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Thank you @Alessandro, I've started adding some pictures to earlier chapters. I feel that they add more depth to the story
Italico Valore - A more successful 1848 revolution in Italy - a TL
44. THE ISTRIAN GAMBLE
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44. THE ISTRIAN GAMBLE
Admiral Acton and his naval staff developed a bold plan to divert the attention of the Austrians from Friuli. The plan consisted in luring the Austrian fleet into the open and then completely destroying it, all this followed by the landing of about 50,000 men in Istria.
On 10 July a task force led by the warship Re di Sardegna and composed of another warship and a dozen smaller ships sailed from Venice headed for the Gulf of Trieste. The Austrian lookouts quickly noticed the columns of smoke rising in the sky and understood that it must be the Italian Navy that was coming to shell Trieste. They immediately warned the Austrian fleet that sailed quickly and began to chase the task force which, as soon as it saw the smoke of the Austrians, reversed its course and began to flee towards Ancona, where most of the Italian fleet was located.
The Re di Sardegna before departing from Venice. Belonging to the Caio Duilio class, it was one of the most powerful ships in service to the Confederate Navy
The Italian task force fled to the island of Premuda, pursued by the imperial fleet. Arriving on the island, the Re di Sardegna and its escorts slipped behind the island, leading the Austrian admiral to believe that he had trapped the Italians between his fleet and the Croatian coast. It was then that the rest of the Italian fleet, exploiting fog banks, showed up behind the Austrian fleet around 4 pm and began shelling it from a distance. The Austrians were caught between two fires when the task force emerged from the other side of the island and began shelling the enemy fleet, which was also inferior both numerically and qualitatively to the Italian fleet.
The battle of Premuda ended with the sinking of all the Austrian captal ships and the escape of some smaller ships which they managed to repair in the ports of Rijeka and Pola. With the Austrian navy neutralized, the second phase of the plan could begin again and the fleet set sail for Istria on the 12th of July, shelling the city of Pula and landing two naval infantry divisions which took the city in a few hours. The mainly Italian population was enthusiastic about the arrival of the Confederate troops they had been waiting for since 1848. About 50,000 Italian soldiers reached Istria in the following weeks and started advancing inland encountering little resistance from Austrian garrisons, which retreated north to meet with their own reinfocements, diverted from Friuli and, by July 20th the frontline had stabilized along the middle of the peninsula
Admiral Acton and his naval staff developed a bold plan to divert the attention of the Austrians from Friuli. The plan consisted in luring the Austrian fleet into the open and then completely destroying it, all this followed by the landing of about 50,000 men in Istria.
On 10 July a task force led by the warship Re di Sardegna and composed of another warship and a dozen smaller ships sailed from Venice headed for the Gulf of Trieste. The Austrian lookouts quickly noticed the columns of smoke rising in the sky and understood that it must be the Italian Navy that was coming to shell Trieste. They immediately warned the Austrian fleet that sailed quickly and began to chase the task force which, as soon as it saw the smoke of the Austrians, reversed its course and began to flee towards Ancona, where most of the Italian fleet was located.
The Re di Sardegna before departing from Venice. Belonging to the Caio Duilio class, it was one of the most powerful ships in service to the Confederate Navy
The battle of Premuda ended with the sinking of all the Austrian captal ships and the escape of some smaller ships which they managed to repair in the ports of Rijeka and Pola. With the Austrian navy neutralized, the second phase of the plan could begin again and the fleet set sail for Istria on the 12th of July, shelling the city of Pula and landing two naval infantry divisions which took the city in a few hours. The mainly Italian population was enthusiastic about the arrival of the Confederate troops they had been waiting for since 1848. About 50,000 Italian soldiers reached Istria in the following weeks and started advancing inland encountering little resistance from Austrian garrisons, which retreated north to meet with their own reinfocements, diverted from Friuli and, by July 20th the frontline had stabilized along the middle of the peninsula
Amphibious assault is a go!!!MUHAHAHA!!! Quick question: the 2 division that were on the ship are the precursor of the Lagunari reggiment "Serenissima" of the OTL Italian army? The heir of the "Fanti del Mar" of the Serenissima?
