Rex Italiae: The Failure of the Risorgimento MKII

The Americas in the Early 1870s

Before the Franco-Prussian War had broken out, the USA had already been making ready for the eventuality of war with France over Mexico, concluding the annexation of Santo Domingo in 1870 (with the support of enthusiastic locals), to provide the US Navy with a port in the Caribbean which could be used as a base in a possible war against the French. During the Franco-Prussian War there had subsequently been numerous calls for the USA to invade Mexico and restore the republic, as arms shipments to the rebels continued and the American government prepared troops along the Mexican border. In the end, however, the increasing stability of the Second Mexican Empire and the continued presence of a modest French fleet in Mexican waters (despite the Franco-Prussian War drawing away many of France’s forces in the area) resulted in President Ulysses Grant dallying over war with Mexico for long enough that events overtook him. Firstly, the Americans were distracted by the 1871 US expedition to Korea, which turned violent when US ships were fired on by Korean costal defences. The expedition demanded an apology and when it was not forthcoming they landed troops and artillery, some 100 marines and 550 sailors taking a number of Korean forts, losing only 3 killed compared to the 243 the Koreans lost. The expedition then left Korea for China when the Koreans continued to refuse to negotiate, but when the President heard of the incident, he ordered a larger punitive expedition to be launched and so US forces returned to Korea after the monsoon season, with a sizable military force that proceeded to level forts along the Korean coast and bombard Hanyang. After landing troops and establishing a base ashore, they defeated a sizable Korean Army led by Daewon-gun. In a series of skirmishes, the US troops far outclassed the Koreans and after a day of fighting, they launched a night attack and seized the main Korean camp, capturing the regent and forcing him to negotiate. Eventually, seeing that Korea was helpless against the USA’s military might, the regent signed the Treaty of Hanyang, which gave the USA Busan as a treaty port. Although many people spoke out against the expedition and its aftermath, it was justified as necessary for the modernisation and opening of Korea to the rest of the world and to seek redress for the insults that the USA felt it had received. The USA also received considerable opposition from China and Russia, both of which threatened action against the Americans. While the Russian ultimately backed out from a confrontation, the Chinese only backed down after the USA assured China that they would not expand any further into Korea.

Whilst the USA expanded abroad, establishing bases to project their influence and protect it from the imperialistic tendencies of the European powers, they were also busy consolidating their hold over the territories they already had. Conflicts between the USA and the Native American tribes were becoming increasingly common and war became almost constant as the tribes fought to retain their independence from the encroachment of American settlers and soldiers. Once such war was the Modoc War, which began on 6th July 1872 when US forces sought to return Captain Jack, chief of the Modoc tribe, to the reservation. When fighting broke out whilst the Native Americans were being disarmed, the Battle of Lost River occurred, leaving one American killed, seven wounded and two Modoc killed, three wounded. After the battle the Modoc retreated to the south of Tule Lake, the rocky ground full of caves and ridges turning the area into a fortress for the Modoc within. Militia arrived and began to scout out the area, but were attacked by the Native Americans, who were able to kill all 23 of them. After a further series of skirmishes, the US troops attacked the stronghold on 17th January, advancing from the east and west, but were held back by the Modoc warriors until retreating at the end of the day, leaving 35 dead and 25 wounded, whilst the Modoc suffered no casualties. Negotiations now began, but no agreement could be reached, frustrating the tribe, some of whom pushed for the killing of the peace commissioners, despite Captain Jack’s hope for a peaceful solution. Eventually, the chief agreed to act so that he could keep his position and two commissioners were killed, so the army again attacked the stronghold, fighting throughout the day and cutting off the Modoc water supply during the night, although the band was able to escape. After this the Battle of Sand Butte occurred when a 67 man patrol was ambushed by the Modoc and defeated, leaving about half killed or wounded. The last action of the war was the Battle of Dry Lake, where a Modoc attack was repulsed by the army and a prominent member of the band killed, resulting in some of the tribe surrendering and Captain Jack being captured. Following this a handful of the Modoc attempted to flee south and began a long trek towards safety in Mexico, although they were caught before they reached the border. At the conclusion of the war Captain Jack and two of his warriors were executed, some were sent to Alcatraz, and the rest were held as POWs. The war cost the USA $450,000, whilst the cost of buying the land the Modoc had requested was only $20,000.

Shortly after the Modoc War, the USA found itself embroiled in a far more bloody and costly conflict for which it was woefully underprepared, a conflict which put paid to any plans of an invasion of Mexico (Grant had indeed been preparing stockpiles of arms and supplies, apparently in preparation). In 1873 the American ship Virginius, captained by Joseph Fry, who had been a commodore in the Confederate Navy, was transporting supplies and 103 Cuban soldiers to Cuba to support the rebellion against the Spanish which was occurring on the island. After being spotted six miles from Cuba by the Spanish steam cruiser Tornado, the Virginius was forced to surrender after a short chase and taken to Santiago in Cuba. After the crew were found guilty of piracy, 53 were executed, including Captain Fry, leading the Americans to complain to the Spanish. The US public was increasingly concerned with European power in the Americas after the establishment of the Mexican Empire and the arrival of the news of the executions caused a sensation. Because of this the press in the USA began a warmongering campaign and although the executions were halted when the HMS Niobe had reached Santiago and threatened to bombard the port if they did not cease immediately (some of the prisoners had been thought to be British), the Americans were far from placated (the British took little further part in the conflict). Negotiations soon became heated, the Americans also becoming fearful because of the domestic events in Spain that presented the danger that Spain would soon be under a King and America would find another monarchy on her doorstep, President Grant declared war on the Spanish on 18th November 1873 at the behest of the public and the press.

In the Mexican Empire the regime had been seriously concerned by the Franco-Prussian War, as the French were temporarily prevented from aiding Maximilian’s government to the extent it had previously. Seriously concerned by this, a state of emergency had been declared as preparations were made for an expected American invasion, forts being constructed along the expected route of the invasion and to guard major cities. During this time Maximilian enshrined the place of the Catholic Church in Mexico in various laws and institutions that guarded it and held it to be the official religion of the country, which went a long way to giving him the support of the conservatives, whilst his liberals reforms of Mexico as well as his personal efforts to help the people of Mexico, often spending his own money on public works, garnered him support from liberals and the common people of Mexico. Despite the increasing popularity of Maximilian, during the dark days of the Franco-Prussian War the republicans had threatened to re-emerge in force against him, as guerrillas once again began to stream across the northern border. This resulted in numerous firefights between the Resguardo, supported by the army, and the rebels, with the Native Americans regularly joining in. Indeed, the Mexican relationship with the two most powerful tribes in the Southern USA and Northern Mexico, the Apache and the Comanche, was somewhat complicated as both sides regularly switched between raiding and trading with one another. To begin with, the Native Americans and the Comancheros (Hispanic and Indian traders closely involved with the Comanche) had been loyal to the republican government of Mexico and regularly run guns and supplies to the rebels, but by the early 1870s pressure from the US government and settlers had forced them into the arms of the Mexican Empire. Emperor Maximilian was willing to accept their loyalty (or at least an uneasy alliance) in return for their help in pacifying the northern reaches of Mexico and as a way of helping safeguard against the USA’s growing presence close to the Mexican border. By the end of the Franco-Prussian War the guerrillas were making headway in the north, having defeated the Resguardo in some areas, despite their most valiant efforts. With mounting casualties, martial law was declared in the north and the military began to act in larger numbers, which, combined with the morale booster that the return of French troops gave the Imperial forces and the loss of morale it inflicted on the rebels, ended the successes of the guerrillas and once again defeated them, driving them across the border or underground. The Imperial throne had endured once again, whilst the heir, Otto Franz, had begun to spend more time in Mexico after the death of his mother in 1871, giving hope as to the future and ingratiating himself to the Mexican people. At the same time as this, the New Virginia Colony began to flourish despite the best efforts of the USA to halt the migration of ex-Confederates and others into Mexico. Since their beginning, the settlements had steadily grown with the influx of tens of thousands of ex-Confederates and other Europeans, which served to give the Empire more skilled workers, began to Europeanize the country, and created a core of men loyal to the Emperor.

