If they will not meet us on the open sea (a Trent TL)

[Saphroneth]

IIRC our militia was fielding more then a few commercially available breachloaders.

That's not surprising, the main reason OTL the British Army didn't rearm wholesale was the expense - and the fact they'd only just completely rearmed with Enfields, so it'd be nice to not have to get rid of about half a million Enfield rifles.

I wonder if the Militia has acquired more breachloaders than OTL.

TTL Westley-Richards might be doing quite well, that company didn't get the British contract but they're getting a lot of good publicity from turning up in dramatic cavalry actions. The NZ Militia might well make a few extra purchases of those, especially after seeing what a trained battalion can do with them.

 

[Colonel Troutstrangler]

Schleswig and Holstein were to be held "indivisible" by some ancient treaty that the Danish crown agreed to - that was one of the main reasons the various suggested solutions failed. The Emperor may also have had a hand in it (Holy Roman Emperor)

 

[Saphroneth]

Schleswig and Holstein were to be held "indivisible" by some ancient treaty that the Danish crown agreed to - that was one of the main reasons the various suggested solutions failed. The Emperor may also have had a hand in it (Holy Roman Emperor)

Hence why everyone has headaches:

1) They're indivisible.
2) The legal heir to one cannot inherit the other.
3) The facts on the ground are very complicated.

Honestly it seems like a war meaning that someone can abrogate and declare null old treaties is the only way to resolve the crisis, at least without the then-king having a son.

 

[Thothian]

This is an interesting TL. Is there and index of story posts, or a story only thread?

 

[Saphroneth]

This is an interesting TL. Is there and index of story posts, or a story only thread?

I'm afraid there isn't either.
If we had threadmarks on this forum that'd be relatively easy, but sadly we don't.


One thing I'm considering doing is cleaning this up for publication at some point in the future (either as a story-type thing or leaving it as TL format). If I did that there's certainly things I'd change - the actions on the West Coast need tweaking for starters...

 

[Saphroneth]

1 November

The Polish general Traugutt has his three new heavy artillery pieces moved into position on a small hillock that has been erected for the purpose about two miles from the Warsaw citadel. He intends to use the power and accuracy of "Sigismund", "Wladislaw" and "Hedwig" to dismount artillery and shatter the walls, thus allowing his grenadierzy to close and make their assault.
Perhaps ironically given the completely non-traditional armament of what are currently called uhlans and huszaria, the grenadierzy are actually armed with grenades. Two battalions of them are also armed with repeaters - a motley mix including Spencers, Henrys, Colt revolving rifles, and plenty of less prominent manufacturers, but considered sufficient in ammunition terms for one assault - and a further battalion is armed with the Dreyse. Most other grenadierzy have conventional rifles, muskets, or in some cases shotguns.

It is not expected that an assault will take place very shortly - the Warsaw citadel is thick-walled and has plenty of artillery, though the early fires from "Hedwig" cause the collapse of a casemate as the heavy Krupp rounds punch deep into the brickwork before exploding and deranging the nearby structure.


3 November

Confederate Senate and House elections take place. The higher organization level of the few nascent parties of the Confederacy serves them well, and a number are elected; some also take note that a well-spoken mulatto planter from Louisiana came closer than anyone had expected to taking a seat.
Robert E. Lee succeeds in his bid to election, winning a close victory over the incumbent. This is credited largely to his high standing in the community, his military service and experience, and the speeches he has made about the cost of removing old Union forts.


5 November

At a discussion in Birmingham, William Westley-Richards is somewhat startled when a representative of the French army asks how soon he could provide 500,000 rifles in a metric caliber.
After recovering his breath somewhat, Westley-Richards makes clear that he is already quite heavily committed to production and expansion - several colonial militias are forming breechloading detachments due to the metropole soaking up most of the Snider production, and his own breechloader is considered the best of the also-rans based on RUSI's articles - and hence the time it would take him to supply half a million rifles to the French army would be prohibitive. He does, however, emphasize that he is pleased to be considered and that he would be happy to arm the French cavalry with the carbine form of his rifle once he can set up a new production facility.
The French representative (a colonel by rank) finds this agreeable, and adds that he is authorized to offer Westley-Richards a cheap purchase of land in France for metric production.
No agreement is reached - costings need to be worked out and the price per rifle is not yet set, so no firm commitment is made - but Westley-Richards goes home with a lot to think about.


6 November

Legal case of S. Candelaria v. Chickasaw Nation is brought in Confederate courts, regarding a demand for compensation by a Texan man after an altercation within Indian Territory and the counterclaim by the Chickasaw Nation that Candelaria was attempting to settle illegally on their land.



