Pax Francia: A Timeline

PAX FRANCIA

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An alternate timeline where instead of the British Empire ruling the four corners of the globe in the Pax Britannica, the French are the ones who do so.

1810

It is 1810, month of February. The Fifth Coalition was recently defeated by Napoleon and his imperial army. In France, people cheer for their emperor. "Vive l'empereur! Vive la France!" they yell. The people of Britain, Austria, Russia, Prussia, are all dismayed by their fifth failure to contain France. However, the four have decided on a new way to force France back into its old borders.

On March 5th, Spain enters the alliance. Great Britain promised the return of Gibraltar, should Spain help defeat France. A few days later, on the 8th, the Ottoman Empire joins the alliance after being promised the region of Hungary by Austria, though rather reluctantly on Austria's part.

After the six are finished preparing for war, the Sixth Coalition is formed in late July. On July 24th, war is declared on France. The Sixth Coalition is extremely confident in their ability to defeat France this time.

The first battle is fought off the shore of Holland. Six frigates and four SoTLs (Ship of the Lines) under Admiral Jean-Francois miraculously fended off a British attack force, consisting of three frigates and seven SoTLs. Admiral Jean-Francois is commended for his brilliant thinking in the battle, but his force is so battered that he must leave to Le Havre to repair and buy new ships. While he is gone, the Royal Navy and the Spanish Navy land an invasion force into the Netherlands. Around 24,000 British regulars and 17,500 Spaniards try to liberate the Netherlands. The Battle of Amsterdam ensues on August 18th. The French defenders, led by General Benoit, number 34,700. Using the cities recently-refurbished defenses, the Spanish and the British are repulsed. They retreat north, then try again on September 4th, but fail once more. Over in the east, Napoleon sets out with 94,000 men to invade Austria.

On September 28th, the Siege of Toulon begins. It is a huge battle. 8,500 Ottomans, 17,500 Brits, 14,000 Spaniards, 26,000 Austrians, 5,500 Russians besiege the port city for two weeks. It amounts to 71,500 men. Defending the city is General Davout. He has approximately 32,500 men under his command, along with seven SoTLs in the port. Just when the walls are about to be broken down by the Allies, Marshal Grouchy arrives with a relief force of 36,000. Together, they number 68,500. The Allies are split between the western and eastern side of the city. Austrians and Russians on the east, the rest on the west. Grouchy delivers a surprise attack to the Austrians and the Russians. Davout takes his men and strikes the British-led offensive on the west. The battle starts on October 12. That morning, there is a heavy fog. Thanks to the French communication lines, the seven SoTLs launch surprise attacks on the Allies. Four ships fire on the British-led army in the west, taking them totally by surprise and lowering their morale. The other three fire on the Austrians and Russians in the east, also lowering their morale. A few hours into the battle, the Austrians begin to break, and the Russians flee. On the west, only a few Spaniards and half the British force remain. The French casualties are also high, but not as much. Davout orders a full out cavalry charge. They encircle the British, and the British surrender. Meanwhile, about some of the Austrians are taken prisoner. Altogether, 3,700 Brits, 1,800 Austrians, 200 Russians, and 800 Spaniards are taken prisoner. Davout and Grouchy become heroes.
 
Austria wouldn't give up all of Hungry for Ottoman Help. And Britain needs Gibraltar to keep the Med open for war time.
 
Spaniard soldiers attacking Amsterdam => the Netherlands become French nationalist ground.

Turks attacking Toulon => Provence becomes rabid pro-napoleon ground.

subscribed!
 
Keep in mind this is alternate history, if you see anything that is wrong, it's because I changed it up for convenience of the timeline. I also changed the situation in 1810, making Great Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia all extremely desperate. Prussia and Austria have important parts of their territory to France. Everyone is horrified at how they could not beat a French peasant from Corsica after five wars.

And who said that Great Britain and Austria would honor those treaties? GB is strong enough to repel any Spanish attacks. Austria can contain the Ottomans with Russian help.
 
1810, December 25

So far, the war is not going well for the Coalition. All attacks on French territory have been repulsed. Things change on Christmas Day, however. The British and the Spanish renew a siege of Amsterdam, with around 65,000 men altogether. The French are able to fend them off for about three hours, when a Prussian army arrives in the scene, bringing 37,500 men and an extra 62 cannons. Together, the Anglo-Spanish-Prussian force are able to overwhelm the French. They storm Amsterdam, and liberate the city.

1811

It is now March 17, of the year 1811. Things have gone downhill for the French. All of the Netherlands have been liberated. Three French fleets in the Bay of Biscay were sunk by the Royal Navy. Napoleon, with his force of almost 100,000 men, are forced to march back to Paris when a conspiracy breaks out, threatening to destroy Paris and assume power. Over the course of the next five months, the French are on the defensive, being able to fend off most attacks by the coalition. The French lose quite a few battles, however. This stains the Emperor's reputation.