russel-attack-waggon-train.jpg

Native Americans fighting settlers in the USA
These conflicts soured relations between the expanding USA and made the Indians natural allies of the Empire of Mexico


The Third Carlist War

When Isabella II was deposed in 1868 in the La Gloriosa Revolution, it led to a search for a new monarch for Spain. Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern, was first offered the throne by the new government, but the French strongly objected and the Prussian was passed over whilst the search continued. Eventually, in late 1871, the Neapolitan Prince Gaetan, Count of Girgenti, was given the throne, being crowned King of Spain alongside his wife Princess Theresa of Bavaria, whom he had married earlier that year. His selection as King was unpopular in Spain, as he was deemed too conservative by those who were worried by the traditionalist rule of his brother, Francis II, whilst also being unpopular among the conservatives, as he was seen as a foreign King who had taken the place of the rightful ruler, the Carlist pretender to the throne, Carlos VII. Elected as King on 15th August 1871, King Gaetan found himself in a bad position from the start, with conflict even within his own government. With instability tearing Spain apart, the King’s health began to suffer as the stress of his duties began to take its toll and he sunk ever deeper into depression. He was often the target of assassination attempts, the most serious occurring on 1st February 1872, when General Juan Prim, Marqués de los Castillejos, was killed and the King severely wounded by gunfire. Then, on 21st April 1872 the Carlist uprising began, completely destroying what remained of his spirit, depression overtaking him completely. His marriage was not an unhappy one, but the two were not in love and remained distant in the short time they were married, further eroding his morale. After he received word that his brother was unable to directly aid him in the coming war, King Gaetan shot himself on 1st May, the day before Carlos VII crossed the border from France into Spain. Princess Theresa swiftly left the country and returned to Bavaria, never remarrying, whilst Francis II was deeply upset by his brother’s death, blaming both himself and the Spanish government, which he saw as having abandoned Gaetan, leading him to resolve to help the Carlists, supplying them with what limited funds, arms and equipment he could spare.

The two opposing factions of the Third Carlist War were very different in their composition and as such employed widely differing strategies in the first stages of the war. The Carlist forces were primarily made up of guerrilla bands which were raised locally, allowing them to fight in an irregular style which allowed them to take advantage of the terrain and their knowledge of the land and people, but which limited their ability to threaten cities. Nevertheless, the Carlists did have some armies, although they were filled with low quality recruits and in the beginning suffered many logistical problems, which they only began to solve as more support from Catholic rulers began to reach them. The Liberals, on the other hand, possessed a professional army and the support of the towns and cities, as well as the railway system, which allowed them to swiftly move their forces to wherever they were needed. On the other hand, the Liberals were plagued by instability, as monarchists and republicans argued over what to do after the death of King Gaetan, damaging their war effort which had already taken a severe hit thanks to loss of morale following the suicide of the King (despite attempts to hush the episode up, the public found out). The Liberal war effort was further hindered by the outbreak of the Cantonal Revolution just after it was announced that a new King would not be sought and a republica was proclaimed, when some elements among the republicans sought to establish a more progressive republic from the bottom up rather than wait for the government to establish it from the top down. Spreading quickly through the south of the country, it drew government forces away from the north where they were sorely needed to combat the threat of the Carlists. If it had not been for this, the war may have been ended before it escalated.

In the opening stages of the war, the government appeared to do well, as the government was able to win the Battle of Oroquieta, which only left 70 Carlist dead and 900 captured, but scattered their forces in the Basque Country for the entire year, compelling Carlos VII to flee back to France. Despite this setback, Carlist warbands continued to operate against the government and with the arrival of Infante Alfonso Carlos in December the Carlist armies began to organise themselves more thoroughly, with the creation of a proper military structure. Alfonso had been released from his service in the Papal Zouaves to participate in the war, along with many other officers the Pope released to serve the Carlists, as Pius personally sympathised with the traditionalist Carlist cause. Their forces regrouped and small cadres of officers filtered into the country to train and lead the Carlist armies, whilst arms and supplies began to reach them in greater quantities, being run across the border with France. The Carlist army grew rapidly and by February 1873 numbered some 50,000. In the North the war now swung in the Carlists’ favour, as fresh troops and supplies were gathered and their forces reorganized after their initial defeat in 1872. The Spanish government in Madrid had proclaimed a republic almost immediately after the suicide of King Gaetan, but now struggled to hold their fledgling state together as rebels sprung up in every corner of Spain. In May 1873, the Carlists won a victory over a republican army, destroying that defeated republican army’s ability to operate as an effective fighting force and allowing for the Carlist capture of Estella in August, which was also marked by the arrival of Carlos VII in the theatre. On the eastern front, things began well for the Carlists, as they destroyed a republican force in the Battle of Alpens on the 9th July, although they were then badly mauled at the Battle of Bocairente, where despite early success in the action a republican counterattack was able to capture of a large portion of the Carlist force. Back in the north, the Carlists also suffered the costly Battle of Mañeru, which ended in a draw, but they won a further success with the Battle of Montejurra, wherein they badly bloodied an attacking force of republicans, forcing them to retreat. In November of that same year, although fighting between the Carlists and republicans continued unabated, the republican government was forced into fighting on yet another front when the USA declared war upon the Spanish. To the Spanish government, who had been preoccupied with the rebellions, this was cause for panic and so they threw themselves at President Grant’s feet in order to spare themselves a terrible and costly war. The Americans demanded Cuba, Puerto Rico and compensation for the loss of those executed on the island, the Spanish republicans quickly agreeing and taking the opportunity to beg the Americans for help as fellow republicans. Seeing an opportunity to win an ally, Grant ordered supplies to be given to the republic to aid in its quest to defeat the rebels, American ships steaming across the Atlantic to support their newfound brothers, a volunteer forces even being created. With the Americans involving themselves in the conflict, the French became increasingly concerned, Napoleon III becoming increasingly worried at the threat that they presented to his colonial empire which had taken on great importance to him as one of his greatest successes. Although the French decided against a full-scale intervention, they did concluded that they had to take action to support the Carlists in Spain and so the small supply of weapons that had previously been trickling across the border increased massively overnight. The Carlist forces suddenly found that they did not have to struggle to pay or arm their troops, and that they had all the military experts they needed to train and organise their forces in abundance.