Austrian Generals: Josip Filipović ( 1818, he is sixtytwo, old but way younger then Radetzky in 1848, lead occupation of Bosnia in OTL); Gavrilo Rodić ( 1812,sixtyeight, in OTL he retired in 1881), Stjepan Jovanović (1828, he is fiftytwo, in HL he become the military governor in Bosnia)
Prussian Generals: Alfred von Waldersee ( von Moltke successor in HL as Chief ofthe General Staff) and this one successor Alfred Graf von Schlieffen)
Prussian Generals: Alfred von Waldersee ( von Moltke successor in HL as Chief ofthe General Staff) and this one successor Alfred Graf von Schlieffen)
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Deleted member 147289
I suppose that the Navy has it's own naval infantry, afterall they need them during their operations in open seas and the colonies.
It's not a true amphibious landing, not in a modern sense: they just shell the city, land nearby and take it.
Oh hell yeah! Soon enough the Austrians will be forced to the peace table at this rate.
45. THE LAST BATTLES
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45. THE LAST BATTLES
The Prussians had noticed that Prague was being transformed into a great fortress by its inhabitants with trenches, fortified posts, barricades in the streets and obstacles aimed at making the city a death trap. Von Moltke, wanting to avoid wasting time and men in a useless siege of the city, gave orders to the II and III Corps to bypass the city and advance towards Austria, leaving some divisions to besiege the city, trapping 60.000 Austrian troops in Prague
Operations in Southern Germany, mainly in Bavaria, the only kingdom capable of mobilizing an army large enough to effectively oppose the Prussians, proceeded slowly, not being a main theater. Frankfurt was quickly occupied by the V ° Corps which began marching through the wooded hills of Baden towards Stuttgart, finding little resistance from the Wurttenberg army and occupying its capital on 1 July. The 1st Corps proceeded slowly in Franconia after the bloody nose they had received from the Bavarians in Bayeruth, on their way to Nuremberg, an essential stop to reach Munich. The Battle of Nuremberg involved 50,000 Prussians and 40,000 Austro-Bavarians who managed to inflict heavy casualties on the Prussians at the cost of half their forces. Despite the defeat, the 1st Corps continued its advance southwards, reaching Munich and besieging it on the 14th of July.
Prussian Soldiers hold the line against Bavarian attacks during the battle of Nuremberg
With Prague surrounded, the Austrian situation had worsened considerably: the losses of the previous weeks as well as the loss of the garrison of the Bohemian capital had been a severe blow to the effectiveness of the imperial army which was in serious difficulty in finding other men and materials to stop it's enemies without compromising a flank. It didn't help that the empire was fighting two industrialized and heavily armed nations, its rivals for years, who had a great interest in winning the war.
San Marzano entered Udine on July 16th after a pitched battle fought the day before in the plains in front of the city. The Italian infantrymen had had to make their way between two lines of defense under the fire of the enemy guns, suffering substantial losses but managing to chase away the enemies with bayonets. The clashes between Italians and Austrians were more ferocious than those that the imperials fought with the Prussians, due to the profound hatred between the two peoples: the former saw the latter as oppressors, the latter saw the former as upstart to be crushed . Udine welcomed the Confederate troops with great joy, rising up during the retreat of the Austrians from the city.
Carabinieri on horseback suffer an accident on the road to Udine
The arrival of the Italians on the Isonzo on July 24, the fall of Brno the previous day and the siege of Munich prompted the emperor Maximilian to dispose of his generals who insisted on the possibility of a military victory: the Hungarians had begun to agitate after the continuing series of defeats that the Austrian generals suffered from their enemies, increasing their resentment towards Vienna for having prolonged a war that in their opinion was impossible to win. To avoid a division of the empire, Maximilian sent armistice requests to negotiate peace to both the Prussians and the Italians, at the same time asking for French intervention as arbitrators of the peace and, more secretly, to avoid the dismemberment of the empire.
