling them, in theory, to tackle much higher rated opponents given the proper conditions.
The strong rebuff to the Coalition by the governing isolationist wing of the Whig Party and the monarch is not echoed in all corners of British society. The much reduced Tories and a number of loud internationalist Whigs mount a very public campaign arguing that the time for Britain’s self-imposed seclusion has passed and that it’s time to remember the proud history of an English Queen standing against a mighty Catholic armada and to strive towards that history. While this faction is small, it has enough influence to force the government to be considerate in its policies, lest the public be won over by the hawks. The King does order Hanoverian troops to be placed on high alert and to defend their homeland should any party violate their neutrality. Just as the Coalition pressures Britain to join them, France lobbies hard, if quietly, for continued British neutrality.
The winter of 1838 proves to be a harsh one, leaving any thoughts of early campaigning in the realm of fantasy. As their men mobilize and train, leaders busy themselves planning their opening moves for the spring. Marechal Pierre de Maupeou takes overall command of Alliance efforts on the German front, while Marechal Bernard de Breme assumes command in Italy. Austria plans a major opening push in the Po Valley to be conducted by General Heinrich von Schrattenbach, while the Prussians, Saxons, and Russians prepare the thrust into the Rhineland under the overall command of Russian General Alexander Dobrovolsky. The firm neutrality of Hanover and nominal neutrality of Franconia and Bavaria means that any German front between the Alliance and Coalition will be confined to the 90 kilometer border between Hessia and Saxony, setting up a race to place armies and break through into more politically open ground…
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Love this chapter. Surprised Henri turned out be more than just a conservative wanting to stop the progress of liberalism. He actually did make some changes to the system (like in the colonies) and has shown some shrewdness. The odds may not look exactly in his favor. But France in our world at this time was able to smack down multiple coalitions against it (they also had Napoleon but hey). So I'm hoping Henri is able to win this war and unite the Spanish and French realms into a true European hegemon. Let the Pax Gallica be ushered in after what is sure to be one of the bloodiest wars in history.
I will be honest Henry has won me over somewhat and I really want him to succeed.
I'm glad folks are enjoying Henry! I've enjoyed developing him.
We'll see how his alliance performs! TTL did have a version of Napoleon and he was pretty good, but he wasn't our Napoleon. The latinate world is mostly allied through the Holy Alliance, the question is whether they can stand up against all the powers in the east arrayed against them. Hoping to get out an update on the start of the war sometime in the next few days.
We'll see how his alliance performs! TTL did have a version of Napoleon and he was pretty good, but he wasn't our Napoleon. The latinate world is mostly allied through the Holy Alliance, the question is whether they can stand up against all the powers in the east arrayed against them. Hoping to get out an update on the start of the war sometime in the next few days.
If the union lasts I can see large French communities growing in Spanish America, they will not displace Spanish as the lingua franca but I am sure that these communities will have great lobbying power within the viceroyalties. It would also be fun to read how the victory plan of the British and allies in a hypothetical future world war consists in knocking out the Franco-Spanish Union before the endless hordes of the Americas arrive.
He asked me what would happen to Hispanoamerica. And I would say that they are a bit screwed if they want to defeat the Neo-Roman Empire.
With Henri and his descendants managing well, the Spanish colonies will turn into something rude. It is also interesting to see population growth without wars and the destruction generated by them.
With Henri and his descendants managing well, the Spanish colonies will turn into something rude. It is also interesting to see population growth without wars and the destruction generated by them.
Technically, insofar as we're talking about ships-of-the-line, then yes. Roughly at least. The British have generally changed their naval outlook and have a LOT of modernized smaller warships, with their larger ships-of-the-line being reserved mostly for home defense. The French view the RN as a capable force, but not an existential threat and they do not exert much pressure from old treaties on Britain since they perceive the Brits as having assumed a relatively non-threatening posture.
well if you look at the threadmark you will see that england still owns all thirteen colonies its presence in india was destroyed by france and it seems to me that there was a split on the dutch east indies
They have colonies from Maine to Georgia down the east coast of North America organized as the Dominion of America. They have a number of Caribbean possessions that are listed somewhere backthread. Liberia and other growing outposts on the West African coast. North Australia around OTL Darwin. Ireland of course. Hanover is also more tight with Britain than it is OTL.
The East Indies are mainly Dutch with some French and Portuguese outposts. The Dutch and French East India Companies merged and is governed jointly. The British have access to the East Indies trade through the Portuguese and, more limitedly, the Dutch.