8 November

In confession, Ortega tells the priest he is permitted that he sees no way that he - who feels responsible for the internecine strife in the Mexican Republican camp - can possibly reduce the loss of life.
The confessor - a man who would best be described as "pro-Imperial" as might be expected - asks Ortega if there really is nothing he feels he can do; the question troubles Ortega, who after a few further hours of thought asks to see Maximilien at the Emperor's earliest convenience.


9 November

Ortega and Maximilien discuss various matters, usually safe topics relating to international politics (such as the situation in the United and the Confederate States).
Some way into their discussion, Ortega broaches the possibility (in a roundabout and conditional way) of his taking the amnesty, and whether this would help to reduce the loss of life and the strife that has plagued Mexico for some time.

 

[Colonel Troutstrangler]

News headlines in the republican camp away from the French dominated areas would star that Ortega has sold out! We know differently, but that would not stop his political rivals claims of such duplicity.

 

[Saphroneth]

News headlines in the republican camp away from the French dominated areas would star that Ortega has sold out! We know differently, but that would not stop his political rivals claims of such duplicity.

Of course, and it would be selling out if he accepted the amnesty - but for entirely understandable, indeed admirable, motives.

In civil wars, two thirds of it is about legitimacy - which means public support, perceived public support, victories, unity, all that. And if it would end the civil war in Mexico early, then Ortega taking the amnesty and retiring to a hacienda might look like a tempting bargain - that is, a tempting bargain for reasons external to his own comfort, as well as internal.

 

[Saphroneth]

Hm... wonder what the Confederacy would be likely to develop in terms of national political parties.

I imagine "Whig" (let alone "Republican"!) would have unwanted optics for the intelligentsia, and "Tory" wouldn't be much better given 1776. Perhaps Democrats and "Confederalists", or one national party (Dems) and one loose coalition of states-interest parties.

 

[Vhen]

Hm... wonder what the Confederacy would be likely to develop in terms of national political parties.

I imagine "Whig" (let alone "Republican"!) would have unwanted optics for the intelligentsia, and "Tory" wouldn't be much better given 1776. Perhaps Democrats and "Confederalists", or one national party (Dems) and one loose coalition of states-interest parties.

Sounding a bit like the one in Guns of the South with the Confederates and the Patriots.


Speaking of: This timeline reminded me that I had to reread that again too.

 

[Saphroneth]

"Patriots" is certainly a possibility.

Annoyingly the system the US had and the CS inherited is two-party metastable, though three-party is possible if the third party is geographically concentrated and basically draws off support from one of the two standard parties.

 

[Vhen]

"Patriots" is certainly a possibility.

Annoyingly the system the US had and the CS inherited is two-party metastable, though three-party is possible if the third party is geographically concentrated and basically draws off support from one of the two standard parties.

First Past the Post. I could rant to it... but the meat of my rants would be better delivered by CGPGrey's videos.

My preferred system is MMP, but thats because its whats used here in NZ and I understand it.

 

[Saphroneth]

First Past the Post. I could rant to it... but the meat of my rants would be better delivered by CGPGrey's videos.

It's not just FPTP - though that's a big part of it. It's the system of having tiered elections for the House, Senate and Presidency as that means that either a party has to capture the majority of a state or they're only ever a House presence.


Mind you, you think FPTP is odd, wait until you try to work out what Polish elections will look like. Remember, they made basically everyone in the country who either owned land or property or worked land into a nobleman (szlachta), so functionally they now have a franchise open only to the nobility which nevertheless draws on the substantial majority of the working-age male population.

 

[Skallagrim]

Mind you, you think FPTP is odd, wait until you try to work out what Polish elections will look like. Remember, they made basically everyone in the country who either owned land or property or worked land into a nobleman (szlachta), so functionally they now have a franchise open only to the nobility which nevertheless draws on the substantial majority of the working-age male population.

An interesting implication (depending on the exact phrasing) might be that any man who owns a house gets to vote, and any farmer (even a farmer who doesn't own the land) gets to vote... but a man who works in a factory or shop and doesn't own land (who, for instance, rents an appartment) doesn't get to vote.

 

[Saphroneth]

An interesting implication (depending on the exact phrasing) might be that any man who owns a house gets to vote, and any farmer (even a farmer who doesn't own the land) gets to vote... but a man who works in a factory or shop and doesn't own land (who, for instance, rents an appartment) doesn't get to vote.

As per the previous posts, the April Reforms define voting rights as either of:

1) A minimum income, specifying an amount of money which a moderately affluent tradesman can meet but a day-labourer is unlikely to.
2) Any owned land in excess of one quarter of an acre.

So a farmer who works land and profits from it qualifies under (1) - if he's good enough - even if he doesn't own the land.
(This does result in a pretty drastic franchise expansion, Poland was quite rural at the time and the urban areas were AFAICT mostly quite middle-class and prosperous)

The interesting thing about these specifications can be summed up in one word: inflation. It's a moderately middle-class income now, but the amount is specified as a numerical quantity...