The first messages were rejected by the Prusso-Italians, convinced by now of the imminent capitulation of the Austrian empire, but the mobilization of the French army in Provence and Alsace together with a request from the French president, directed to Bismarck and Umberto II , to join him in the peace negotiations that would take place in Vienna, convinced the allies to halt their advance. However, both refused to hold the conference in Vienna and the Italians proposed Venice; the proposal was accepted by the four parties and the date of August 5th was set as the beginning of the peace negotiations
The Prussians had noticed that Prague was being transformed into a great fortress by its inhabitants with trenches, fortified posts, barricades in the streets and obstacles aimed at making the city a death trap. Von Moltke, wanting to avoid wasting time and men in a useless siege of the city, gave orders to the II and III Corps to bypass the city and advance towards Austria, leaving some divisions to besiege the city, trapping 60.000 Austrian troops in Prague
Operations in Southern Germany, mainly in Bavaria, the only kingdom capable of mobilizing an army large enough to effectively oppose the Prussians, proceeded slowly, not being a main theater. Frankfurt was quickly occupied by the V ° Corps which began marching through the wooded hills of Baden towards Stuttgart, finding little resistance from the Wurttenberg army and occupying its capital on 1 July. The 1st Corps proceeded slowly in Franconia after the bloody nose they had received from the Bavarians in Bayeruth, on their way to Nuremberg, an essential stop to reach Munich. The Battle of Nuremberg involved 50,000 Prussians and 40,000 Austro-Bavarians who managed to inflict heavy casualties on the Prussians at the cost of half their forces. Despite the defeat, the 1st Corps continued its advance southwards, reaching Munich and besieging it on the 14th of July.
Prussian Soldiers hold the line against Bavarian attacks during the battle of Nuremberg
With Prague surrounded, the Austrian situation had worsened considerably: the losses of the previous weeks as well as the loss of the garrison of the Bohemian capital had been a severe blow to the effectiveness of the imperial army which was in serious difficulty in finding other men and materials to stop it's enemies without compromising a flank. It didn't help that the empire was fighting two industrialized and heavily armed nations, its rivals for years, who had a great interest in winning the war.
San Marzano entered Udine on July 16th after a pitched battle fought the day before in the plains in front of the city. The Italian infantrymen had had to make their way between two lines of defense under the fire of the enemy guns, suffering substantial losses but managing to chase away the enemies with bayonets. The clashes between Italians and Austrians were more ferocious than those that the imperials fought with the Prussians, due to the profound hatred between the two peoples: the former saw the latter as oppressors, the latter saw the former as upstart to be crushed . Udine welcomed the Confederate troops with great joy, rising up during the retreat of the Austrians from the city.
Carabinieri on horseback suffer an accident on the road to Udine
The arrival of the Italians on the Isonzo on July 24, the fall of Brno the previous day and the siege of Munich prompted the emperor Maximilian to dispose of his generals who insisted on the possibility of a military victory: the Hungarians had begun to agitate after the continuing series of defeats that the Austrian generals suffered from their enemies, increasing their resentment towards Vienna for having prolonged a war that in their opinion was impossible to win. To avoid a division of the empire, Maximilian sent armistice requests to negotiate peace to both the Prussians and the Italians, at the same time asking for French intervention as arbitrators of the peace and, more secretly, to avoid the dismemberment of the empire.
