This (far east part) would be rather difficult to do at that specific time but there was the Central Asia (“stans”) and Caucasus to conquer.
L’Aigle Triomphant: A Napoleonic Victory TL
- Thread starter KingSweden24
- Start date
Quite agree (of course, it is up to @KingSweden24 to make a final choice). However, #2 does not exclude the most interesting part of #1, namely execution of Ferdinand abandoned by the Brits (yes, this is a plagiarism but so what? even subjects of most of Shakespeare’s dramas are not his original ideas). This, BTW, resolves succession issue in Spain rather nicely: no Ferdinand, no problem (*).
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(*) Later, some obnoxious romantic playwright (Hugo, most likely, because Schiller is already dead) would make him a hero of a tear jerking tragedy and then the play is used as a libretto of what is going to be one of Verdi’s most popular operas, “Don Ferdinand”. In the case author decides to spare Ferdinand’s life, the story is immortalized in a popular operetta “The King of Mexico” (Ferdinand marries the local beauty and, after a final cancan implemented by Ferdinand, his wife and Wellington, they all are sailing to Britain, something along these lines).😂
The irony would be particularly rich for me to write since my Cinco de Mayo TL is about poor, doomed Maximilian - and Habsburg Mexico - surviving.
Might need to bookmark that idea for Fernandine fiction…
This is of course entirely up to you but before Max the Mexicans already had one emperor executed so there was some kind of a national tradition and I just offer to start it slightly earlier. 😂
Then, while Max was a sympathetic figure (a seemingly nice if not excessively bright person with a sense of duty, however stupid, overweighting the personal concerns) one can hardly be sympathetic to Ferdinand - he was simply too obnoxious and him being doomed does not produce anything but gloating. Then, just sort out your priorities: the main one is Britishscrew and Ferdinand is just an insignificant episode adding to the glorious whole of that goal. 😂😂😂😂
Of course, personally, I prefer comedy to a high drama and operetta to opera so sending Ferdinand to Britain (and letting the Brits “enjoy” his company for years) is also fine by me. And for you it opens a possibility of a new episode: after his father’s death Ferdinand (with the British help, how without it) lands in Spain (*), which results in a short civil war by the end of which he is caught and executed. Or he flees, again, and you can use it for some other opportunity in a future. 😜
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(*) Of course, after his Mexican escapade he is banned from the Spanish succession as a traitor and rebel.
Something like a Spanish Equivalent to the British OTL dominions right?
With the "Viceroy" having similar power than a Lieutenant-Governor, being the representative of the monarch. But the government and Parliament would be fully in control of the locals.
Kingdom of New Spain, Kingdom of New Granada, Kingdom of La Plata and Kingdom of Peru under a personal union with the Spanish King. The Carribean possessions remain under direct control of Spain. What is the status of Santo-Domingo by the way? Conquered by Haïti at this point?
Kind of I guess, but with a more direct royal rule in administration?
That’s what would make sense if that’s the route, right?
Haven’t given much thought to Haiti/Santo Domingo tbh
A Prince is Born
A Prince is Born
"...oh, what a joyous thing, to be a father!"
- Napoleon Bonaparte
The bizarre news of Ferdinand's declaration as the proper king of Spain by virtue of an overly technical reading of Spanish succession law reached a Paris in thrall to the news of the birth of the Prince Imperial, Napoleon Charles Paul-Alexandre Joseph Bonaparte. Both mother and son had had a healthy and relatively light birth and the city was overjoyed, with fireworks and a carnival-like atmosphere in the streets. The Empire had its prince; Napoleon had his heir.
The news reverberated around Europe; as if the battlefield victories and strategic marriage between Napoleon and the Russian Imperial house had not fully conferred a sense of permanence upon the Bonaparte dynasty, perhaps this would. Louis of Holland, Jerome of Westphalia and Joseph of Naples, his royal brothers, had children of their own, as did his sister Caroline and her husband Joachim Murat, the Prince of Berg; the Bonapartes, ensconced on their thrones and with children set to succeed them, did not seem likely to be going anywhere anytime soon. Russian nobility was mutedly optimistic about the birth, though Tsar Alexander was said to have scowled upon the news of his nephew's birth; in the last year, he had slowly began to sour on his arrangements with France and though he did not desire war had begun to hatch a project to diplomatically isolate France in order to wring concessions from his brother-in-law, with his sister as an agent of influence.
