Odyssey of Fritz, the Turncoat Prince

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 201

April, 1797

Algiers

Colonel Benedict Arnold Jr. missed his friend Brigadier James Stuart of the Papal States Army. The man was as effective an administrator as he was a soldier. However, when your father is unexpectedly called to the throne of France and you are the next in line, Arnold supposed James had no other choice. While Arnold had few real political leanings, the stories of the mass executions before the guillotine drove Arnold back into the camp which supported a monarchy in France.

Some people were simply not fit to rule themselves. It was a harsh thought for a dedicated Republican but what other conclusion could one draw?

In the meantime, the loose associated of American, Tuscan, Papal, Danish-Swedish-Norwegian-Finnish-Baltic, Greek, Russian, Spanish-Portuguese, etc, somehow continued to hold onto the Maghreb ports of Tripoli, Algiers and Tunis. As the natives lacked major siege machinery, the European powers were able to build up the walls to prevent an attack by Berber cavalry and supply by sea on the occasions when food was not being supplied by various factions in the countryside.

Algiers had been under siege for years. Fortunately, the Russians and Greeks had spared several regiments to assist in maintaining control of the ports while Tuscany and the Papal States had withdrawn from the continental war allowing more resources to be spent protecting the seaside cities. Arnold wondered if this is how bickering European "allies" during the crusades had maintained control over Acre, Jerusalem, etc? Did they negotiate these sorts of alliances on the local level as they realized hordes of angry Muslims riding outside the walls were somewhat of a bigger problem?

And how long did these garrisons hold out?

Arnold doubted anyone had the attention span to maintain this situation indefinitely. Algiers only held when, just as it appeared a local chief had consolidated control over the region's tribes, died suddenly kicking off a power struggle. The American recalled watching in disbelief as the thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of Berbers turned away from the walls.

Over the past several years, Arnold had sailed back and forth throughout the conquered towns, working with the Navy to wipe out the last of the piracy. For the most part, this had gone well. Not only did the action destroy huge numbers of pirate vessels but, perhaps more importantly, eliminated the primary locations where captives were sold, thus preventing the very need in the first place. It helped that the Russian conquest of the Ottoman similarly withdrew a primary customer of European slaves.

But the American contingent in the ports was gradually dwindling. Less than 500 Continentals and Marines were spread out across the three towns, a fraction of what the other allies provided (perhaps 10,000 in all). Large numbers of Copts, Greeks, Jews and other migratory peoples had taken up residence in the Maghreb towns, taking advantage of trade or simply being stranded en route to better places. The Arabs had largely been evicted from these towns and they had been, at least temporarily, replaced.

Yet, Arnold could not help but stare over the walls and realize that the Arab-Berbers had them outnumbered about 250 to 1 and, unlike the Christian nations, these people would never lose interest in this conflict. It seemed only a matter of time until these bastions fell or were abandoned and the foreign conquest but a minor footnote in Maghreb history.

To Arnold's regret, the American participation in the reduction of Lower Egypt had come to a close and all forces withdrawn to the Barbary ports (which, he supposed, was the reason why they had been dispatched by Manhattan). Still, Arnold missed the vibrancy of Egypt and had joined Admiral Ribas and Commodore Paul in exploring the history of the region. In the first winter after the seizure of Cairo, the newfound allies would excavate several ancient sites and produced a huge quantity of "mummies" and other historical oddities like a giant stone tablet with multiple languages chiseled into the rock. That was awarded to America as part of the spoils and two entire shiploads of Egyptian artifacts were shipped back to America where, he was to learn, the Secretary of War James Madison was eagerly researching them. Perhaps more than anything else, this allowed the Americans to remain an extra year in Egypt, where they had otherwise no reason to be.

San Antonio de Bexar

Captain Napoleon de Buonaparte of the American Continental Army would embark upon a "friendly visit" to San Antonio de Bexar and express his good wishes to his counterpart. The Spaniard in command of this dismal outpost was a drunk and couldn't even be roused from his slumber in time to greet his visitor. Despite the intrusion, the code of military conduct required that fellow officers be treated as distinguished guests. De Buonaparte played his part well and brought a large supply of whisky and rum for the garrison, which was certainly well received. Bexar was considered a punishment detail and these were not the most diligent soldiers from the start.

De Buonaparte exchanged pleasantries with the Lieutenant that actually did all the work and inquired if there had been any major Indian uprisings in the region lately. Probably due to the American colonies, there had been a surge in epidemics which appeared to be wiping out much of the Indian population of "Tejas" as it was called (or New Philippines).

The Lieutenant was obliged to complain about the presence upon claimed Spanish territory which de Buonaparte replied that only the diplomats could reply to such a complaint. The Spanish colonial (he had been born in the colonies) offered to put the Americans up for the night which was happily accepted. The Corsican inquired if he may speak to the local priest to see to his Catholic needs.

Naturally, the Spaniard could not refuse.

This allowed the de Buonaparte brothers to spend hours in deep conversation regarding the state of New Spain. As he expected despite his many years away from his region of upbringing, New Spain was a powder keg as was Cuba. And the American officer knew just the three Corsican brothers to light the damn fuse.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 202

June, 1797

Manhattan

The latest population estimate results were in, Laurens noted. America's population exceeded 5,000,000, an unbelievable increase from 3,000,000 in only 20 years from the end of the Revolutionary War. At least half a million people had immigrated to America since Independence, including English, Scots, Irish, Germans, French and even the Copts of all things. Rumor had it over 20,000 had migrated to South Georgia, Augusta, Karankawa and Atacapa. Small numbers even settled in Brooklyn, Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Laurens shook his head. What was next? Chinamen?

The world was an odd place.

In the meantime, relations with Spain continued to deteriorate. Madrid's diplomats had issued a thinly veiled threat against the settlements in Atacapa and Karankawa. The President wondered why the Spanish cared. They'd had three centuries to populate the region north of the Rio Grande and all Spain had to show for it was a few hundred people in San Antonio de Bexar. Within five years, American had moved 40,000 into these territories.

Khalas, Atacapa.