It would be interesting to see a TL where the British win in Indian theatre and loose in North America during the 7YW.
1838 -- First Italian Campaign (Part 1)
I've decided to drop pieces of the 1838 war campaigns as I write them, rather than do a massive long drop.
French Marshal Bernard de Breme has just arrived in Turin on 23 May when he learns of the Austrian offensive. He has with him over 40,000 French troops and nearly 50,000 mustered men from Savoy, Lombardy, and Naples. Naples has promised that an additional 30,000 troops will shortly land in Ravenna and march north to the aid of Venice. Breme is also expecting an additional 40,000 troops from Spain under Ricardo María de Álava who will land at Genoa, but they are late arriving. Frustrated, Breme decides to move his forces to Milan and rely on dispatching individual corps to probe and harass the Austrians, rather than commit his entire army to action when they’re without a key component. This essentially writes off Venice for the time-being, ceding the ground to Schrattenbach. Indeed on 8 June the Austrians land an additional 20,000 troops at Cortellazzo, tightening the noose on Venice itself. The Austrian Navy under Admiral Hermann Montecuccoli proceeds to blockade the city as Schrattenbach’s forces approach by land from three directions, initiating the Siege of Venice.
Enrico Dandolo, the Doge of Venice, takes a strong stand and rallies the city, becoming the first notable Doge in fifty years and refusing to surrender to the Austrian onslaught for weeks. Several attempts are made to break the Austrian siege, most notably at the Battle of Cavarzere on 1 July, when the Neapolitan army under Michele Filangieri arrives from Ravenna. Facing Austrian corps commander Franz Kinsky, Filangieri misreads the Austrian tactics and his army is shattered by the slightly smaller Austrian force. The remaining Neapolitan troops retreat all the way to Modena. There are also a pair of attempts by the Neapolitan Navy to break the Austrian siege of Venice that fail. Following the collapse of Filangieri’s army, the resistance in the City of Venice falters, with the Doge finally capitulating on 9 July.
General Álava’s Spanish corps finally arrives in Genoa on 24 June but are further waylaid there due to an outbreak of a colic disease during transit. With most of Venice under Austrian control by the early July, Marshal Breme is compelled to make a move without his full strength, lest more of northern Italy fall to the Hapsburg armies. Several brigades of Spanish troops join Breme in Milan on 30 June and they depart for Cremona where they rendezvous with Filangieri’s reduced corps of Neapolitans. Breme directs his corps commanders to send divisions on either side of the Po River to probe and skirmish with the Austrians before committing the army to any movements that Schrattenbach could avoid and punch around them towards Milan or Parma.
On 4 July at the Battle of Mottella a Spanish brigade under Guzmán Osuna clashes with an Austrian division under Endre Hadik. The Spanish unexpectedly best the larger Austrian force, which retreats back towards Verona. Further south a French and Savoyard division under Philippe Leclerc de Hautcloque meets the Austrians outside of Rovigo on 7 July. At the Battle of Rovigo the Austrians, led by Mattias Sarkotic, successfully pin the Alliance forces with their backs to the Po, forcing a fighting retreat to the Po River crossing at Polesella into Papal territory. The frustrated Sarkotic does not pursue, given the clear instructions from Vienna to not violate the supposed neutrality of the Holy See.
Breme mounts a full assault against the Austrians at Verona on 16 July. Although muddy conditions make for a difficult march, the Allies successfully form up in their corps and hammer Schrattenbach’s forces on a long battlefront. The first day of fighting is bloody and leads to little ground trading hands, with the Allies falling back to regroup overnight. On the morning of 17 July, Breme takes advantage of an unseasonably chilly fog to reposition his formations and by mid-morning is able to break the cohesion of Schrattenbach’s forces, with some Austrian divisions retreating across the Adige River and others scatter to the southeast, crossing the Adige at Tombazosana. The Alliance victory at the Battle of Verona re-energizes Breme and his corps commanders. They prepare to continue the offensive to liberate Venice when news arrives from Turin that sucks the wind from the sails of the Alliance Army...
