Is there anyone in Malaya Penisular that like: "Hey guys, chaos is ladder. 2nd Malacca Empire everyone?
Madness!
Muslim world would have a heart attack if the Shia control either Mecca or Medina or both.
I'm giddy up!
Of Rajahs and Hornbills: A timeline of Brooke Sarawak
- Thread starter Al-numbers
- Start date
I'm giddy up!
There's still Fortress Singapore to look out for, and the Indian regiments of Penang and the states, and the Dutch possess the most powerful navy in Southeast Asia for the moment (and thus nip any notion of Sumatra breaking off). Also, the Malay sultans will barf at the thought of being headed by a powerful Johor with an Anglophile sultan!
Though with that said, the idea of a united Malaya isn't exactly a new thing, and the educated Malays of Sumatra and the peninsula did start to question the social order around this time IOTL. With an independent Aceh to the north and Malay students absorbing Islamic reformist ideas in Cairo ITTL, the spark of nationalism has a decent chance to rise earlier. This does come with the caveat that such students may consider less of a Malaccan-Malay identity and more of a Nusantara identity by virtue of shared cultures and pan-Islamism (for instance, the first politically national movement in British Malaya - the Kesatuan Melayu Muda - were all for it), which will probably scare the sultans even more!
As an aside, it's still 1906 so Tok Janggut's rebellion in Kelantan and Abdul Rahman Limbong's uprising in Terengganu hasn't happened yet, and the latter figure might not exist ITTL due to his parents marrying differently or moving apart from all the happenings. But the fundamental pressures that drive both revolts are still there (or in Terengganu's case, will most likely happen), and they might be just the spark that'll ignite Malay mass-politics ITTL.
January - April 1906: Wartime Europe (Part 2/?)
Lê Quang Ngạn, Castles and Knights: An Asian’s Guide to European History (Discourse: 2001)
…Taken in 1871, the French border regions of Alsace and Moselle and the cities of Strasbourg and Metz were carved up by the victorious German Empire, eventually becoming the latter’s latest territorial addition under the name ‘Elsaß-Lothringen’ – Alsace-Lorraine.
This act, done in the name of defensive and ethnic reasons, secured decades of French enmity towards their German neighbour, whom tried its best to make sure no other Great Power could ally with Paris to act on their claims…
********************
…Taken in 1871, the French border regions of Alsace and Moselle and the cities of Strasbourg and Metz were carved up by the victorious German Empire, eventually becoming the latter’s latest territorial addition under the name ‘Elsaß-Lothringen’ – Alsace-Lorraine.
This act, done in the name of defensive and ethnic reasons, secured decades of French enmity towards their German neighbour, whom tried its best to make sure no other Great Power could ally with Paris to act on their claims…
********************
André Barnard, “When the Politicians Fight”; the Diplomatic Dance of the Great War, (Tully Street Press: 2001)
…But in short, Alsace-Lorraine was never placed on the bargaining table to begin with. The closest the French delegates did was to suggest that the region be considered as a point of negotiation, a suggestion that was swiftly rebuffed by the German diplomats. That being done, the matter was barely brought up again throughout the negotiations of late March and early April. What was on the table was the colonial territory of Ubangi-Shari and Dahomey – which was packaged with some extremely generous loans and a partial demilitarization of the Rhine border – to entice the Germans. This was far more consequential than what most of their citizens realized; a handover of French Ubangi-Shari would not just destroy Paris’s efforts to subsume the Sahelian sultanates, but entail the German colonial empire to control an eye-watering girdle across Africa, from Kamerun in the west to Wituland in the east, from sea to shining sea. The resources contained therein would propel Germany to compete (in resource extraction) with France and Great Britain.
But all that was immaterial when the Petit Parisien published the leaks with the headline “SHOCKING!! GOVERNMENT BETRAYS ALSACE AND STRASBOURG IN PERPETUITY!!!”. The fact that the eavesdroppers misheard quite a number of terms was immaterial, for the mere idea of giving up French revanchism in the east spewed a tsunami of anger. The Parisien’s headquarters were swamped with angry letters from readers while the delegates were pelted with rotten fruit when spotted on the streets. To the public, the affair was disgusting; the nation was on the march, and their allies are advancing despite the high human cost, so by what idiotic reason should the government abandon their claims to the ancestral lands of France? Indeed, the former French Minister of War, Charles de Freycinet, dubbed the talks as, “stinking of cowardice to the highest level.”
The reaction was similar across the Rhine and was, perhaps, even more consequential. While German patriotism was still floating in the air, the homophobic hysteria of last summer and the sobering news from battlefield correspondents has cast a pall over the empire in respect to supporting Austria-Hungary. Indeed, many diplomatic observers reported how the social climate was gripped, as one noted, “…by a sense of malaise and indecision”. Given the prickly status of the imperial army and the mass-slaughter of modern war now splashed across morning newspapers, many non-volunteering Germans were content in supporting their Austrian neighbours financially and materially, but not physically.