The settlement south of the Buffalo Bayou had been named Khalas by the Copts which dominated the initial colonization. Brigadier Frederick Hohenzollern hadn't cared much. He'd moved his headquarters to Buffalo, the northern settlement. The soldier had always just assumed that the two sides of the River would maintain the same government. Instead, the Copt dominated south, apparently taking to the idea of democracy quite well, had decided to incorporate their own town and the Khalas neighborhood became the town of Khalas. For the most part, the northerners didn't care as they considered the Copts a baffling group of people jabbering on in Arabic. While the northerners were an odd mix of English, Gaelic, French, German and other languages, at least they were known to one another. The Copts seemed more "other" than those with whom individual ethnic groups had long feuded.

The south of the Bayou would become known as being Coptic, Negro, French, Irish and Spanish in character while the north remained more "American", British and German.

Khalas soon become known as the center of the first great bazaar in the western hemisphere. Built of brick, stone and adobe, there could not have been greater discrepancy with Buffalo which tended to be built with wood in the "Charlottean" Style, the form of architecture made famous by Hohenzollern's mother.

Eventually, much of the commerce of the dual cities would flow to the south, where merchants and traders set up while the northern would be what later ages would refer to as a "Bedroom Community".

Hudson Valley, New York

Ex-President George Washington kept his country abode in New York State, where he continued to own large amounts of land. Much of his first wife's holdings were along the Hudson, though most went to their two sons, Lawrence and George. Washington and Princess Charlotte often spent months in the summer in the country, enjoying the escape from Manhattan.

Charlotte's finances vastly exceeded his own and his wife had purchased thousands of acres of land decades ago on Manhattan, a wise investment given the huge sums she was selling the plots for to various gentry. His wife, a canny business woman, needed no advice from her husband. With all but a few of the European pensions for her famous first husband rescinded or reduced, Charlotte had to make best use of her money.

The couple would visit their youngest son (the only one they had together) at West Point. Augustine seemed embarrassed at the appearance of his parents but the new commandant dare not send away the President and the Princess despite prohibitions against receiving family except at specified dates.

The visit was short and Washington was happy to be away from the city.

Cadillac, Mackinac, on the banks of the Detroit River

The city of Cadillac had undergone many name changes. Some preferred Pontchartrain, others simply preferred "Detroit", which was French for "straight". It was pointed out that this was a better name for a river than a city thus the "Strait" became best known as the Detroit "River".

Thus, Cadillac it remained after the French founder. For the past few decades, Cadillac had been a modest trading town but the waves of immigration moving inland would grow it quite quickly. The Irish and Scots settled in numbers but did not match the French. The sea route from the Great Lakes were blocked in two areas, one at Niagara Falls and the other just west of Montreal on the St. Lawrence. There were already plans in place to build canals to directly connect the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence but those would be years to decades from fruition.

Travel to the hinterlands would continue to be difficult. The French Royalist (meaning Bourbonist) colony of New France straddled the north end of the river. With so much of the best land already taken by the seigneurs, the more recent French arrivals would often trek west to American territory where land was free and clear. Cadillac became a favorite destination. By 1800, over half the population was French and this did not change in the coming decades as French immigration matched all the other ethnic immigration combined. Indeed, most French immigrants to New France would eventually move to America, usually the northern Provinces adjacent to New France where ties of blood were easily maintained. French architecture in the Bourbonist Style would predominate the "most French city in the nation" exceeding even New Orleans in French cultural influence.

There was also a "Cadillac" in New France thus the American city would often be referred to as "Cadillac sur Detroit", straddling Lakes Huron and Erie.

 

[Alias]

Is the UPA doing a census like every five years?

 

[Alt History Buff]

Is the UPA doing a census like every five years?

Good catch. I did a census three years earlier. I will change to “estimate”

 

[Unknown]

The development of TTL's America is interesting...

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 203

September, 1797

Lyon

At the third battle of Lyon, the Royalist forces were struck hard by General Hoche. Perhaps in the single bloodiest battle of the civil war, over 20,000 Frenchmen of both persuasions died and twice that man wounded. Allied to British, Flemish and Dutch soldiers while the Stuarts had the Spanish and even a few Papal regiments at their side, an almost unprecedented 25% of the 240,000 men in the field were killed or wounded.

The city of Lyon would once again face a siege by the Republican forces as the Royalists moved south to lick their wounds.

By this point, it was apparent to all the Royalist or Provincial forces that defeat to the Republicans would eventually result in their own fall thus the southern cities of the Occitan would cooperate in a manner unaccustomed from the commencement of the counter-revolution.

Biscayne Bay, southern South Georgia

Only two years after the settlement of the Tampa region by Coptic and Greek settlers, the same peoples would colonize a new region in the strategic Bay of Biscayne. Though obviously a desirable anchorage at the entrance to the West Indies, the area had never been settled mainly due to the pestilential climate. The Egyptian refugees, however, were well accustomed to both the heat and humidity from their former home along the Nile. Similarly, the diseases of the Caribbean were mainly known in Africa and did not overly fear the Copts.

This new colony would also feature new flavors like Coptic Catholics (most of the previous immigrants were Coptic Orthodox, the majority in Egypt), Greek Catholics and Orthodox, Maronites (Phoenicians according to the Russians), Russians and Jews (the latter three mainly from the Levant). The Greek influence was largely due to the Greeks providing most of the transport for the Copts to the new world (as neutrals). The Lebanese were mainly merchants and traders seeking opportunities while the Jews were being quietly encouraged by the Greeks to continue to the Americas. The Russians, Ruthenians, Poles and Austrians were all turning against the Jews and effectively deporting them to Greece. Not desiring to be used as a dumping ground, the Greek government subsidized their transportation on to the Levant, the northern African ports and, of course, America.

Soon, a small number of Americans (particularly Negroes) would seek the join the community due to its advantageous locations in an area in which no major settlement had ever been attempted. Eventually, like much of the American Caribbean coast, Biscayne Bay would have an exotic, multi-ethnic flair comprised of people whom had been effectively evicted from everywhere else and the unwanted.