The start of 1874 initially looked good for the republicans, who finished off the Cantonal revolution and began to receive American aid, but although both sides began to receive support from sovereign states, it was the Carlists who received by far the most. With new arms and supplies constantly arriving across the border, the Carlists were eager to push on and so laid siege to the city of Bilbao on 21st February with some 12,000 men, who faced a garrison of 1,200. The republicans sought to lift the siege, sending a relief force which engaged the Carlists on 24th February but was brutally beaten back, leaving 1,100 republican dead. After this first relief attempt the Carlists accelerated their attempts to capture the city, pounding the walls and the buildings within using the French-supplied artillery. A first assault was made on 16th March, but was repelled by the republicans, leaving hundreds of dead or wounded Carlists, while a second republican relief effort occurred on 25th March when 27,000 republicans attacked some 17,000 Carlists, who fought for four days before the republicans were finally forced to retreat, leaving the garrison of Bilbao to surrender as they begun to starve. With the failure of the relief attempts and the fall of the city, the republicans retreated and the Carlists had solidified their hold over the north within four months, as more cities and towns defected to their cause or fell to their men. In the east, however, the Carlists suffered the embarrassing Battle of Caspe, where a republican ambush captured some 200 of their men. Despite this setback, the Carlists were able to capture Cantevieja after a short siege and Olot after defeating a relief attempt led by Nouviles, who was captured with 2,000 of his men, the latter then becoming their capital in Catalonia. The republicans countered by seizing the Carlist stronghold of Gandesa, inflicting 100 casualties, but were unable to stop the Infante Alfonso from sacking Cuenca and fortifying it, beating off a republican counter-attack. The Carlist strongholds of the Basque Country and Navarre were now able to begin expanding, having forced out the final republican forces in the months following the fall of Bilbao, send reinforcements to their brothers in the east, and also begin to move south towards Madrid. The situation now became desperate for the republicans, who in having declined a proposal from Ramon Cabrera (in which the monarchy was to be restored to win over traditionalist elements and remove support for Carlos VII) had allowed the Carlists to fortify their gains and subsequently continue to advance. The New Year thus began well for the Carlists, who captured 300 republicans in the Battle of Lácar in February 1875, but a republican offensive in the Summer defeated a Carlist army and seized Logroño, leaving the entire war hanging in the balance, but the government was then defeated in the Battle of Treviño and the Carlist territory in the north remained safe. The Carlists decided to march for Madrid, resulting in the Battle of Tarancón, a Carlist victory which forced open the way to Madrid. By now, the Carlists, under the direction of French officers, equipped with French weapons and sustained by French supplies were approaching complete supremacy in the field as the government’s forces began to disintegrate with mass desertion, surrender and even whole units refusing to march out against the rebels. However, it was not until the fall of Madrid to the Carlists (following a bloody siege) that the war was decided, as with the fall of the city in the first days of 1876 the government forces still operating outside the city surrendered. The Carlist victory in the Third Carlist War resulted in the placement of Carlos VII on the Spanish throne and brought an end to liberal rule in Spain, the Church once again becoming a powerful force in both politics and daily life. The Madame Mère de l'Empereur (who had become the most powerful person in France following the death of her husband, Napoleon III, thanks to her influence over her son) and Patrice de Mac-Mahon (who had become the French Prime Minister) were relieved to have seemingly removed the Legitimist claimant from any business he might have in France and to have checked republicanism. Although the Civil War had been won, Carlos VII now faced the issue of the Spanish Empire, Cuba and Puerto Rico having been handed to the USA by the republicans. In the end it was decided to recognise the USA’s sovereignty over the two islands (which had long been a thorn in Spain’s side anyway) in return for American recognition of the sovereignty of the Spanish in their remaining colonies (i.e. the Philippines and Guam) as well as guarantees of the USA’s lack of territorial ambition concerning the Spanish. The republican movement in Spain was largely blamed for the loss of the colonies and for years to come would suffer from the accusation that they had given away the empire. Power was thus concentrated even more into Carlos VII’s hands as his absolutist regime settled in. Although there was a Parliament, its powers were severely limited and it had little real say in the running of the country. Those that the Carlists considered to be traitors, such as Cabrera, were shot for treason, which when combined with the reactionary policies taking hold led to many republicans going into exile (often self-imposed). The regime was strongest in the north of Spain, but in the south republican guerrillas operated with virtual impunity in some areas and a long counter-insurgency campaign began as Carlist troops sought to establish their authority across Spain. The campaign was to slowly grow more and more brutal as the Carlists grew tired of the seemingly endless war and the elusive enemy, whilst the republicans became increasingly desperate and angry at the government’s methods of retaliation. Infante Alfonso and his fellow officers returned to the Papal States after the war and re-joined the Zouaves, bringing with them a wealth of military experience.

685px-Conflictos_en_la_I_Rep%C3%BAblica_Espa%C3%B1ola.svg.png

Initial stages of the Carlist and Cantonal Revolts, 1874
The red areas show the Carlist positions and the flames show the Cantonal positions
 
Unfortunately my laptop has totally died and im not sure if im going to be able to save my files :( so its going to be at least a few more days until i can get the next chapter up. Sorry guys
 
Got my laptop resurrected! :D Managed to rescue basically all my files too, so here's an update. Sorry for the long wait :eek:

---


The First Balkan War


In 1876, Napoleon IV, Emperor of the French, reached the age of twenty. He had grown up to be a devout Roman Catholic under his mother's guidance, as well as having had his interest in military affairs cultivated so that he took a personal interest in the running of the French army and enjoyed inspecting the troops. Indeed, the young Emperor often wore military uniform, most usually that of the Imperial Guard's 13e régiment de chasseurs à cheval. Although not dominated by his mother, she and Prime Minister Patrice de Mac-Mahon were important in shaping the monarch during the formative years of his reign and acted as a highly traditionalist and conservative influence upon him. During the 1870s and under these guiding hands, France was tied ever closer to Spain, the Two Sicilies, the Papal States, and Austria-Hungary. This 'Catholic League' (as the European press generally labelled these aligned nations), was seen to be arrayed towards Germany, with the intention of containment at the least and outright dismantlement at the most. The Germans, however, were not alone in facing their enemies. The Russians, old enemies of the Austrians and allies of the Prussians since the first Napoleon had marched against all Europe, signed a number of defensive pacts with Germany, effectively promising that Germany would not again fight France alone. Britain, continuing to reap the rewards of her colonial empire, continued in her splendid isolation. Previously, British opinion had been firmly in the German camp, but their alliance with Russia (with whom Britain had been locking horns in the Great Game for decades) and Napoleon IV's state visit to Britain in 1876, had done much to reverse British sympathies. Indeed, during Napoleon's tour of Britain, Queen Victoria formed a close attachment with the Madame Mère de l'Empereur, an attachment mirrored by that formed between the Queen's youngest daughter, Beatrice, and Napoleon. Bismarck also courted the Ottomans, seeking to bring them into line so that Austria-Hungary would have to fight on three fronts and as a way of menacing British trade and possessions. Unfortunately for him, events were to overtake his plans.