Fortune for the Coalition abruptly stops on August 28. For whatever reason, a large Spanish fleet is not allowed to pass through Gibraltar without having to pay a hefty fee to the British. The Spanish are outraged, saying they should be able to go free since they are allies. The British respond by surrounding the Spanish with British ships on the western and eastern sides of the strait. They say that they will not be allowed to leave until they pay the fee, which was raised.

The Spanish sail near the port, as if about to dock and pay. However, instead, the fleet fires upon the British ships. A short battle takes place. The Royal Navy lose 5 of their SoTLs, and the Spanish lose only 1. The Spaniards are able to escape. The following day, August 29, Spain withdraws from the coalition. The British spit back in their faces, laughing, saying they were never going to cede Gibraltar to the fools anyway. When the Ottomans learn of this, they realize, if Britain would not honor the treaty, there is no compelling reason that the Austrians would honor theirs either. The Ottoman Empire withdraws from the Coalition three days later.

The French are able to gain momentum when Napoleon finally arrives. The Second Battle of Wagram ensues. Napoleon's force of 97,500 men crush the Austrian defenders led by General Adelbert. The Austrians number 84,000. Napoleon proves the superior firepower of the French armies, and the superior discipline. The Austrians flee after four hours of fierce fighting. Meanwhile, the Battle of Minorca begins on December 12. Pitting the Marine Nationale against the Royal Navy, it is a major battle. Twenty four French SoTLs fight against twenty two British SoTLs and 5 British frigates. Commanding the French is Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse. Commander of the British fleet is Sir Edward Pellew, hero of the Royal Navy. At approximately 13:34 in the afternoon, Pellew orders his line to sail directly into the middle of the French line. However, Admiral Joyeuse anticipates this move, as it has been used before by him many times. Joyeuse orders the French fleet to form a line astern. The two fleets pass by eachother and exchange fierce shots. The French are the first to fire, however, and the 5 British frigates, in the front of the line, are demolished by the stronger French SoTLs. The real battle begins when the French SoTLs battle the British SoTLs. The FS Tricolore fights off against Pellew's ship, the HMS Bravery. The Bravery is caught on fire while fighting the French ship, and after around thirty minutes, it explodes when the fire reaches the gunpowder magazine. Edward Pellew is caught in the explosion, and dies. The French are able to defeat the rest of the British ships, mourning for their admiral. The French lose three ships, while the British lose 16 of their ships. It is the most heroic French naval victory in the war, and it overshadows the defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Keep in mind this is alternate history, if you see anything that is wrong, it's because I changed it up for convenience of the timeline.

As you'll find out, it still needs to be plausible to pass muster among most other posters on AH.com.
 
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As you'll find out, it still needs to be plausible to pass muster among most other posters on AH.com.

You're right. But in 1811, as you must have seen, it was revealed that Great Britain and Austria never intended to fulfill their parts of the treaty. Grouchy becoming a Marshal before 1815 seems plausible, it's not THAT big of a change.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Grouchy becoming a Marshal before 1815 seems plausible, it's not THAT big of a change.

Maybe not, though it is a bit of a stretch. Grouchy as only named Marshal during the Hundred Days because Napoleon as scrapping the bottom of the barrel in terms of subordinates who were both effective and loyal. This isn't the case in 1810. You could, of course, have him perform exceptionally well in the 1809 campaign, but that introduces butterflies into the TL that would result in the situation in 1810 being different than IOTL.
 
Spanish part is frankly asb, heck even fooling the ottmans with hungary would be credible..that was simple asb, the british have collaborate with the begin with spain. heck the Peninsular war is already happening, the spain need the british to live.

Sorry that was as pausable as Sealion or a french sealion
 
In this timeline, Spain had already regained all of its territories that were conquered by France, but was extremely weak, and therefore, hesitant to keep fighting France. I do realize now I should have included these things in the beginning, so sorry for that.
 
In this timeline, Spain had already regained all of its territories that were conquered by France, but was extremely weak, and therefore, hesitant to keep fighting France. I do realize now I should have included these things in the beginning, so sorry for that.

that is pretty big butterfly by itself, heck even bigger that ottoman

there should be a rule that details like that should not be hidden.

in fact still feel unpausable, the allies were not that stupid... but will be interesting if those error are fixed.
 
There are admittedly some pretty huge changes, but I guarantee you that everything will make sense as the timeline moves along.
 
They are not stupid but they do each hate others guts.

but fear and hate napoleon even bigger..but seriously, british shooting spanish for a vanality like that...that is ASB or Draka level of stupity, i would belive that spain voluntary join france early(thus need of ottomans) but the whole last update not only fell forced..fell simple stupid(as the godfather say:an insult to our intelligence).

Make some change, the idea is excelllent but execution have been terrible(i know, i'll panned soon but hey, something that is the felling)

make changes, justify better the background/POD and actions, those would help a lot.,
 
I have decided to start a new "Pax Francia" timeline starting in 1804, with the crowning of Napoleon as the beginning of the timeline.
 
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