For the most part, these religious communities, accustomed to living as minorities, would get along well enough, each minding their own business. The Negroes were often escaped slaves, particularly from South Carolina, in search of freedom. Most of these would trend towards the Methodist Church which had historically opposed slavery. However others would join the ranks of the Catholics and Copts, where they were socially accepted more than most religious communities. There were many Negroes in Egypt, often former slaves, and were integrated into the community. Similar conversions would occur in New Orleans, Tampa, Buffalo-Khalas and Corpus Christi.

Biscayne would soon received the reputation that Ellis Island near Manhattan as the gateway to America for immigrants.

Upper Nile

The violence in Egypt only seemed to escalate as local Mamluk generals competed with local warlords in an attempt to gain control. Most of this violence was political and dynastic rather than theological. However, chaos always bred intolerance and the exodus of Shia and Copts (along with any other minorities) would continue. By 1797, over 30,000 minorities per year were fleeing to the Lower Nile (controlled by Russia). With over 250,000 Copts and 100,000 Shia present prior to the troubles, this meant by the early 19th century, the Upper Nile would be relegated to being overwhelmingly Sunni with only the Sufi orders attempting to defy the local warlords.

While about half of these refugees would remain in the Lower Nile (particularly Cairo and Alexandria), the other half would move on to Persia/Mesopotamia (the Shia), while the Copts would move on to Ethiopia, the Levant, the European-controlled North African ports and America.

This was the reason why 10,000 Egyptians were arriving in the southern American coast per year, a number that would increase before it dwindled for violence in the east would continue for several generations.

 

[Unknown]

A Coptic Christian influence in the South?!? This is one of the most unique TLs I've seen on this board; keep it up...

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 204

November, 1797

Madrid

The lower Spanish functionary attached to the Ministry of War would follow the intent of his superiors' instructions and command the army and navy continents of the Spanish Empire in the West Indies to seize any American vessel which intruded upon the Spanish Empire. Complaints and threats had been levied over the years by the Ministers to no avail. The Americans continued to ignore Spanish sovereignty. This must stop.

The Hejaz, Arabian Peninsula

The Hejaz region of western Arabia had been controlled by various Arab Dynasties until the conquest by the Ottoman Empire. Various families in favor by the Ottomans, including the Zayd Clan, would reign in the Porte's name. With the fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Russians and the exile of the Porte to India, the House of Zayd declared themselves hereditary Sharifs and Monarchs beholden to no one.

The Porte attempted to reclaim authority from his exile in Goa but the Zayds merely ignored him. Claiming to be directly descended from Muhammad, the Zayds only tolerated the uncouth Turks because they had to. Now, they controlled the wealth of the region by controlling the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca in which all Muslims are expected to make if capable.

For centuries, an uncomfortable truce occurred in Mecca and Medina where Sunni and Shia would be allowed to make pilgrimage together with a minimum of friction. While it was obvious in the manner in which they prayed as to a man or woman's faith, the Holy Cities were normally orderly and peaceful.

However, the flood of refugees from the Levant into the Hejaz, while a welcome source of manpower to consolidate the House of Zayd's rule, would have consequences. The Sunni Arabs, livid at the loss of their homelands to the Russians and their Shia apostate allies (including, in the minds of the Arabs, those of the Druze, Alawite, Yarsan, Alevi and other Shia-"related" faiths), would press the new Sharif to retaliate. While the Hejaz was the most populous part of the Arabian Peninsula, it was not capable of an offensive campaign. Modern weapons had made the ancient Arab cavalry obsolete and the Hejaz was too small a state to face Persia, Russia and their allies. Thus, the Sharif remained largely silent in hopes of avoiding their attention.

However, he was forced to make one concession: for the first time in generations (though hardly the only time in Islamic history), Shia's would be denied access to the Hajj, outraging the entire sect, particularly the Persians whom would take their aggression out on the remaining Turkic tribesmen of northern Persia.

The Russians, of course, didn't give a damn nor did the Christians or most of the other minority religions of the Levant. Politicizing the holy cities of God, however, would be deeply felt for generations among the Islamic world.

The Forbidden City

The Emperor's ministers would meet every morning to discuss the Middle Kingdom's business. Beyond the mundane issues of law and order, there was also the disturbing trend of opium imports. For the most part, this was considered a harmless upper class distraction but new blends of high and low quality opium was proving more addictive (and destructive) even as its affordability brought it to ever higher numbers of Chinese.

One minister pointed out that the illicit trade may be stamped out by more clever means, namely starting to grow opium in China itself...and controlling the substance as a monopoly. The profits could be enormous for the Emperor.

It was an unconventional idea but one that the Ministers were not quite willing to propose as of yet. Instead, they demanded greater efforts to crack down on imports. No one wanted to end trade with the heathen west which demanded far more product from China than China had need of them. Therefore, over the past centuries, there had been a substantial influx of silver from Spain's American colonies in exchange for silk, porcelain, tea and other goods. While sometimes the influx was TOO great and harmed the position of the currency, it was, on balance, a good thing. At the moment, the trading company based on the Indian subcontinent was the only major link between China and the west.

Surely, the problem would pass. Surely.


Zanzibar

The Sultan of Zanzibar, whose Omani ancestors had wrestled the city from the Portuguese almost a century ago in 1698, gazed on nervously at the Ethiopian delegation, who returned his glances with cold contempt. Over the past years, the Coptic Christians of the Ethiopian highlands had spread down through east Africa with the fanaticism of the ancient crusades and now stood across the narrow sea from Zanzibar, the most wealthy jewel in the Sultan's crown. An ascendant power, they were also uncomfortably close to Oman.

Through a translator, the Ethiopians issued forth their demands:

1. A ban on the slave trade, from which the Arab traders of Zanzibar had plundered Africa for a century for export to the west (largely the market was now closed) and to the east (the Mughals allowed this but the ascending power of India, the Marathas, did not). This played well with the Ethiopian relations with the Swahili peoples whom had been the chief victims of this trade.

2. The immediate return of all Swahili from Zanzibar. As slaves, mainly Swahili, represented 2/3rds the population of Zanzibar where they worked the profitable clove fields of the island.

3. That the Arabs whom dominated Zanzibar cease preaching the Muhammodean faith on the mainland. Only the Ethiopians themselves cared about that.