In 1873 a severe drought had struck Anatolia, followed by floods the next year, causing widespread suffering and severely straining the Ottoman Empire's frail economy. The resultant famine and unrest had been the last straw and in 1875 the Ottoman government was forced to declare bankruptcy, with heavy taxes to be levied so as to repair the economy, the Empire's fringes carrying the brunt of this burden. Of course, this was hardly taken well amongst these most discontent of the Sultan's subjects, and in 1875 rebellion broke out in the Balkans. By 1876 the Ottomans were finding success in their fight against the rebels, the Bulgarian uprisings having been been brutally crushed and the Serbians forced back, but harsh reprisals had turned European opinion against them and that same year the Great Powers forced a truce on the belligerents. Unfortunately, negotiations failed and when the fighting resumed the Ottomans inflicted a series of defeats on the rebels, bringing those still in the fight (reduced to those in the Western Balkans) to their knees. Appeals were made to Russia but Tsar Alexander II, himself a pacifist, was under pressure from Bismarck to avoid direct confrontation with the Ottomans and preserve the dream of an alliance between the three states. At this point, with Russian aid not forthcoming and the rebels in an increasingly desperate situation, the Greeks felt that they could no longer sit back as their fellow Christians were slaughtered by their old enemy. It was in this way that King Georgios of Greece threw his Kingdom's lot in with the rebels and declared war on the Ottoman Empire in 1877. The Greeks quickly overran much of Epirus and Thessaly with the support of the local population, before Turkish reinforcements arrived and stabilised the front, but the hard pressed rebels continued to give ground until Russia entered the war in the last month of 1877. After Greece had declared war on the Ottomans and had achieved considerable military success, Alexander II's position of neutrality had become increasingly untenable as the pan-Slavic elements within Russia demanded ever louder that he intervene. With this Russian entry into the war, the Ottomans suffered a military collapse as Russian soldiers stormed into Romania and continued south, seemingly towards Constantinople. This greatly concerned the Great Powers and both Britain and France dispatched ships to safeguard the city and send a message to the Russians. A truce was again demanded and the Russians were forced to acquiesce just as their forces reached the border of Thrace, and the Greeks swept into Macedonia.

A preliminary treaty was signed, the Treaty of San Stefano, in 1878, ending the war. Bulgaria was to be granted independence, with its territory to include northern Macedonia, Greece was to gain Thessaly, Epirus, southern Macedonia, and Crete (which had rising up against the Ottomans during the war, leaving much of the island in rebel hands), Serbia, Romania and Montenegro were to gain independence, Russia was to regain its losses in the Crimean War as well as some extra territory in the Caucasus, and finally Bosnia was to be granted autonomous status within the Ottoman Empire. However, to Britain, France and Austria-Hungary this was unacceptable as it granted Russia far too much influence in the Balkans and allowed them to draw closer than ever to Constantinople. As such the Congress of Berlin was held so that the Great Powers could draw any territorial changes themselves, with Russia being supported during the conference by Germany. Bulgaria was much reduced in territory, with Eastern Rumelia and Macedonia being returned to the Ottomans, Crete was returned to the Ottomans as an autonomous region but retained its gains in Thessaly, Epirus, and Macedonia, Serbia was reduced in size, Romania, Montenegro and Russia's gains were left as they were, and Bosnia was occupied by Austria-Hungary. At the same time, Britain and France concluded a secret agreement to allow Britain to occupy Cyprus and France to take Tunisia, with the Ottomans consenting in return for protection from further Russian invasion. The resultant Treaty of Berlin was met with outrage among many of the Ottoman Empire's subjects, leading to anti-Christian and anti-European riots and consequently the Invasion of Egypt as well the French conquest of both Lebanon and Tunisia. The First Balkan War, as it became known, was therefore responsible for being the catalyst that caused the collapse the Ottoman Empire, increasing Austrian and Russian competition in the Balkans, opening the way for French and British expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean, and settling up Greece as an important regional power in the Balkans.

800px-Grivita_1877.jpg

The Battle of Pleven, 1878
Russian and Romanian victory in this battle broke the Ottoman army and allowed the Russians to sweep into Bulgaria