ED: and something I missed pointing out was that they also did some pretty extensive land grants, passing out land to the peasants who worked it (though not completely). So pretty much the entire rural class has been ennobled as minor nobles, which is a bit of a bodged solution but also pre-empted any Russian attempts to do the same trick!

 

[Saphroneth]

Preston of the Spaceways, season 4 episode 11 "Peril in Paradise". Original broadcast 20 June 1968.

Synopsis

The Griffon is dispatched by Adm. Tankersley to Damalia to protect Imperial interests. Along the way (Engineer Patrick) Murphy reports that the spinal chaser mounts are acting up badly (the clash with Dauphine two episodes previously having seriously damaged her, and with not all the damage thus far made good) and (Commander Harold) Preston determines to avoid using them unless it proves absolutely necessary.

Damalia is a Protectorate planet, with a sunny if changeable climate (most of the episode was shot on location in Bermuda, with the naval base standing in for the Resident's palace) and everything at first seems fine, with Preston taking some much-needed shore leave and leaving (Lt. Commander Elizabeth) Clyde in command.
It quickly becomes clear (through scenes viewed by (Gunnery Lt. Gareth) Armstrong on shore leave coupled with further information that none of the core cast is privy to) that there is much resentment over the Imperial interests on Damalia. The middle section of the episode involves a sudden revolt and the capture of Preston (with several casualties on the part of the revolters) followed by an uneasy standoff.
Clyde dispatches the Griffon's gunboat under Murphy's command to attempt a rescue, but the gunboat takes heavy damage from navy-grade surface-to-space missiles and is forced to make a hard landing some miles outside the Protector's palace as the fighting heads towards it.
Armstrong escapes from his captors and makes it to the gunboat (featuring a running gun battle filmed across St George's Island and the airbase) and mans the main pivot gun as they lift off to dock with Griffon - which comes down into atmosphere to pick them up, fighting off surface-to-space missiles and ending up taking further damage. Once docked, Murphy and Armstrong work together to lay the spinal guns manually and destroy the remaining silos (resulting in one of the two active guns burning out).
Griffon orders the surrender of the rebels or a bombardment will take place, and after an argument Preston convinces the rebels to back down.

The denouement to the episode has the Resident making clear that he will work to improve the situation, and Preston files a report on the matter. Among the questions left unresolved by the episode are why Griffon was sent out with battle damage by Adm. Tankersley, and whether the captain and first officer feel they can still work together - as well as where the Damalia rebels got navy antishipping missiles. All of these tie into the next two-parter, "All The Way To The Top".




(Sorry, I seem to have provided something from about a hundred and ten years after the point we've currently got to...)

 

[diestormlie]

This sounds like British/Imperial Star Trek.

Neat.

 

[Saphroneth]

This sounds like British/Imperial Star Trek.

Neat.

That was the intent, yes - to give it a bit of a "gritty" feel to it, and to show something a lot more like real show-the-flag type operations.
I actually came up with far too much about this! It was part of a discussion about alternate culture, and I had the idea that the core crew - Preston, Clyde, Armstrong and Murphy, to be properly British Isles culturally diverse, and with (gasp) a woman - would transfer from ship to ship as the series went on. The Griffon would be a cruiser command, and then politics would see Preston knocked down to command of a sloop before being restored at the end of the season and given a liner. Basically the Victorian Navy as a TV show, down to ships having gunboats instead of shuttles. (And with S-Sp missiles as "local forts", and chase guns versus broadsides...)

(Mind you, the Yanks got a Doctor Who equivalent in the swap...)

 

[RPW@Cy]

That was the intent, yes - to give it a bit of a "gritty" feel to it, and to show something a lot more like real show-the-flag type operations.
I actually came up with far too much about this! It was part of a discussion about alternate culture, and I had the idea that the core crew - Preston, Clyde, Armstrong and Murphy, to be properly British Isles culturally diverse,

And no doubt there are protests about the lack of representation of the wider empire in the show, leading to the casting of a strapping, six and a half foot tall (we don't speak French here...) Sikh security chief in the second series who's stern Proud Warrior Race demeanour leads to him occasionally being the butt of jokes he doesn't understand but who swiftly becomes a valued member of the crew...

 

[Saphroneth]

Well, nobody said all these people were white, just that they had stereotypically home-countries names.

But yes, it's quite likely that there'd be a secondary cast of colonial types with the occasional cool moment. Cultural sensitivity and all that.


I also suspect there'd be the odd racial joke... but of the "positive" kind, because those are more acceptable. So whenever Security Rating Thapa goes through a scanner, they find his gigantic Kukri ("Cultural weapon officer I have chitti").


Alternate universe culture is a hard thing to write without it becoming a parody of existing culture. But it's not - it's an alternative development driven by the desire to watch something fun, much as our world's own culture is.