4. That the Arabs formally end all aspects of piracy and privateering from Zanzibar.

For this, the Ethiopians would grant the Arabs title to the land they'd controlled for a hundred years and the right to express their faith...on Zanzibar.

Plainly, all of these conditions were rejected at once and the Ethiopians ejected from Zanzibar under threat of death if they dared return. Expecting this, the Ethiopian soldiers and diplomats said nothing. The Arabs were no doubt confident that, while the Ethiopian army may control the mainland, the island was safe as Ethiopia did not possess a navy of consequence. It was a shame that the slave trade, ivory trade and other mainland goods were cut off but no necessarily a disaster. The Arabs were not concerned overly.

The Ethiopians returned to the mainland and proceeded to meet with their Prince and commander whom then sent for the foreigners. Three representatives of the United East India Company entered and bowed. Two were French and one Dutch.

Through the translator, the Prince demanded, "Can you provide the ships in the necessary quantities?"

"Of course, your Highness," the leader assured. "Both the warships and the transports will be present in the harbor of your choice the moment you desire, provided the monsoon does not cause problems."

"Excellent. If you fulfill your promises, I am prepared to offer your Company a monopoly on the Clove trade and unfettered access to the northern ports of the Ethiopian Empire."

The Prince did not mention that he planned to free the slaves on Zanzibar that harvested the cloves but that was the foreigners' problem, not his.

 

[Cuāuhtemōc]

Precursor to a larger Asian presence in Africa than IOTL? Indentured servants to replace all the slaves soon to be emancipated by the Ethiopian-UEIC alliance?

 

[Alias]

Maybe UEIC fights an early opium war with China with one of the Indian nation's providing some troops.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 205

January, 1798

The Carnatic, nominal dependency of the Nizam of Hyderabad, southeast coast of Indian Subcontinent

As the Maratha Empire started to devolve into a Confederacy, the Peshwa and the great houses which had become ever more independent. The rebellion in the Carnatic against their Hyderabadi ruler was seen as an opportunity. The vast majority of both Hyderabad and the Carnatic were Hindu but were ruled by a Muslim prince whom had been defeated many times over the past half century by the Marathas and reduced to vassal status. For the most part, the Nizam knew not to irritate the Marathas and attempted to remain silent on any internal political disagreements of the Hindus hoping that, someday, they would tear themselves apart and free him from this humiliating vassalage.

However, several monsoons resulted in poor harvests, which spurred political and religious difficulties in the Carnatic and drove the people to rebellion. The Peshwa would call upon all the great houses of the Marathas as well as their allies/vassals in Mysore (whose Hindu ruler had once been a puppet to Hyder Ali and his son until liberated) and the United East India Company. In but a single campaign season, the Nizam was displaced and a huge section of the subcontinent would fall into Maratha hands. Fearful of a civil war, the Peshwa pronounced that several of the minor Hindu princes of the region (which spoke a Dravidian language rather than Indo-European like the rest of India) would be promoted to the new titles of Rajas of Hyderabad, the Carnatic, and a few smaller regions. This prevented the Maratha nobles from feeling as if the Peshwa was using their service for his own disadvantage. This was seen as a triumph for Hindu nationalism along the subcontinent (despite the Nizam being a relatively fair minded ruler) as it was deemed unseemly for a 90% Hindu region to be ruled by a Muslim.

The new Rajas would be "offered" brides from various great Maratha families (wisely accepted in every instance by grateful and terrified Rajas) to cement ties between the south and north and a reasonable repayment of debts for the war agreed upon.

This was considered a great day for the Maratha Empire but the cracks throughout the vastly populated domain continued to spread unabated as local nobles distances themselves from the Peshwa.

More problematic was the fact that the Nawabs of Awadh (Oudh) and Bengal were offended by the blatant aggression as Awadh was, like Hyderabad, over 80% Hindu. Bengal was more demographically split but nonetheless the Nawab was properly concerned.

The UEIC support for this aggression was noted and the Nawab of Bengal began to seriously reconsider the monopoly granted to the Company in Opium. Bengal was an enormously wealthy region of 30,000,000 with a per capital income higher than Britain (the highest in Europe prior to the current civil war). Indeed, Bengal's wealth in the 18th century derived from silk, cotton, pearls, jute, rice, grain, etc, comprised over 12% of the entire world's Gross Domestic Product as later generations' economists estimated.

With such a diverse economy, Bengal did not require the opium trade. However, the Company was the primary outlet for trade to the west and losing ALL of the huge profits to the western trade WOULD hinder Bengal's economy. Mir Muhammad, the brother of the late (hated) Nawab had assumed power over 30 years prior after his brother's assassination. The aging Nawab understood that it was a bad idea to make his people angry as his obnoxious elder sibling learned too late.

Land of the Mizos, east of Bengal

The Mizo people were a mountainous tribal people isolated from the world. Muslim Bengal was to the west while Buddhist Burma was to the East. Feuding with local tribes were common. When a group of Indians and Chinese arrived preaching the word of a Prophet called Mani, the local peoples were...baffled. No one had ever bothered to speak directly TO them before. Animists for millennia, the Mizo, the Nagas, the Chin and many of their neighbors would heed the words of the teachers...once they understood what the hell the strangers were saying.

 

[souvikkundu25140017]

I am surprised Bengal not tried to expand towards Assam, mizo, and Manipur.

 

[Alt History Buff]

I am surprised Bengal not tried to expand towards Assam, mizo, and Manipur.

I think they might at some point butBengal never moved quickly in otl maybe due to the isolation and poverty of the region.

 

[souvikkundu25140017]

I think they might at some point butBengal never moved quickly in otl maybe due to the isolation and poverty of the region.

what about the over all per capita income for Indians? such influx of money certain speed up social mobility and cultural changes? I think at least unteachable will like to go outside India where caste system is weaker or nonexistent. Company always looking for colonist for their colonies after all.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 206

March, 1798

Paris

It was only a matter of time, one suspected before the Revolution would eat some many of its own young that it collapsed under its own weight. It was not the combined armies of Austria, Spain, Tuscany, the Papal States or the Royalists (either Bourbonist or Stuartist) but infighting that preventing the victorious forces of the Republican government in Paris from finishing off the Royalist cause in the south.