 
Last edited:
[FONT=&quot]The Late 1870s and the Eastern Question
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]King Francis II of the Two Sicilies was to find himself stripped of both his closest ally and most hated adversary in 1878, when Pius IX died when an epileptic fit caused a heart attack and Victor Emmanuel II passed due to a fever, perhaps malarial. Pius IX had centralised the Church during his pontificate, making Papal Infallibility Church dogma during the Vatican Council, moved the Church back to a more active political and temporal role that had seen his troops fighting from Italy to the Americas, and he had won popularity among the people of his realm for his success in war and the foreign investment that had been flowing in. To find his successor, the 1878 Papal conclave was held in the Quirinal Palace, during which the cardinals sought to find a candidate who could guide the Papal States with diplomatic finesse and win them allies, perhaps a liberal. Some even called for the election of a non-Italian Pope, although others argued that an Italian was needed to tie the people of the Papal States to the Pontiff, who might otherwise be seen as a foreign ruler. In the first round of voting Luigi Bilio, Bishop of Sabina, received four votes, Joseph-Hippolyte Guibert, Archbishop of Paris, received seven votes, and Gioacchino Pecci, Camerlengo and Bishop of Perugia, and received fifteen votes. In the second round Bilio urged his supporters to vote for Pecci to avoid a non-Italian being elected (which he feared would isolate the population), so that Bilio received no votes, Guibert received nine, and Pecci received twenty two. In the third round, Guibert received twelve votes and Pecci received thirty, so that in the fourth and final round the Cardinals opted to vote for Pecci, who received forty two votes (with Guibert receiving none). Pecci took the pontifical name Leo XIII and his first act as Pope was the official closing of the Roman ghetto, with Jews being permitted to live anywhere within the Papal States (Jews had been unofficially permitted to live outside the ghetto since the early 1870s, but Pius IX had never made it official). However, despite many hoping that this showed that the papacy would be reformed and the centralisation of the Church would be ended, Leo refused to compromise at all on the issue of Papal Infallibility, the most pressing issue to many. When this had been official announced as dogma by Pius IX, it had proved very controversial and had led to a small group splitting off from the Church. The Austrians and French were kept in line by their monarchs, as was the case in a number of smaller countries such as Spain and the Two Sicilies, but elsewhere the issue had been used as an excuse to oppose the Papacy. In Germany, a Church of about 20,000 Old Catholics was set up with the unofficial backing of the state, in Switzerland the number was just below half that, in the UK numbers peaked around 2,000 in 1874 and the movement had been reduced to just a few hundred members by the end of the decade, and in the USA some 34,000 became members of the new movement (becoming an Old Catholic was often ridiculed by its critics in the USA as being the latest fad among the nouveau-riche). These events had served to deeply divide Catholic opinion in all these countries (except in the more neutral Britain), with the Know-Nothing Party in the USA continuing to grow in influence and becoming the most prominent of all anti-Catholic movements. Therefore, when Leo came to the throne riots and street fights between anti-Catholics and Catholics had become depressingly common in many American cities and when he treated the leaders of the Old Catholic Church with great coldness in his first meetings with them whilst publishing condemnatory texts, it was rightly taken as a total refusal to compromise on the issue as a whole and a condemnation of the actions of the American and German governments. On the other hand, Victor Emmanuel died at a low point in his popularity thanks to his military losses against the Austrians and two southern Italian states, the loss of Venice being considered his greatest blunder. However, within a decade of his death he was being remembered as the father of the Italian nation and had been placed at the top of their pantheon of heroes (it should be noted that Giuseppe Garibaldi was reduced to a minor figure in the nation’s narrative, his son Menotti Garibaldi coming to outshine his father for his actions in the fighting during the Austro-Prussian War and the Invasion of Rome). The King was succeeded by his eldest son, who was crowned Umberto I of Italy (as opposed to Umberto IV of Savoy) and had to face increasing republican sentiment within the Kingdom.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As the Catholic Church was becoming an ever more polarising subject of debate, the Great Powers were hungrily circling the declining Ottoman Empire. Following the end of the First Balkan War in 1878, the more independence minded provinces had quickly taken steps away from the authority of the Sultan, beginning with Arabi Pasha (‘Ahmed ‘Urabi’ in Arabic) in Egypt, who that same year led a coup against the Khedive of Egypt and set up an anti-European government. By 1882 the situation had become intolerable with the spread of anti-Christian riots and the British and French fleets were dispatched to restore the Khedive. An ultimatum demanded the disarming of Alexandria was rejected and a bombardment of the city was undertaken, opening the war. The city was badly damaged by the attack and fell easily to the British and French marines who landed to occupy it, restoring order (looting had broken out) and restoring the Khedive (who had taken up residence in the city). A 3,000 strong Anglo-French force advanced and made a probing attack at Kafr-el-Dawwar, where they were repulsed to the delight of the Egyptians. At the same time as this. Arabi Pasha ordered the Suez Canal blocked to prevent a flanking attack, forcing the invaders to abandon their plans of advancing to Cairo from the east. Brigadier General François Oscar de Négrier, commander of the French force in Egypt, and Lt General Garnet Wolseley, who held overall command of the British, thus set about fighting the Egyptians in the north with the 20,000 troops they had between them, drawing troops away from the south, where a British force 15,000 strong was landed under the command of Lt General Edward Bruce Hamley after the port of Suez had been seized. The first major battle of the war was the Battle of Fort ‘Agrûd, in which a 2,000 strong Egyptian force blocked the road to Cairo from Suez, forcing the British to undertake an artillery bombardment followed by an assault. In the wake of the determined British advance, much of the Egyptian force (tired from the quick muster following the British landing at Suez) quickly crumbled and routed, with only a few hundred continuing to hold out in the fort. When darkness fell the British launched a night attack and forced the surrender of the last defending troops. The British hand lost only two dozen men killed and several times that number wounded, whilst the Egyptians left some two hundred dead (almost entirely thanks to the British artillery), and nearly twice that number captured, the remainder of the Egyptian force scattering. In the north, the Anglo-French force was once again on the offensive, having brushed aside a number of small Egyptian attacks with ease. In the face of the large European force, the Egyptians fell back before standing to fight at Qafila to prevent the fall of Damanhûr to the invaders. Arabi Pasha personally led his men during the battle, which began at night with a British and French assault that caught the Egyptians unaware and tired. The result was the almost total collapse of the Egyptian army, leaving some 1,000 Egyptian dead (and another half that wounded) to only several dozen Anglo-French dead (and some 250 wounded). Arabi Pasha and his staff were barely able to escape the European cavalry and were forced to attempt to assemble a second army virtually from scratch (many Egyptians deserted after the defeat, so that the 17,000 strong force was reduced to barely 3,000. This left the road to Cairo undefended and the Anglo-French force began a swift advance towards the city. Shortly after this the Battle of Jebel ‘Atāqah was fought in the south, when an Egyptian force of 6,000 ambushed the advancing British column, who’s scouts saw the coming attack and as such were properly prepared for the Egyptians. Some five hundred Egyptians were killed and almost the same wounded, compared to the hundred British killed and two hundred and fifty wounded (the vast majority of British losses during the battle were sustained when a British cavalry detachment was surrounded and slaughtered to a man after its commanding officer became overeager and was separated from the main British body during the fighting). Following this last battle, the British in the south reached the outskirts of Cairo and placed the city under an artillery barrage. Arabi Pasha surrendered the same day. Consequently, the Khedive was set up again as the ruler of Egypt and puppet of the British and French, who established a joint permanent military presence in the country. Arabi Pasha was send into exile on Ceylon despite calls for his execution.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Prior to the Anglo-French Invasion of Egypt, the French had become involved in Tunisia, using the presence of Algerian rebels in the country as a pretext for an invasion in 1881. Some 28,000 Frenchmen under General Forgemol de Bostquénard had advanced into the country and within three days they had taken Bizerte and allowing them to advance on Tunis itself, entering the city a few days later. The Bey of Tunis refused the French demand for surrender and fled south with many of his supporters. Sousse fell several days later following a French naval bombardment of the city and a landing. The Bey rallied an army of around 11,000 and dug in around Kairouan to await the French, who arrived with some 20,000 men and decisively defeated the Tunisians, capturing Sadok Bey in the process. Only half a dozen Frenchmen were killed and Tunisia was subsequently signed over to the French as a colony, the Bey going into relatively comfortable exile in France. With the invasion of Egypt the next year, the French were able to tuck another victory under their belts and solidify their hold over the Mediterranean. However, the fall of Egypt so soon after the stunning French victory in Tunisia caused uproar in the rest of the Ottoman Empire, where the populace was outraged at states that were at least nominally part of the empire being invaded by Europeans. Riots broke out in many cities on the announcement of the surrender of Arabi Pasha in Egypt and massacres of Christian minorities, especially Greeks, Armenians and Maronties. By 1883, Lebanon had broken out into full-scale sectarian war, with the beleaguered Maronites supported by France, the Papal States and the Two Sicilies. A combined fleet arrived in the area and shelled Ottoman and Druze positions before landing 12,000 troops and seizing Beirut. This French intervention met with the silence of Britain, who had previously supported the Druze over the Maronites. Sidon and Tripoli were taken next, the latter only after significant portions of the city had been destroyed in the fighting. Following the defeat of an Ottoman column outside Tripoli by French and Maronite forces (leaving less than a hundred French and Maronite dead, with three times that wounded, against six hundred Ottoman dead and just over that wounded), and the French shelling of Antioch, The French called for a truce with the Ottomans as the Russians and Greeks had crossed their borders to stop the massacres of Christians in their spheres of interest. The Greeks were able to seize Crete thanks to an uprising on the island as well as moving into Ottoman Macedonia and Thrace, whilst much of Armenia was liberated as the populace rose in revolt when word of the Russian intervention reached them. The Ottomans quickly accepted the truce, having realised no Great Power would aid them, as did the Russians and Greeks when pressured by France and Britain.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The resultant Treaty of Famagusta created both Maronite (comprising the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate and Beirut) and Armenian (comprising the Van, Erzurum and Bitlis vilayets) vassal states that nominally owed allegiance to the Ottoman Empire but were de facto independent (or at least puppets of the French and Russians instead), and Greece was granted Crete as well as gaining further territory in Macedonia. The peace stopped the escalation of what became known as the 1883 Ottoman Interventions from escalating any further (the Bulgarians and Serbs were on the verge of joining the war) and prevented the Ottoman Empire from totally disintegrating. Nevertheless the Empire was badly destabilised, the Sultan having lost much of his credibility for giving in so easily in the eyes of his people. The British tacit approval of the French intervention was commonly derided as “Princess Beatrice’s Dowry” in the British press after it was named as such in Punch (illustrated with a cartoon showing Queen Victoria handing the Princess and the deed to Lebanon to Napoleon IV) due to the [FONT=&quot]marriage [/FONT]of the Princess and Emperor Napoleon IV the previous year. In the French press the intervention was generally seen as a commendable humanitarian venture (Napoleon IV himself saw it this way) although some did criticise it as further poisoning French relations with the Ottomans and giving little real reward for the investment. Still, ‘the Eastern Question’ became more concerning than ever as the Great powers wondered just what to do with the dying man of Europe.[/FONT]


Tel-el-Kebir.JPG

[FONT=&quot]The Battle of Jebel ‘Atāqah, 1883[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]British soldiers attempting in vain to reach the surrounded cavalry detachment[/FONT]
 