The first messages were rejected by the Prusso-Italians, convinced by now of the imminent capitulation of the Austrian empire, but the mobilization of the French army in Provence and Alsace together with a request from the French president, directed to Bismarck and Umberto II , to join him in the peace negotiations that would take place in Vienna, convinced the allies to halt their advance. However, both refused to hold the conference in Vienna and the Italians proposed Venice; the proposal was accepted by the four parties and the date of August 5th was set as the beginning of the peace negotiations
Piece by piece the Austrian Empire is being took apart. I wonder how the common people of Europe see the battle between this 3 "empire" 🤔
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Common Italians have a jingoistic fervor for war against Austria and view the war very favourably. About the rest of Europe the French are the more distressed by this conflict as Austria is going down quite hard and would possibly leave the road open for a German state led by Prussia which is, in French eyes, something that should not happen. Austro-German people are behind their kaiser as are the Czech and Croats. The Hungarians are restless after taking casualties in a war mad, in their opinion, between Germans and against Germans.
The British don't care and the Russians...let's say that there is not much information on the war going around Russia
Well, I can only say this : "please give us more new chapter 4 this amazing story!!!!"
Britain will probably be ok with the peace deal as long as Prussia and Italy don't go overboard, to the point that Austria goes ka-boom. France will (hopefully) be able to manage that.
I wonder how Franco-Prussian relations will develop ITTL, with no Napoleon III in charge.
I wonder how Franco-Prussian relations will develop ITTL, with no Napoleon III in charge.
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Britain and Italy are informal allies but the British wouldn't be happy with the dismemberment of Austria as it leaves a power vacuum in the Balkans and Central Europe, one who is not likely to be filled by Italy but by Russia which has been slowly developing under Alexander II but that's a story for another day.
France is the strongest continental power due to her colonial empire, large industrialisation along the Rhone valley and Northern France and one of the largest and best equipped militaries in the world. The French are jealous of their hegemony and wouldn't want it to end, meaning a German unification is a big no in republican circles. Italy has been flirting with Prussia recently and that doesn't sit well with the French who don't want to lose their southern flank to a prospective competitor.
Also, French society is starting to become more polarized as the slowing of the economy due less exports in Spain and Italy has added fuel to the rising monarchist movement represented by the Royal Alliance and their more radical wing, the Actione Francaise
As to what Prussia will gain ITTL, that very much depends on which states sided with it, or Austria, or remained neutral. They might not be the same as IOTL.
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North Germany except for Saxony sided with Germany: Bismarck had years to bring them to his side.
South Germany, which means Bavaria, Baden and Wuttenberg, fought at Austria's side, wary of Prussian (protestant) influence
I see.
The Prussian king desired lands from Saxony and Austria IOTL, but was dissuaded from doing so by Bismarck. With the majority of north Germany on side, Prussia won't be annexing Kurhessen, Nassau or Hannover ITTL in that case.
Has Bismarck been taking notes from Italy on how to unify Germany? I could see the North German Confederation being a bit more confederal and German, and a bit less Prussia on steroids ITTL.
46. THE PEACE OF VENICE
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46. PEACE OF VENICE
The beauty of Venice charmed the delegations of the conferences, who were often found wandering through the city when not discussing peace
The delegations of the four countries involved in the war that was now called "Tripartite War" gathered in the city of Venice to discuss a satisfactory conclusion of the conflict.. Observers from Great Britain, Russia, Spain and Bavaria were invited to attend the negotiations, although the games would be directed by Prussians and Italians.
The Prussian delegation led by Bismarck and the Italian one led by count Corti, the Italian foreign minister, entered the conference strengthened by the numerous military victories over Austria, which however could still count on the support of France, not willing to see the empire dismembered as a carcass. Prussian demands were relatively mild: they demanded the payment of an indemnity for the war and the end of Austrian diplomatic influence in Northern Germany and the recognition of Prussian hegemony in the region, but they also asked for border revisions along the Sudetenland and Slesia. Austria had no choice than to agree to these demands as the French judged them fair.