Jacques Herbert, the radical pamphleteer, having run out of counter-revolutionaries to assault, would choose to attack the last man standing: Marat.

By now a defacto invalid, Marat would be unable to defend himself in the press and the Radical Parisian National Guard would support Herbert. Realizing the scale of the threat, Marat would quietly summon back to Paris over 25,000 French Republican soldiers. Supported by his Ministers, the action would effectively wipe out the National Guard of Paris. Without even the benefit of a show trial, Herbert and his primary henchmen would be sent to the guillotine.

Within two weeks, the situation was resolved with the Army now in command of the capital and the government in command of the army. For the first time in years, the Directory felt safe and would give Marat their unswerving support.

The Republic was saved from infighting but at the cost of the summer campaign. The siege of Lyon was raised and the republican forces, including a number of very angry British, Flemish and Dutch soldiers, would be compelled to retreat to Orleans.

London

Irritated at his French “ally’s” near complete incapacity to moderate or control their Revolution, Secretary of the Treasury Thomas Paine would give serious thought to abandoning his ally on land. The cost of the war was escalating greatly and Paine’s public stance of supporting France had yielded no benefits whatsoever and only reduced support for his ministry.

Paine had enough to deal with including the confiscation of mass amounts of land for the tenant farmers of the country from the old aristocracy. Charles Fox had put off any significant reallocations during his regime and would himself loose thousands of acres of land to the confiscations. Once an ally of Paine, Fox was looking increasingly out of touch with the Revolution.

Unlike France, however, Britain did not resort to mass slaughter of those whom peacefully, if unenthusiastically, accepted these basic changes. As long as the old aristocracy and titled gentry (whom tended to continue to use their titles despite them having no particular meaning with the abolition of the Crown and House of Lords) did not conspire or revolt, they were allowed to live in peace…or leave in peace. Mass slaughter akin to the Paris mob was an act of weakness, not strength.

Still, Paine’s popularity in Parliament was only so strong. If great victories on the battlefield could not augment his status, then more radical reform in Britain were needed, starting with land reform.

Ironically, the new landowners (former tenants) would immediately start demanding that Britain reinstate the Corn Laws which prevented imports of grain to the country so they may make a profit on their new land. Some things never change.

There was some good news. While war on the continent went badly or made no gains, the British Republican Navy’s victory in Brest had been well received and the naval forces had been built up to its strongest level in years, though barely a third of its pre-Revolution strength. As France and the Dutch Republic were now allies and Spain and Portugal weren’t exactly terrifying anyone, the nation seemed more than secure.

Unfortunately, the failure of the potato crop in Britain soon echoed the Rot in Ireland. While Britain was not quite as dependent as the masses of Ireland, it was still an important food source. Much of the land once dedicated to sheep grazing or sugar beets had switched over to potatoes and they were marketed by the government as a “Patriotic” food source due to the ability to produce adequate food locally.

Soon, this rot would extend to Flanders and Prussia.

Paine had hoped that the Irish would rebel en masse when their own provisions spoiled in the fields but apparently Clive’s quick reaction to the crisis, decades of oppression which turned the state security into a well-oiled machine and the fact that many Irish Catholics (no matter their hatred for England) could not abide allying with the godless heathens Paine and Marat.


East Africa, the newly established coastal town of Christchurch

The Ethiopian Crusade, as it was not being referred among that nation’s people, would lead to a fine harbor being built over the course of 1797 in order to support the ships of the United East India Company. There were over a dozen warships, crewed by a mixture of Indian ethnicities. While Hindus were often inaccurately described as unable to cross the seas, this was not strictly a religious restriction. The Marathas, for example, possessed a modest navy to hunt down pirates and illicit traders and, occasionally, deal with invading foreigners (often Europeans).

Several Maratha and Maratha tribute princes would volunteer dozens of ships to the UEIC fleet, which already possessed a dozen warships of the European design but improved with a new hull perfected by the Bengalis, the economic juggernauts of the subcontinent. Indeed, these new hulls were both better functioning and more reliable than European hulls…and Arab hulls as the case would prove.

Throughout the year, the Ethiopians would convert large numbers of local Swahili peoples to their faith, though the fact that they were in the process of banning the exploitative trade in Swahili and other African flesh that often attracted converts. Unlike the old European slave trade, the Arabs did much the work in seizing people in the interior and were hated widely. The idea of being armed to fight them and liberate their Swahili brethren on Zanzibar provided a surplus of volunteers.

By the end of 1797, over 10,000 Ethiopian and 5000 Swahili (and other tribal) volunteers would stand ready along the coast of East Africa as the UEIC ships sailed into view, bearing modern muskets, artillery and vast amounts of powder. Several hundred UEIC officers were present to “advise” in the use of the artillery.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 207

May, 1798

The Punjab

The Sikhs, tired of the constant Afghan incursions, had overthrown the Durrani Empire’s rule and formed their own Kingdom in the Punjab. In this small region, the Sikhs would find themselves the majority. As the Muslim Durrani Empire collapsed into civil war prompted by Dynastic claims, the Sikhs would soon prove a reliable barrier between the Marathas and the Sunni tribesmen of the northwest. The Peshwa would recognize the new Empire without demanding tribute if the Sikhs cover the Maratha flank.

It was an agreement which suited everyone.

Awadh

Perhaps it was inevitable but the Hindu Majority in Awadh would rebel against their Muslim Nawab. Though not an evil man, he was not particularly skilled or bright and proved incapable of dealing with the rapidly shifting political situation.

Within months, the Marathas would turn their gaze north where the Hindu Majority was “oppressed”.

Seeking to maintain the increasingly fragile coalition, the Peshwa would dispatch several of his best generals to the north with the hint that many great families could expect new Kingdoms to be created for their younger sons. It was not a policy which could be replicated easily or in perpetuity but it maintained cohesion of the rapidly bloating Maratha Empire which was straining over its own weight.

Now comprising an ever escalating quantity of ethnicities, languages, etc, the local Maratha Chiefs were granted…or merely assumed…ever more regal powers, driving them further and further from the Peshwa. No longer able to compel the other Marathas, the Peshwa would resort to bribery or appeals to religious fervor to motivate his nominal vassals.