Last edited:
[FONT=&quot]The Black Rising
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Just as the Great powers were occupied in the East, in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies the propaganda of the deed would send shockwaves throughout Europe. King Francis II had come to embody all that radicals and even many moderates hated, his reactionary policies and opposition to the Risorgimento going dead against the tide of Italian nationalism and revolutionary politics. In his own Kingdom his military successes and closeness to the Pope made him a comparatively popular figure (although on the island of Sicily his repression following their revolt was often still bitterly remembered) among his highly conservative and Catholic populace, but in the Kingdom of Italy opinion of him was something else entirely. Those who were veterans of the Risorgimento hated him for halting their dream of a united Italian peninsular and he was generally regarded as the country’s worst enemy for his steadfast opposition to them, whilst among more revolutionary sectors of society he symbolised all the worst parts of the old order they so desperately wanted to leave behind. During this same period, revolutionary activity was undergoing a change as the internationalism of communism and anarchism replaced the nationalism of the old revolutionary groups in Italy, with the old nationalist secret societies being displaced by or evolving into various workers’ groups aiming at social reform. Although many of these groups produced publications and talked of great deeds, only a small portion acted on them and the Neapolitan security apparatus had become quite adept at snuffing out any open dissent. One such small uprising had occurred in 1877, led by the anarchists Carlo Cafiero, Errico Malatesta, and Sergey Stepnyak-Kravchinsky. In the aftermath of its defeat, Malatesta was executed by the Neapolitans as he had already attempted to lead an uprising in 1874, Stepnyak was deported from the Two Sicilies and returned to Russia (where he died attempting to assassinate Nikolay Mezentsov, head of the country’s secret police), and Cafiero was imprisoned, securing release in 1882 thanks to his family. The same year that he was released, Cafiero met with Giovanni Passannante, who had achieved fame after his successful assassination of Ferdinando Beneventano del Bosco, a formidable Neapolitan general and political presence even at the age of 65, in 1878. The two quickly set about preparing for an uprising, Passannante being only too happy to work with the notable Cafiero, and Cafiero being impressed to have found a man with the same apparent dive as the martyred Malatesta. Where before uprisings had failed and assassinations had been limited in impact, they planned to first throw the Kingdom into disarray with a series of bombings before launching their insurrection in several of the major cities to exploit the situation. These initial grandiose plans were soon toned down to something more practical, but they retained much of their original optimism. The bombing targets were reduced to a shortlist of the usual suspects, whilst the armed uprising was slated to be launched in Naples and Taranto (Sicily was considered unripe for revolution thanks to Garibaldi’s fate). From the safe haven of Switzerland the two men gathered money, partially through the anarchist network and partially through illegal means such as counterfeiting and robbery. They were supported in the latter by illegalist anarchists, most especially Ravachol (François Claudius Koenigstein), who in 1881 had escaped police custody, staged his own suicide and fled France after being arrested for the murder of an old hermit. After travelling to the Two Sicilies, he had become involved in the Italian anarchist scene and played an important role in organising the stealing of arms and money in France to be smuggled into the Kingdom. Emilio Covelli, a veteran on the failed 1877 uprising in which he had lost two fingers on his left hand and had suffered imprisonment before being released the year after Cafiero, was the principal organiser in the Two Sicilies itself, until late 1885, when Passannante joined him in the country. He was responsible for the secreting of materiel and the recruiting of contacts in important positions within the Kingdom itself (i.e. railway workers rather than politicians). In Switzerland, Élisée Reclus gave them his patronage, opening up further contacts and support to the group and offering several alternations to the plan, most especially suggesting involving the Garibaldians as a symbolic gesture. The only major setback that interrupted preparations was the mental breakdown of Cafiero in 1883, the end of a road of increasing paranoia, stress and a general decline in health brought on by his stay in prison. His legacy was the original plan for the uprising and the drawing together of the involved parties, both of which began to drift further from his vision after his admittance to a psychiatric institution. Following this episode, Passannante moved to the Two Sicilies, where he was force to keep on the run and move from safe house to safe house so as to avoid the authorities (he was still wanted for the murder of Mezentsov). However, this did allow Covelli to reduce his workload, the stress of the revolutionary life having also taken a toll on his own health (some of his comrades later confessed they had been worried that he might go the same way after hearing of Cafiero’s fate). It was at this point that Amilcare Cipriani, an anarchist and a veteran of several Italian wars as well as the Paris Commune, was contacted and met with Covelli, who invited him to join the plot. Cipriani did not commit himself to joining until he had also met Passannante and had long discussions with both men, although he would later deny knowing anything of the bombing aspect of the plan. The inclusion of Cipriani also led to the invitation of Menotti and Ricciotti Garibaldi as he insisted on their participation as a condition of his own. Menotti, as the elder brother and more experienced, went ahead into the Two Sicilies in 1884 to help with proceedings but apparently also to keep an eye on the anarchist proceedings as the Garibaldians were suspicious of them. Meanwhile, Ricciotti and Cipriani stayed in the Kingdom of Italy and set about organising a group of volunteers they named the ‘Apennine Legion’ (they originally wanted to name it the Garibaldi Legion, but the anarchists were less than enthusiastic) to enter into the Two Sicilies to support the insurrection once it began.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Although bombing had originally been an important element of the plan for the revolution, it had been toned down until it was officially abandoned all together at the behest of the Garibaldians. However, in the closing days of 1884 Covelli received word from one of his contacts that the Royal train would be making a trip to Rome within a week. Covelli informed Passannante and the two quickly set about making ready, dispatching messages to the various anarchist groups to tell them that a final date had been set for the uprising. As the train was travelling along the line from Naples to Rome, Passannante and a group of several anarchists were planting their bomb. A large amount of dynamite stolen from a mine by a sympathetic worker was laid along the track and the fuse set. When a lookout warned of the approach of a train, the group finished their preparations and hid themselves from view so as to prevent the driver from noticing anything wrong. The explosives were detonated slightly prematurely, but the train was derailed by the destroyed tracks and was travelling with enough speed that the locomotive was badly smashed and the tender as well as the front two carriages were completely destroyed. Several more carriages were badly damaged and the devastation appeared so great that the anarchists considered seizing the train and kidnapping any important personalities aboard, but a couple dozen guardsmen had survived and quickly spread out both to cover the train and rescue any survivors from the forward carriages. The bombing killed a total of 38 people, including King Francis II, Queen Maria, Prince Ferdinand Pius, the King’s half-brother Prince Pasquale, his wife Infanta Adelgundes, and a number of railway staff and guardsmen. Before long, Passannante and his comrades had bundled into an automobile (stolen about a week prior) and were speeding away from the scene of their attack, back towards Naples where Covelli was just giving the order to launch the insurrection. The anarchists had the element of surprise and quickly managed to seize a fair portion of the city, before pushing into the more wealthy San Ferdinando quarter. Fighting in the south east was bitter as the anarchists sought to force entrance into the Royal Palace, where troops from the Arsenal and the Castello Nuovo had reinforced those already on guard and were conducting a steadfast defence. In the south the Gran Quartiere di Pizzofalcone was taken after a sudden assault at the beginning of the fighting, a handful of Neapolitan troops escaping to the Castello Dell Ovo. In the West some fighting also occurred as a group of anarchists attempted to storm the Castel St Elmo. Their attack was unsuccessful and the anarchists did not attempt to attack the fortress again, instead ensconcing themselves in the buildings surrounding the hospital to block any attack from St Elmo into the city. The sprawling residential neighbourhoods, to the north of the more affluent areas in the south and the fortresses guarding them, were filled with a large urban population that varied wildly in its political loyalties. Covelli spent some of the initial period of the insurrection attempting to win over the people by making speeches and exhorting them to rise up against the monarchy. The anarchist met with little success, although some workers did join him. Having failed to rally any great number of men to the anarchist cause, Menotti was sent for. The Garibalian had been hiding in the north eastern docks close to the market and had instantly headed out onto the streets to join the fighting when he had first heard shots (it is not known if he knew the exact timing of the uprising’s start). Unfortunately for him, police had been watching him closely since his entry into the country and two members of the secret police gunned him down along with two of his men as the three of them ran in the direction of the market. It was to be one of the few examples of successful preventative action on the part of the Neapolitan authorities that day. Fighting continued throughout the day and just as barricades were being erected Passannante arrived back in Naples with his men, bringing news of the destruction of the Royal train. This was announced to the people, without any further details, and some were draw into joining the rebel ranks. When the first day ended the anarchists were still barricading the northern districts and continuing to fight in the south, the Royal Palace having been abandoned to the anarchists after the Swiss Guard fell back into the Castello Nuovo and the Arsenal. During the night activity in general died down, but one group of anarchists managed to blow their way through the northern wall of the arsenal just before dawn. A series of assaults followed, the first two being driven back by the Neapolitans with support from the troops within the Castello Nuovo, but the third forcing its way inside, forcing the troops’ surrender and taking the arsenal. During the fighting Passannante was wounded in the arm, but the successful capture of the building left a large quantity of arms in the hands of the rebels and they were quickly distributed to anarchists throughout the city.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]However, later on the second day [FONT=&quot]rumours[/FONT] of the killing of nearly the entire royal family began to spread. Whilst the news that the King might have been killed was not particularly troublesome to many of the citizenry, and was indeed welcomed by many, the murder of his family was another matter entirely. The Queen and the children had been popular among the deeply religious people, the urban population of Naples being known for its conservatism. With only a small section of the middle and lower classes within the city supporting the uprising as it was, the rebels could not really afford any loss of backing. In any event, recruitment to the anarchist cause dwindled virtually to a stop on the second day as these rumours circulated. From a total of around only 350 at the start of the uprising, the anarchists had grown in number to around 900 in the city by this point, the high-water mark of their strength. For the rest of the second day the anarchists mainly consolidated their positions as they had largely run out of momentum, the Church of San Gregorio Armeno in the heart of the northern districts becoming their headquarters.[/FONT]