The leaks from France changed all that, re-energizing the lull of interventionism through the peal of ‘Austrian abandonment’. One contributor of a Berlin broadsheet summed the electrifying effect thusly: “Whatever happened to German bravery? German unity? Was the brotherhood of empires so weak as to be severed by mere coins and colonies?”. Public rallies mushroomed in major cities for the first time in months while interventionist politicians held howling speeches in the Reichstag, lambasting their peers for being complicit or staying silent over the affair. A new wave of volunteers left their homes to enlist in the Austro-Hungarian armies while illicit aid flowed to Vienna under the intentionally relaxed eye of customs officials. From this point onwards, the war hawks of Germany rose through the clamour, and they are not going to be silenced this time…
More importantly, it led both the French and German public to their nations’ shared borders. Ever since the start of the War, the French government had been way of her neighbour’s potential for aggression. As such, under the discretion of the Ministère des Armées, two infantry divisions were secretly stationed near the claimed lands of Alsace-Lorraine. Strictly confidential, the whereabouts and activities of these divisions were only discussed in the most private of circumstances, and it was hoped that their presence would give Germany pause if it were to join its Austro-Hungarian neighbour. It was because of such that a key point in the neutrality negotiations was partial border demilitarization; Paris and St. Petersburg could breathe easier and divert resources elsewhere if everyone agreed to stay neutral and stand down.
But then came the leaks, and the outrage of the German public. To mobilize troops was one thing, but to place them near their borders for over a year, potentially threatening the Reich as it consumed itself in hysteria and malaise? That was beyond the pale. In the heated political climate, the traumatically queer-shaken Imperial German Army decided to prove itself and – after some prodding from the Reichstag and permission from a bewildered Chancellor and Kaiser Wilhelm – ordered the placement of two German infantry divisions at Alsace-Lorraine.
But in doing so, the French public now became scared and angry. Given the mood, it was no wonder how the war hawks of the Third Republic ordered for more men to be stationed at the border. Thus, the months of April and early May saw an escalating cycle of Germany and France mobilizing more and more men as diplomatic relations broke down. While numerous other factors contributed to the fray, none was as publicly striking as notion of “troops on the border”, as noted by the famous contemporary psychologist Sigmund Freud [A]. “The more they jittered, the more men were armed, and the more everyone was angered. And afraid. A self-perpetuating cycle of destruction”.
And the fallout of these leaks would reach their height at Potsdam, when both Kaiser Wilhelm II and his fellow delegates met their Austro-Hungarian counterparts…
********************
New Palace, Potsdam, German Empire, 16 May 1906
New Palace, Potsdam, German Empire, 16 May 1906
“So, are we agreed?”
Eduard von Brasch was sure he never seen a sight so chilling.
Of course, he had seen disturbing sights over the course of his military career, but being a member of the diplomatic service meant that he was spared the path that lay for so many of his friends and subordinates. Still, he wondered whether this was a part of the Great World War itself: seeing his emperor crumble.
The meeting room of the palace was furnished to the gaudiest of tastes, yet the air seemed unnaturally cold in equal respect to the unnaturally heavy storm that poured beyond the windows. On one end of the table is the emperor of Germany itself, Wilhelm II, surrounded by a gaggle of generals, ministers, and high men. And on the other end…
Eduard has seen many emotions on his emperor’s face, but the one the monarch wore on the stiff chair was unlike anything he had yet seen: bitter distaste, tinged with resignation. Franz Joseph’s eyes stared at the florid document before him like a horrid fly, his right hand holding the signing pen like a motionless statue.
Just what additions is he having to sign? Eduard wasn’t present for the gist of the discussions – he was far too busy in the Romanian halls of diplomacy for most of it – but he had seen for himself that the German government, and the Kaiser specifically, offered to help Austria-Hungary with some high strings attached. But just two hours before, the two emperors shared a private discussion in an adjoining locked room, and Wilhelm’s reaction afterwards seemed… almost pleased, if tinged with some sort of consternation.
And that was the odd part. From what he had learned, relations between his emperor and the Kaiser were at their lowest in years, and so having the latter seem satisfied was… worrying.
I wonder if… but it can’t be that, can it? Eduard was not blind as to what happened last year in the German Empire. The… unusual panic of last summer was a hard thing to be kept secret, and the Habsburgs themselves were far from neutral in their views on the matter, especially when the wives of the Imperial General Staff were hounding their husbands openly through the streets of Berlin for being cold to them in bed. What a disgrace; I wonder where some of them are now.
Given the rampant suicides and lynchings through the officer corps and the rank-and-file, he wondered whether some of the generals were even alive… or if the German army can be the saviour Austria-Hungary so desperately sought. No. No army could be compromised by simple hysteria for long. But with the good generals gone…
But all thoughts of this vanished from Eduard’s mind as he saw his emperor finally move. With a mechanicality that exuded hesitance, Franz Joseph slowly put the pen to paper and scrawled his name in a swish and a flick, below the paragraphs.