Oddly, the steady vanquishing of the Maratha enemies was indirectly resulting the speedy fragmentation of the Empire into a decentralized Confederacy.

Santo Domingo

The United American Provinces flagged merchant ship “Dover” had sailed the West Indies for years, providing materials that could not be produced locally like wooden products, rice, wheat, etc to the various outposts of the Spanish Empire. While officially forbidden, many American ships would ignore this prohibition and were almost universally welcomed by the Spanish colonials dependent upon this trade. If an official were to arrive, as often as not a bribe would suffice in making him look the other way.


However, the Spanish authorities had cracked down and refused to let the Americans even dock in Havana so Captain of the Dover decided to try Santo Domingo. He found an out-of-the-way port which seldom to never had any “official” presence and the captain had never had any problem offloading cargo in this spot. However, on this occasion, a Spanish sloop emerged and, from a distance, the Captain deemed the ship’s mood as “angry”. Rather than heaving-to, the Captain ordered his ship out to sea. He was confident that his newly constructed vessel with the new “Bengali” designed hull would easily outpace the rattletraps the Spanish dumped into the West Indies squadron.

However, this particular ship was among the newest and most modern in the Spanish fleet and her hull had just been coppered, eliminating any barnacles to slow here down. As the Dover fled towards a squall in hopes of finding safety, the Spanish ships steadily closed.

Before the Dover could reach the curtain of rainfall, the Spanish ship would open fire from 200 years starboard, landing a lucky shot which toppled the Dover’s mainmast, crippling her. The ship was seized and her crew thrown in irons. The ships logs proved what the Spanish suspected…that the Americans were illicitly trading upon their shores. While the Spanish Captain knew his government’s position was counterproductive as the colonies benefited from this trade as much or more than the Americans, his instructions were clear.

He took the crew captive and burned the UAP “Dover” to the waterline, all within sight of half a dozen other ships, including two American vessels.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 208

June, 1798

Biscayne Bay

The new American coastal town of Biscayne Bay would grow quickly as only the threat of disease had really halted its development over the past two decades of American control. The Coptic, Jewish and Greek Orthodox colony of 600 more than doubled to 1200 with a second wave of transports from the Mediterranean. On top of this, over 500 Americans of various stripes would arrive to make the new town thrive.

By 1797, these numbers increased again to over 3000 people in the general area. While lack of trade with Spain harmed the town’s growth, it nevertheless served as a waystation for American shipping to their own Caribbean coastal towns like New Orleans, Tampa, Mobile, Biloxi, Pensacola, Buffalo-Khalas and Corpus Christi. Illicit trade with the Spanish colonies also helped and was quietly winked at.

However, in September, a Spanish frigate (ironically named the “Biscay” after the Bay of Biscay off of Spain’s northwestern coast, the origin name for the American city of Biscayne Bay) looking like it had seen better days arrived in Biscayne Bay demanding to inspect the American warehouses for Spanish goods. The Spanish claimed to have seized several American vessels which had been trading without permission with the Spanish colonies. Unsurprisingly, the Americans rejected any such demand and told the Spanish ship to depart. When a second ship arrived, they gave the same response. This was the territory of South Georgia, an American province and Spanish Captains did not have any authority here. In the end, the Americans were correct in believing that the Spanish had no intention of attacking or setting foot upon American soil. Ordered to seek out information rather than start a war, the Spanish Captain hoped bluffing would get him what he wanted.

The Spanish Captain ordered his ship to set sail with the morning tide and went to bed. Throughout the night several Americans from the colony rowed over to demand that his Officer of the Watch agree to depart the American harbor without delay. The Lieutenant simply informed them that the Captain slept and their “request” would be answered in the morning. Taking this as a threat, the American would start hauling a few decrepit cannon to the top of what passes as a hill in the marshy lowlands, their barrels pointing out at the Spanish by morning.

Had the Spanish Captain seen this, he would have laughed. Even his old and obsolete frigate could wipe out this entire settlement without effort. As it was, the Captain would never get the chance to attack or withdraw for the Biscay would blow up an hour before dawn. The second Spanish ship, having been informed of the American “threats”, would bombard the town as they searched in vain for survivors of the Biscay.

Though the political ramifications, due to the lengthy lag in communication endemic to the age of sail would not be fully realized for many months, the term “Remember the Biscay!” and “Remember Biscayne Bay!” would echo on both sides of the Atlantic by Christmas.


Corpus Christi, Karankawa Territory


Captain Napoleon De Buonaparte would hear of the incident with the Dover less than 10 days after it occurred and the Biscayne Bay “Massacre” within thirty from the trading ships which supplied his little outpost.

Realizing that his moment had come, he dispatched immediate coded notes to his brother Lucien in San Antonio de Bexar and Louis whom, surprisingly, hadn’t yet departed Havana where he plied the legal trade…and met privately with like-minded individuals desiring autonomy or independence for Cuba from Spain.

Very quickly, Lucien would reply via some half-breed Indian intermediaries whom traded horses with both San Antonio and Corpus Christi. Lucien spoke of a patrol which would be skirting the claimed American border. The Captain immediately prepared a “patrol” of his own, nominally a search for Comanche horse and cattle thieves. He also filed a report for General Hohenzollern in Buffalo that the Spanish were rumored to be behind these raids, something potentially even true.

De Buonaparte would see if his brother Lucien had any evidence on the subject when he saw him next. The Spanish garrison commander in San Antonio de Bexar was reported a drunk and often let his friend Father Lucien to answer his correspondence.


Quebec

Having convinced his Mother and Paternal uncles of the need for them to plead his case in Vienna and the other courts of Europe, Louis XVII would breathe a sigh of relief when he finally got a moment’s peace in Quebec. Astounded to find their sovereign appearing upon their shores, the gentry of New France would throw every door open for him. The governor would offer the Governor’s mansion, the largest residence in Quebec, as the King’s temporary home. Louis XVII gratefully accepted and moved in with only a token 40 servants (most of whom had to be houses elsewhere). Fortunately, he’d been able to save many of the Bourbon art collection before he fled France and the slow sales of these pieces of art, plus his modest pension from his cousin the Emperor of Austria, allowed Louis XVII to live in happy rustic splendor…so far from his Mother and uncles.