698px-The_Maps_of_the_Society_for_the_Diffusion_of_Useful_Knowledge_-_Naples_1835.jpg

[FONT=&quot]The [FONT=&quot]city of [/FONT]Naples, 1[FONT=&quot]835[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]A map of Naples showing the city before the major architectural chang[FONT=&quot]es following the Black Rising[FONT=&quot], 1884-5[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
 
Last edited:
[FONT=&quot]The Apennine Legion and the End of the Black Rising[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]By the third day the Neapolitan troops had been significantly reinforced and began to force the anarchists back across the city. From the west they swept in and by the end of the day had forced a passage to the Castello Nuovo, trapping a group of around three dozen rebels in the Gran Quartiere di Pizzofalcone, where they were slaughtered after refusing to surrender. Artillery fire from St Elmo badly damaged the hospital and caused several fires in nearby streets, although no real effort was made by the Neapolitans to advance from the fortress. The northern districts, which had been only lightly garrisoned by the rebels, were quickly swept through and a vicious fight around the Church of San Gregorio Armeno developed, where Covelli was killed by an artillery blast (the Bourbon troops having brought cannon into the city) whilst supervising the evacuation of the headquarters. The surviving anarchists fell back to the religious complex of Santa Chiara in the centre of Naples, where they continued to hold out until the fourth day, upon which artillery fire brought down enough of the complex to force their surrender. Of the 900 or so anarchists, some 210 were killed in the fighting and an unknown number wounded (the anarchist legend surrounding the rising claims about a dozen managed to escape the city), compared to about 180 Bourbon dead and 450 wounded. Almost a thousand civilians were killed, mainly due to Bourbon artillery fire from St Elmo and cannon brought into the city to destroy the barricades.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Outside of Naples, the uprising had gone even more disastrously, the anarchists in Taranto having been defeated within a day after they failed to seize almost any key positions and they came under fire from the Bourbon ships in the harbour. Ravachol being killed in a shootout as he attempted to escape the city with his comrades. Cipriani and Ricciotti, at the head of the 1,500 men of the Apennine Legion, had crossed the border on the second day, having only been informed on the day of the rising and as such having had to rush to put their part of the plan into action. The Italo-Neapolitan border was heavily fortified by both sides and the Garibaldians were concerned about the possibility of the Italians attempting to stop them if they realised what was happening. Therefore, they had decided to cross into the Papal States and proceed through the mountains before entering the Two Sicilies, hoping that they would be able to slip through undetected. Unfortunately for the Garibaldians, locals informed the authorities of the arrival of the troops and the Papal Gendarmerie Corps quickly send out patrols. Several small firefights took place as the Gendarmes found the Legion, before they fell back and called for reinforcements. Debate as to whether to push on or turn and face the Papal forces was short as Cipriani convinced the others that a quick attack to scatter the enemy before they were able to build up their strength was the correct course of action. The resultant Battle of Nocera Umbra left about 40 Papal dead, 90 wounded and 20 captured, as well as 20 Garibaldian dead and 30 wounded. The Papal forces were temporarily scattered and the town of Nocera was seized, allowing the Legion to press on. They crossed the border during the night without any further fighting and having captured several more small towns and villages without bloodshed. On the third day the Legion advanced on L’Aquila, expecting the city to rise in revolt and join them in overthrowing the King. However, by that point it had become common knowledge in the city that the Royal family had been assassinated (even if it had not been officially announced due to fears of making the government appear weak) and the arrival of the Garibaldians was met with great hostility by the inhabitants, who viewed them as foreign invaders from the north. Several small actions occurred as the Legion tried in vain to force its way into the city, but the citizens organised militia units to aid the Bourbon troops so that the Neapolitan forces came to significantly outnumber the Legion. The Battle of L’Aquila was then fought as the Neapolitans sallied out of the city to face the Legion, forcing the Garibaldians to retreat and begin the long march back to Italy. In the battle the Garibaldians sustained some 190 casualties, compared to 320 Neapolitans, but were nevertheless forced back by weight of numbers and had to abandon their wounded. The following retreat through the Papal States saw numerous clashes as both Papal and Neapolitan forces pursued the retreating Legion, which suffered around 560 casualties (virtually all of the wounded being captured as they couldn’t keep up with the column) and 400 wounded. When the remains of the Apennine Legion finally made it back into Italy, their strength had been reduced to only 490, less than a third its original strength.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]With the defeat of the Garibaldians as well as the anarchists, hopes for the overthrow of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were dashed. It should be noted that some small uprisings took place in Sicily when news arrived of the risings in Naples and Taranto, but remained localised and were quickly defeated or forced into the hills and a life on the run. Passannante was executed in the aftermath of the rising, along with around 30 other anarchists. Cipriani was imprisoned after his capture in the Papal States and eventually released in 1892, a similar fate to the majority of the Garibaldians as they generally avoided execution due to political considerations. Ricciotti was the only rebel leader to escape both imprisonment and execution as he reached safety in Italy with the survivors of the Apennine Legion. In the end the Black Rising did more to bring the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies together than to tear it down as the Apennine Legion was framed as an Italian invasion, fuelling anti-Italian feeling among the Neapolitans and boosting the previously limited nationalist feeling within the country. The assassination of so many members of the Royal family led to an outpouring of sympathy and public grief in the following days, directed especially towards the orphaned Princess Christina (who was 29 years old) and leading some to suggest that the law be changed so that she could take the crown. However, in the end it was Prince Louis (the eldest of Francis II’s younger brothers) who ascended to the throne.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]The new King had struggled with alcoholism for some years as the result of an unhappy marriage with Queen (previously Duchess) Mathilde Ludovika, but threw himself wholeheartedly into the running of the Kingdom. Although he was genuinely grieved by the death of his relatives, being given new direction also gave him a new lease on life and he became a dedicated and tireless ruler.[/FONT] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
Louis_of_Bourbon-Two_Sicilies%2C_Count_of_Trani..jpg
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]King Louis of the Two Sicilies
[FONT=&quot]Prior to bec[FONT=&quot]oming King[/FONT][/FONT]
[/FONT][/FONT]
 