Eduard added his applause to the din, yet stopped early. It is done. France and Russia shall now have a new enemy. Though the paper’s paragraphs do not mention any war whatsoever between their neighbours to the east and west, Paris and St. Petersburg will not stay silent at the German Empire’s new pivot of official support, aid, and men to the Habsburgs. Closing his eyes, Eduard could almost hear the sound of stomping boots at the nearby rail station.
But with that, he couldn’t help but wonder. Given all that has happened and the… abysmal… relations between Wilhelm and his emperor, the German delegation asked for a high price for supporting Austria-Hungary. And not only that, but Eduard had a feeling that Wilhelm himself added a few strings of his own in the final hours. He wondered just how high his homeland would pay for Germany to get involved, in the end.
I hope Wilhelm’s price wouldn’t be too steep.
____________________
Notes:
Blarg. Given this update’s shortness, I should have finished and posted this piece last weekend. My apologies.
The above post is intentionally meant to be short, as to from a bridge between the first phase of the Great War (with the Patras Pact and all) and the second phase where things start to get even messier for everyone.
1. For further context into the German Empire’s queer panic, see post #1243.
[A.] Yes, Sigmund Freud exists and lives! He was born in 1856, well before Sarawak’s effects alter world history. The field of psychoanalysis that he will be involved in (and most certainly be molded by him) will be almost as OTL, though pop culture may not pivot to him as the definitive spokesman for psychology ITTL - for better or worse.
Last edited:
last admiral
Banned
Those guys are questionable at best. I mean, they jump on the first chance they get with Japan, and you know where it goes, and no one can sure what their "end game", i.e what goverment would be if they somehow succeed. These guys are unpredictable, so anything can happen to the group's motive and ideology.
All good guesses, though it does bear mentioning that Wilhelm ITTL managed to find out what Franz Joseph thought of him and his government during all the hysteria last year, so he’s not exactly enthused with dealing the Habsburgs in personal terms. And given his personality, there’s a small chance that that simmering anger has made its way to the additional terms that Austria is now beholden to. A ‘Blank Check’, this agreement is not.
And about the colonies, let’s just say Austria-Hungary must now share whatever they have with the German imperial navy, including a certain oil hub in Borneo.
(Not well-versed in South American history, so this may change) All of whom are neutral, but aligned differently according to their interests:
- Chile is swimming in a sea of currency inflows as everyone wants their nitrates, so the nation is truly neutral to all whilst being economically opportunistic.
- Brazil and Argentina are more divided, since both nations have a large Italian immigrant base whose sympathies are in conflict with their governments, whom depend on the British merchant marine for export-import trade. There’s a lot of nasty politicking by many actors here.
- The Guianas are seeing some low-level sea-skirmishing between the British and French halves. The Dutch portion is getting annoyed by their squabbling.
- Venezuela is bring prodded by Paris to act on their claims to the Essequibo River and just invade British Guyana already, dammit! Venezuela is thinking deeply about it.
It’s a confusing situation all around.
I got it from a name generator site and it sounded like an actual Vietnamese name.
Though now I wonder if such a name was used back then.Well, that’s what happens when you are the first nationalist group of your kind, headed by university intellectuals, and swayed by Japanese propaganda of “Asia for all Asians”. The fact that British Malaya didn’t possess the massive native cottage-industry of the D.E.I – whose workers fuelled the nationalist awakening there and so coalesced their aspirations clearly – didn’t help matters.
Thankfully, there’s a semi-industrial Johor and more educated Malay students around ITTL. Unfortunately, there’s a semi-industrial Johor and more educated Malay students around ITTL. Malay politics shall coalesce earlier, but not without some nasty side-effects.
Last edited:
I got from a name generator site and it sounded like an actual Vietnamese name.
It's worth noting that due to being one of the cultures with the longest history of surnames, Vietnam also has some of the least variety. With something like 80% of the population being the top 10 names or so.
I meant region or country. But from context clues I'm guessing Vietnam.
Now since it came up, I wonder if it’s possible to have South America be an active participant in the Great War, or be affected by the after-effects enough to provoke local conflict. Given the divided interests and land claims amongst every nation there, it’s highly probable for a spark to ignite regional tensions. Chile’s nitrate boom will implode spectacularly once the major alliances resolved their spats, or until someone invents some variant of the Haber Process and mass-produce the chemicals.
Similarly, Venezuela would be very interested in taking advantage of British overreach and act on their claims to British Guiana, and given how they tussled with the Netherlands around this time, they do have the guts to go for it.
This is a Sarawak timeline first and foremost (in fact, the terms signed at Potsdam may return us back to Borneo as the fallout of Germany’s involvement becomes clear) but the possibilities are intriguing.
Similarly, Venezuela would be very interested in taking advantage of British overreach and act on their claims to British Guiana, and given how they tussled with the Netherlands around this time, they do have the guts to go for it.
This is a Sarawak timeline first and foremost (in fact, the terms signed at Potsdam may return us back to Borneo as the fallout of Germany’s involvement becomes clear) but the possibilities are intriguing.
@Al-numbers
Remind me: did either the War of the Triple Alliance or the War of the Pacific happen ITTL?
Remind me: did either the War of the Triple Alliance or the War of the Pacific happen ITTL?