Congratulations rolled in from across Europe (with the notable exception of Britain) as Napoleon focused on celebrating his son, including a lavish baptism when he was two months old. The news came within a few months, too, that Catherine was pregnant again; it looked likely that L'Aigle would have two hatchlings, an heir and a spare, in short order. For now, military and political matters would have to wait, no matter what the alarmed letters from Madrid said...
Napoleon married a breeder, without getting too far of myself. This will create a different set of challenges than the lonely Roi de Rome of OTL
Deleted member 143920
Interesting update, although not much to be said other than that I'm suspecting a further deterioration of relations between France and Russia; which could lead to a possible invasion?
As for Spain, an incoming crisis can be sensed from an acute eye, as you've clearly written that Napoleon is willing to ignore "military and political matters". Especially since many have not forgotten about the re-installation of the weak and unpopular Charles 4th.
Great, as usually. So what Alexander wants now in the terms of concessions?
To minimize his meddling in the European affairs, wouldn’t it be great if he concentrated on the “Eastern” problems at hand? In OTL between 1804 and 1813 he was at war simultaneously with the Ottomans AND Persia and, while operations in Europe were more or less traditional back and forth dances in the Danube region, on Caucasus general Tsitsianov managed to conquer a big part of both Ottoman and Persian Georgia and a part of Azerbaijan. By 1806 operations on the Caucasus against the Ottomans more or less stalled due to the need to deal with Napoleon and, while generally successful, operations against the Persians had been handicapped by the lack of resources (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus...casus#From_sea_to_sea:_Tsitsianov_(1803-1806)) and restored as a full-scale attempt only after 1816 (“the age of Yermolov”). In your TL AI does mot have problems with Napoleon and while the Ottomans, especially in Europe, involve certain difficulties being easily accessed by the 3rd parties (French and Brits), in Persia there are no problems and he can get the easy laurels with a minimal risk. And, after the territories are officially ceded by the Persians and Ottomans, there is a very “interesting” task to convince the local tribes that those whom they did not consider their masters have them to the new masters. In OTL it took all the way to the 1860s and a genocide (*) to settle the issue. Now, AI can get himself deeply involved into all that excitement AND to start conquests in the CA (Bukhara, Kokand. etc.) ahead of OTL schedule. Ending up, say, by establishing the Russian-Chinese border by the Amur River (paddle steamboats already existed): this may involve a military conflict with China that is going to keep him quite busy for a while.😜
Let’s just say Al’s run of good, French-assisted luck has gotten to his head… but there’ll be plenty of this (and Alaska!) to cover in the coming decades 🙃
But deterioration based on what? In OTL there were numerous objective and subjective reasons on both sides which are pretty much absent in this TL. Due to these changing circumstances AI does not have a public pressure and his personal grumpiness may not be enough for breaking a peace that reasonably well suits “everybody” in Russia. Even the reason for grumpiness is not quite clear because, unlike OTL, he got Napoleon’s cooperation when it was needed and his Oldenburg relative benefitted from Napoleon’s disposal of Hanover. As I understand, there is no crazy militarization of the Duchy or escalated military presence in Prussia. The military honor is restored in a war with Sweden. The trade arrangements are quite agreeable for Russia
So what is there besides his grumpiness for the sake of grumpiness? Experience of his grandfather and father are not necessarily applicable but he is well-aware of the possibilities.
He is weak and unpopular but in an absence of Godoy he is acceptable and if things are going reasonably well economically with Spain benefitting from being one of the “neutral” countries of a new Napoleonic system and not being involved in any expensive military disasters, then attractiveness of Ferdinand is waning, especially taking into an account that he is acting as a puppet of the Brits who are at that time extremely unpopular in Spain. In OTL Ferdinand’s status as a martyr was compensating for his personality, now he is just an obnoxious rebel selling country’s interests to the national enemy. It is even an open question of he manages to establish his rule in Mexico and hold it or if he ends up as the first Mexican ruler to be shot. After all in OTL Mexico rebelled against Ferdinand (and in OTL he had an advantage of his “charming” personality not being around scaring the people) and in favor of the constitution.