He’d never been so at peace than among his 150,000 subjects in New France.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 209

July, 1798

Lyon

As his father was apparently a “Constitutional” monarch, the new Dauphin, Prince James Stuart, was not allowed an actual military commission until the second fall of Lyon. As the city was retaken in 1797, the Prince, an honest to god military man, would be granted its governorship. That damned Dumouriez would not allow anything more.

Princes James’ wife, Henrietta, was an Italian Princess whom he utterly and completely loathed. Born of a non-ruling Italian noble family, she had born him a son and a daughter…and that was about as much as could be expected as they’d grown to abhor the sight of one another. When James had been transferred from Rome to Algiers, the woman practically danced. Ten years his junior, his wife openly stated she hoped they never met again. James fervently agreed.

However, as the wife of the new Dauphin, the woman had the right to claim her rightful place in France. Dragging their nine year old son and seven year old daughter along for the ride, the Dauphine would demand her due. Commanding her to remain in Marseilles, James would sit in Lyon and pray death took him before he had to look in that bitch’s eyes again.

Buenos Aires

The Spanish Colonies had grown to hate the new Governor, an obnoxious and lazy aristocrat from Madrid. Finally, the man’s utter and open contempt for the citizenry of the once-prosperous colonial city would grate on their nerves to such an extent that a mob burned his residence to the ground…with him and three of his servants in it.

The Yucatan

The heavily populated Yucatan Peninsula was demographically dominated by Indians while the Spanish minority only actively controlled the seaports. Irritated at being pressed into service on the colonial gentry’s plantations, the Maya and other groups would rise up in abject rebellion.

Cartagena

The wealthy gentry of Cartagena toasted the King and condemned his ministers and collectively wrote a scathing letter to the “Peninsulars” controlling their homes.

Why could the colonial gentry not command the mass of peasants of New Granada?

Did they not know better than the Spanish-born? Were they less loyal?

The less than docile language of the letter would lead to a crackdown similar to that in New Spain to the north a few years prior. Dozens of reformers were arrest, some executed.

However, in Cartagena, the gentry proved more canny and had prepared themselves to resist if the government cracked down.

Mexico City

Again, the middle class would conspire against the Peninsulars, forming associations of Remonstrations. They recalled what happened to Joseph de Buonaparte and his friends a few years prior. They would move carefully this time, feeling out the Spanish colonial army commanders, looking for a leader.

Puerto Rico

While the slave population did not quite dominate demographically in the Spanish colonies as they did in the old English of French colonies, there remained a good number and those in Puerto Rico would be the next of a long line of slave revolts in hopes of freedom.

Such it was throughout the Spanish Empire. Gentry, slaves, middle class, Indians and peasants rose up, each for their own reasons, against the crown. Though isolated from one another in form and function, these seemingly small insurrections would define the decay of the Spanish Empire.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 210

August, 1798

Zanzibar, Old Stone Fortress in 21th century.



The Ethiopian-Bantu (Swahili) alliance was not news to the Zanzibar Sultanate. It had taken months for the Ethiopians to trained the Swahilis and longer to translate and indoctrinate the thousands of volunteers to the Coptic Church.

For centuries, the Arabs had controlled the slave trade north of Mozambique, the latter controlled by the Portuguese. Vast caravans would march to the interior and convince the Bantu chiefs to selling their own people for next to nothing. These slaves would then be sold to southern Arabia, labor along the Swahili coast, ship to India and occasionally even to the Americas.

While the participation of the chiefs was damning, many of the Swahili young people in particular resented and hated this exploitation and thousands flocked to the coast to offer fealty to this new black Dynasty which was putting an end to the slave trade and, hopefully, wipe out the loathsome Arabs who controlled it.

These new converts to the Coptic Church were happy to fall upon all the Arab and Islamic Africans of the Swahili Coastal areas. This led to no shortfall of intelligence of the Ethiopian activities reaching to Zanzibar, only about 16 miles offshore. The loss of the slave trade and other mainland trade was harmful, but not catastrophic. The Arabs still believed that they were invulnerable across the sea from the Mainland. Only when word of dozens of ships arriving along the new port built by the Ethiopians did the Arabs begin to worry.

By July, in what passed as winter so close to the equator, the United East India Company's ships would carry over 8000 Ethiopian and Bantu soldiers, augmented by European and Indian advisors, across the narrow sea to Zanzibar's northern coast. The UEIC warships would tear into the assortment of Omani and other ships pressed into service, wiping them out. The UEIC's vessels bore modern artillery which greatly surpassed the Arab ships in capability. Often commanded and crewed by a mixture of Hindu and Muslim Indians, Topasses, Europeans any anyone else willing to serve, the once-dominant Arab naval power in the region was being scoured from the seas in astonishing rapidity.

This first wave of Ethiopian and Bantu-Swahili forces would land virtually unopposed along the northern coast of Zanzibar and had already secured their beachhead, brought over the supplies and formed ranks when the first significant bands of Zanzibar Sultanate troops appeared. The island, while very wealthy due to the assorted spices produced (rivaling the "Spice Islands" of the Malaccas) and its dominant position of the Slave Trade, was not terribly highly populated. Only about 80,000 souls lived on Zanzibar, two thirds being Bantu slaves. Bearing modern weaponry produced in Goa and Madras in the factories of the UEIC, the Ethiopians tore through the predominantly Arab militia with ease, driving them back.

Less than a week later, the transports arrived again, this time bearing 4000 soldiers which were, again, effectively unopposed along the beaches. Most of the Zanzibar defenses had been dispatched north or remained in the western capital at Stonetown. Driving the Arabs west, the two armies would merge and besiege the walled city even as the UEIC fleet blockaded it from the seaward side.

A squadron dispatched from Oman arrived just as the siege equipment was being prepared. Briefly, the Arabs believed they had been delivered but the superiority of the modern fleet proved apparent as they Omanis were brushed off almost without effort. Six ships were sunk or seized and the rest sent flying for home. By this point, the shells were already being lobbed over the walls.