1838: The War of French Succession -- The First Italian Campaign (Part 1)
The Coalition makes the first move in the war in the spring of 1838. Austrian Heinrich von Schrattenbach's army crosses the Tagliamento River near Varmo on 13 May and brushes past Venetian border defenses. The start to the campaign hits before the Alliance has fully mustered in northern Italy with the Venetians facing the full might of the Austrian invasion force with only a few advance regiments of Parmesan troops. Over 90,000 Austrian troops enter Venice from the east and successfully occupy Portogruaro and Pordenone within a week as the defenders fall back west of the Meduna River. An additional 40,000 troops march south from Trent along the Adige River valley and emerge from the Alps to siege Verona. The Siege of Verona only lasts for 10 days before the mayor capitulates. On 26 May the Venetians retreat west of the Pauve River to form a defensive line at Treviso but on the 29th are forced back again to Pancrazio at the Dese River. The speed of Austria's success in Venice stuns the Alliance.
French Marshal Bernard de Breme has just arrived in Turin on 23 May when he learns of the Austrian offensive. He has with him over 40,000 French troops and nearly 50,000 mustered men from Savoy, Lombardy, and Naples. Naples has promised that an additional 30,000 troops will shortly land in Ravenna and march north to the aid of Venice. Breme is also expecting an additional 40,000 troops from Spain under Ricardo María de Álava who will land at Genoa, but they are late arriving. Frustrated, Breme decides to move his forces to Milan and rely on dispatching individual corps to probe and harass the Austrians, rather than commit his entire army to action when they’re without a key component. This essentially writes off Venice for the time-being, ceding the ground to Schrattenbach. Indeed on 8 June the Austrians land an additional 20,000 troops at Cortellazzo, tightening the noose on Venice itself. The Austrian Navy under Admiral Hermann Montecuccoli proceeds to blockade the city as Schrattenbach’s forces approach by land from three directions, initiating the Siege of Venice.
Enrico Dandolo, the Doge of Venice, takes a strong stand and rallies the city, becoming the first notable Doge in fifty years and refusing to surrender to the Austrian onslaught for weeks. Several attempts are made to break the Austrian siege, most notably at the Battle of Cavarzere on 1 July, when the Neapolitan army under Michele Filangieri arrives from Ravenna. Facing Austrian corps commander Franz Kinsky, Filangieri misreads the Austrian tactics and his army is shattered by the slightly smaller Austrian force. The remaining Neapolitan troops retreat all the way to Modena. There are also a pair of attempts by the Neapolitan Navy to break the Austrian siege of Venice that fail. Following the collapse of Filangieri’s army, the resistance in the City of Venice falters, with the Doge finally capitulating on 9 July.
General Álava’s Spanish corps finally arrives in Genoa on 24 June but are further waylaid there due to an outbreak of a colic disease during transit. With most of Venice under Austrian control by the early July, Marshal Breme is compelled to make a move without his full strength, lest more of northern Italy fall to the Hapsburg armies. Several brigades of Spanish troops join Breme in Milan on 30 June and they depart for Cremona where they rendezvous with Filangieri’s reduced corps of Neapolitans. Breme directs his corps commanders to send divisions on either side of the Po River to probe and skirmish with the Austrians before committing the army to any movements that Schrattenbach could avoid and punch around them towards Milan or Parma.
On 4 July at the Battle of Mottella a Spanish brigade under Guzmán Osuna clashes with an Austrian division under Endre Hadik. The Spanish unexpectedly best the larger Austrian force, which retreats back towards Verona. Further south a French and Savoyard division under Philippe Leclerc de Hautcloque meets the Austrians outside of Rovigo on 7 July. At the Battle of Rovigo the Austrians, led by Mattias Sarkotic, successfully pin the Alliance forces with their backs to the Po, forcing a fighting retreat to the Po River crossing at Polesella into Papal territory. The frustrated Sarkotic does not pursue, given the clear instructions from Vienna to not violate the supposed neutrality of the Holy See.
Breme mounts a full assault against the Austrians at Verona on 16 July. Although muddy conditions make for a difficult march, the Allies successfully form up in their corps and hammer Schrattenbach’s forces on a long battlefront. The first day of fighting is bloody and leads to little ground trading hands, with the Allies falling back to regroup overnight. On the morning of 17 July, Breme takes advantage of an unseasonably chilly fog to reposition his formations and by mid-morning is able to break the cohesion of Schrattenbach’s forces, with some Austrian divisions retreating across the Adige River and others scatter to the southeast, crossing the Adige at Tombazosana. The Alliance victory at the Battle of Verona re-energizes Breme and his corps commanders. They prepare to continue the offensive to liberate Venice when news arrives from Turin that sucks the wind from the sails of the Alliance Army...
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