Corti, in addition to a war indemnity, asked Austria to surrender the provinces of Trento, Friuli to the Isonzo and the Julian March to Italy. The first two requests seemed reasonable to the French since the Italians occupied that territory, but Austria strongly opposed the loss of the march, reasoning that Trieste was the main imperial port and its loss would have very strong repercussions on the imperial economy. and consequently would have led to an increase in ethnic and social unrest.
Not wanting the implosion of Austria, but also wanting to avoid alienating Italy with which they had always had cordial relations, the French proposed a partition of the region: Trieste would remain in Austria while the Italians would annex the southern part of Istria they already occupied. Corti asked Bismarck for diplomatic support to force the Franco-Austrian hand but the chancellor had already obtained what he wanted and dismissed the Italian requests declaring himself in favor of the division of the Julian march. Unable to break the stalemate, Corti was forced to consent to the partition of the brand, obtaining from France, in a secret stipulation, the creation of an area of exclusive Italian interest in the Adriatic and French diplomatic support for any Italian demand on Ottoman Libya
On August 14, 1882, the four delegations signed the peace of Venice, restoring peace to the European continent. Two weeks later, on the 28th, Von Bismarck and the prime ministers of the North German states including Saxony announced the creation of the North German Confederation using the confederal model that was first adopted by the Italian Confederation in 1849. The states of the Southern Germany refused Bismarck's offer to join the Confederacy, still hostile towards Prussia due to the recent war, preferring to strengthen ties between them and starting to make contact with France, seen as a possible defender of the aims. expansionists of Bismarck.
The beauty of Venice charmed the delegations of the conferences, who were often found wandering through the city when not discussing peace
The delegations of the four countries involved in the war that was now called "Tripartite War" gathered in the city of Venice to discuss a satisfactory conclusion of the conflict.. Observers from Great Britain, Russia, Spain and Bavaria were invited to attend the negotiations, although the games would be directed by Prussians and Italians.
The Prussian delegation led by Bismarck and the Italian one led by count Corti, the Italian foreign minister, entered the conference strengthened by the numerous military victories over Austria, which however could still count on the support of France, not willing to see the empire dismembered as a carcass. Prussian demands were relatively mild: they demanded the payment of an indemnity for the war and the end of Austrian diplomatic influence in Northern Germany and the recognition of Prussian hegemony in the region, but they also asked for border revisions along the Sudetenland and Slesia. Austria had no choice than to agree to these demands as the French judged them fair.
Corti, in addition to a war indemnity, asked Austria to surrender the provinces of Trento, Friuli to the Isonzo and the Julian March to Italy. The first two requests seemed reasonable to the French since the Italians occupied that territory, but Austria strongly opposed the loss of the march, reasoning that Trieste was the main imperial port and its loss would have very strong repercussions on the imperial economy. and consequently would have led to an increase in ethnic and social unrest.
Not wanting the implosion of Austria, but also wanting to avoid alienating Italy with which they had always had cordial relations, the French proposed a partition of the region: Trieste would remain in Austria while the Italians would annex the southern part of Istria they already occupied. Corti asked Bismarck for diplomatic support to force the Franco-Austrian hand but the chancellor had already obtained what he wanted and dismissed the Italian requests declaring himself in favor of the division of the Julian march. Unable to break the stalemate, Corti was forced to consent to the partition of the brand, obtaining from France, in a secret stipulation, the creation of an area of exclusive Italian interest in the Adriatic and French diplomatic support for any Italian demand on Ottoman Libya
On August 14, 1882, the four delegations signed the peace of Venice, restoring peace to the European continent. Two weeks later, on the 28th, Von Bismarck and the prime ministers of the North German states including Saxony announced the creation of the North German Confederation using the confederal model that was first adopted by the Italian Confederation in 1849. The states of the Southern Germany refused Bismarck's offer to join the Confederacy, still hostile towards Prussia due to the recent war, preferring to strengthen ties between them and starting to make contact with France, seen as a possible defender of the aims. expansionists of Bismarck.
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