[FONT=&quot]Native Indians in Mexico
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In the late 1870s, the last free tribes of the Great Plains were brought to heel one by one. The US government extended its control westward through the strong arm of the US cavalry and the lifeline of the railroads. The Native Americans, greatly outnumbered and lacking in modern arms, were pushed back until only a handful of the most resilient and fearsome bands remained. Among their peoples many fled south into Mexico, where their leaders sought to live peacefully on large reservations granted to them by the Mexican Emperor, on the condition that they cease raiding, allow missionaries to work among them, and provide scouts for the army from among their number. Of the two most powerful tribes, it was the Comanche who adapted most easily to this new lifestyle, as their power had been in decline for several decades already and they had built up many contacts and friends among the Mexicans through the Comancheros. By 1885 they had near enough 100 men acting as scouts in the Mexican Army, with another 300 in the Batallón de Caballería Indias n.º 1, alongside some 50 Kiowa. The Comanche and some of the Kiowa shared a 40,000 square mile reservation in Northern Mexico, where they lived comparatively peacefully and began to rebuild their lives, generally adapting to the western lifestyle. Compared to them the Apache, the most powerful Native American tribe in the late 19th century, was ferocious and warlike. Although in the 1870s many Apache crossed into Mexico and settled on two separate reservations of 22,000 and 10,000 square miles, hundreds remained in the USA on their traditional lands (it should be noted that the Apache were not a united people, the term here being used to include all the Apachean peoples except the Navajo, who remained entirely in the USA). Led by Geronimo, they fought on until 1889 when Geronimo was killed after a series of battles which had taken him from the USA into Mexico. In several related actions the Mexican military fought against the US cavalry, each side supported by Native American scouts, as the Mexicans sought to protect their territorial integrity. Geronimo had previously urged no compromise and fought against both Mexico and the USA, but by the early 1880s he had come to focus his energy toward his enemies north of the border. In the end though, the chief refused to surrender and continued fighting until his death in battle, after which his body was brought back to the USA by the US cavalry. Despite Geronimo’s defeat and death, the Apache remained strong as the majority had accepted sanctuary in Mexico. Unlike the other tribes, the Apache clung more stubbornly to their old ways, sending delegates to the Mexican Emperor to ask that he provide buffalo for them to hunt and stop the poachers from slaughtering any herds. The Emperor agreed to their request and by 1890 there were some 30,000 buffalo in Mexico in herds protected by royal decree, set aside for the Native Indians to hunt. At the same time, some 300 Apache made up the Batallón de Caballería Indias n.º 2, with another 60 acting as scouts. Indeed, Emperor Maximilian had become enamoured with the Native Americans and from 1882 had a personal guard of half a dozen Kiowa that followed him everywhere. Furthermore, the reservations received a significant portion of their funding through personal donations from the Emperor, a move that made him less popular among the Mexicans living in the north who had endured Native Indian raids for generations (although the reservations did bring an end to the raids, only the older generations continuing to hold grudges).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Unlike Northern Mexico, where relations with the Native Indians had been generally improving ever since the Emperor defeated the forces of the republic, the South was struggling with a bitter conflict between the Yucatecos (those of European descent) and the native Maya. The conflict was known as the Caste War and had begun decades prior, in 1847, when the local Mayans had rebelled against the Yucatecos, who dominated what was at that time the Republic of Yucatán. The government’s situation had become increasingly desperate and in 1848 they had appealed to Mexico for aid against the rebel Mayans, aid which they received at the cost of their independence. With Mexican support the Yucatecos pushed the Maya back into the southeast of the state, but by the 1850s a stalemate had developed, with the Mayans centred in Chan Santa Cruz continuing to hold out and even winning recognition of the sovereignty from the British. However, it should be noted that the Chan Santa Cruz state was not the only independent Mayan community, the Ixcanha Maya refusing to break with traditional Catholicism and receiving support from the Mexicans due to their conflict with Chan Santa Cruz, and the Icaiche Maya raiding into British Honduras until a retaliatory raid caused them to switch sides and ally themselves with Mexico against Chan Santa Cruz. When Maximilian had taken the throne of Mexico, he had initially accepted the advice of his supporters and continued the war against the Maya (the fact that Chan Santa Cruz had broken with the Church effectively decided the matter for him). However, the Empire had been too busy fighting republican rebels in the North before the 1870s to worry about the Mayans in the South and after that the threat of American invasion had been great enough that the Emperor was unwilling to tie up valuable troops in the Yucatán. Because of this, no real action was taken until 1874 when an expedition was launched by the Imperial government, the USA having become distracted by their war with Spain at the end of the previous year. The expedition had reached Chan Santa Cruz but had been driven back thanks to a mixture of jungle diseases and fierce Mayan resistance, the former playing particular havoc among the Yucatecos (especially the 3rd battalion of the 1st New Virginia ‘the Undefeated’ Cavalry Regiment, which was decimated by disease during its participation in the campaign and lost three quarters of its strength). Only in 1889 was another full-scale expedition, as opposed to a raid, launched by the Imperial government. By this time, the Ixcanha and Icaiche Maya had both signed treaties granting them their lands as reservations in return for their help fighting Chan Santa Cruz and re-joining Mexico (The Emperor had agreed to this after being influenced by his dealings with the Native Indians in Northern Mexico). This expedition achieved a far greater level of success but still some Maya continued the resistance, with skirmishes continuing until a brutal pacification campaign from 1896 to 1898 crushed the last of the rebels (it should be noted both the 1889 and 1896 campaigns received French military support). Even so, for years afterwards any non-Maya who entered the jungles of the Yucatán would be killed by bitter locals who had not forgotten all that they had suffered at the hands of the Yucatecos.[/FONT]

caste_war-_historic_photo_of_mayan_soldiers_-_courtesy_of_caste_war_museum.jpg

Maya rebels during the Caste War
The late 1880s
 
capturing the regent and forcing him to negotiate.
Korea isn't Abyssinia, our highest ranking government officer doesn't lead the military to war. At best expect negotiations after capture of Ganghwa, Inchon then siege of Seoul.
Also, since the Treaty of Hanyang just made Korea independent from China the country may need to be coloured 'blank' or something else.
Finally, a question: will the earlier opening make Korea industrialise quicker than OTL?
 
Top