The invaders would approach the Bantu slaves of the countryside and make an offer: freedom in exchange to conversion to the new Coptic Church and loyalty to the Ethiopian Empire. While many of the Bantu didn't understand the nuances of this alien church, the concept of freedom they understood fully well. Some of the slaves, having been indoctrinated into Islam, refused but the vast majority happily accepted the new Church and bobbed their heads when the Swahili-speaking Coptic priests rambled on. They were more interested, however, in weapons being offered to the freedmen in the militia.

As the artillery pounded down the walls, the Ethiopians stood back and allowed their mainland Swahili converts and the freed slaves their revenge. In a brutal massacre notable even by the violence of the era, Stonetown's inhabitants were slaughtered. Eventually, the Ethiopians restored order (after about three days) and entered the city, cleaning out the last of the terrified Arab residents whom had taken refuge behind interior walls. The Ethiopians offered safe transit to Oman or elsewhere. Only their lives were included, any goods and property was forfeit. Of the estimated 25,000 Arab and Arabized Bantu of the island, only 5000 would live to see the shores of Zanzibar retreat in the distance.

Surprisingly, less than a fifth of the Bantu on Zanzibar sought to return to the mainland. Many had lived on Zanzibar most of their lives, occasionally for generations. This was their home. Others recalled being sold like cattle by their native chiefs and had no desire to look upon such people again. The Ethiopian generals would reallocate the old Arab plantations and homes to the former slaves (though only to those professing the Coptic faith). Per the agreement, the UEIC would have a monopoly on trading the cloves and other spices from the island. While production initially declined, the profits offered to the former slaves would encourage them to return to work as freemen.

Ironically, the Coptic takeover of the island would actually indirectly return new Islamic residents, those Muslim traders from India affiliated with the UEIC. Many set up businesses on the island, which remained exceptionally located for intercontinental trade, and the Muslims would rebuild the charred Mosques of their Arab predecessors. Muslims, Hindus, Parsis and various other Christian sects were soon accepted upon Zanzibar provided they knew their place.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 211

September, 1798

Mesopotamia

Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad, Sultan of Diriyah, was determined to conquer the entirety of Arabia under his family faith, Wahhabism, a puritanical interpretation of Islam that had been rejected by most conventional Sunni clerics. Between his father's rule and his own, the House of Saud had conquered nearly all of the Najd, a central plateau comprising a fifth of the Arabian landmass.

The various other tribes of Arabia, from the wealthy pearling tribe of the east, those who controlled the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina to the west, looked on in concern. Seeking to encourage a new Sunni era of Jihad, the Sultan sought to energize the Arabs into a unified force by sacking and destroying the apostate Shia holy city of Karbala in Mesopotamia. Not only was the Shia veneration of the saints laid to rest there heretical but there had been huge quantities of treasure stored in these graves, wealth which could be used by the House of Saud to complete its conquest of Arabia...and beyond.

It took nearly two years to gather up his vassals for the assault. Admittedly, many were more interested in the potential loot than Holy fervor but the Sultan would take what he could get. By November, 1798, he had acquired over 8000 horsemen for the assault north into Mesopotamia, now a vassal of the Russians. By striking both the infidels and the apostates, Abdul-Aziz plainly intended to make himself the new Caliph of true Islam, bringing the faith full circle back into original laws laid down by the Prophet 1200 years prior.

However, the other tribes of Arabia were not caught unawares. The Sabahs, the Rashidis, the Khalifas and other eastern tribes along the "Pirate Coast" as the Gulf was known maintained a business relationship with Persia and the Russians in Basra. Fearing for their independence, they offered intelligence of the attack to the Russians and Mesopotamians.

By the time the Arabs arrived, they would be greeted by 2000 Russians and 6000 Mesopotamian Shia. Despite being able horsemen, the Arabs were butchered by the Russian infantry and artillery at the gates. Only as they retreated did the Arabs realized the trap into which they'd wandered.

Licking their wounds as they travelled south, they discovered that 6000 Kurdish cavalry, 500 Russian Imperial dragoons and 4000 Persians had circled around and cut them off. They were joined by 2000 riders from the Pirate Coast tribes whom sought to overthrow this new Wahhabi tyranny of the House of Saud.

At the battle of the Najd (actually took place to the north in Mesopotamia but the battle would have lasting implications in the Najd region), over 3/4's of the remaining Saud forces were wiped out in a single day. Many others were hunted down over the course of the following weeks as the Russians, Kurds, Persians, Mesopotamians and rival Arab tribes marched south, retaking the northern Najd cities with ease before reaching Diriyah.

Though a modest walled city (contrary to popular belief, the Sauds were not Bedouins but pastoralists), it was no match for the combined forces arrayed against it. The city was sacked, the Wahhabi imam and holy men slaughtered en masse and thousands of women and children carried off by the eastern tribes. The Russian governor of Mesopotamia proclaimed that the Emperor desired nothing of the loot or the governance of the region and offered to mediate.

Quickly, the massive Saud territory was divided into section in which the Al-Rashid's gained nearly half the land and the other Sunni Arab tribes were offered little Kingdoms for their younger sons provided that all vestiges of Wahhabism was wiped clean from their new territories, a promise which the new Sheiks hardly had to make in order to vigorously wiped out any cleric or order supporting the movement.

Even as the Sunni Arabs of the Levant continued to be driven from their homes in Syria and Jerusalem into exile in Anatolia or the Hejaz, the Arabians were forced to concentrate upon their own problems. Surprisingly, the ruling family of the Hejaz openly rejoiced in the fall of the Wahhabist destruction. The House of Saud had threatened to conquer the Hejaz as well. While the settled cities of the Hejaz had often been invaded, tribesmen like the House of Saud were generally not considered to be threats. However, the rapid accumulation of territory by the Wahhabist Sauds was making even the new dynasty in the Hejaz nervous and were well pleased both by the destruction of the House of Saud but the division into small and harmless new Kingdoms to be a boon for the Hejaz.

While it would take many years of systemized repressed, the Wahhabists were relegated to a few isolated regions of Arabia, ignored and held in contempt by future generations.