Say, Do You Hear the Distant Drums?
A Timeline
by
Alexis Harding
ACT I, SCENE 1
1888-1901
Germany
The succession of Frederick III of Germany to the throne of the German Empire in the year 1888 was a great occasion. Frederick, born in 1831, was healthy for his age[1] and a liberal character - much to the chagrin of his Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck, arch-conservative and architect of German unification. The fraught relationship between the two would continue until Bismarck's resignation in 1891 over the difficult matter of the Socialist Laws. In late 1890 it was decided that the Laws, banning the Social Democrat Party, were not to be extended past the year 1892. Bismarck, having lost his majority in the Reichstag and unable to dominate Kaiser Frederick, resigned the next year, officially due to reasons of ill health and age. The actual reasons for Bismarck's retirement are still a matter of dispute among historians, but it is believed that his governing without a solid majority as well as his defeat on that particular matter had drastically weakened his constitution.
In 1898, Frederick, taking advantage of the war then raging between Spain and the United States of America, against his better judgement brought the Philippines from Spain. They would end up as little more than a massive sink for money and men until they received independence at the beginning of the 1970's, but at the time the mood for the Philippine annexation was enthusiastic. Also in that year, Russia agreed to a rapprochement and defensive alliance with Germany, in agreement for German neutrality in the 'Drive to the Straits'. An Anglo-German treaty of friendship was agreed upon in 1899, serving to convince the French that Germany planned a second humiliation for the Third Republic.
North America
In North America, the United States of America was beginning an imperialist period which would eventually climax in the National Conservative dictatorship of 1929-2008[2] (it should be stated that National Conservatism only really lasted for a long time in North America - contrast France and Austria - and even then this should probably be noted as due to the problems any land invasion of North America would have to undergo). This began in the Spanish-American War[3], in which America made a protectorate of Cuba, at the time a colony of Spain, as well as seizing Puerto Rico and occupying Haiti. However, the Philippines, desired by the USA at the time, ended up being seized by Germany.
France
The Third French Republic in 1900 agreed to an understanding with Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire in a bid to counter a feared German hegemon. Austria-Hungary was chosen because it had been nationally humiliated in 1866 during the Austro-Prussian War, and like France in part, sought to redress those grievances (however, the public mood in the Augsleich was never as fully in favour of revanche as the French mood was, even during the First European War of 1914-1921). The Ottomans decided to join the French primarily out of fear of Russia, and tentatively agreed to a defensive alliance with France in 1901 . This alliance network would remain unchanged until the First European War, and would be resurrected in part for the second.
Great Britain
The death of the Queen-Empress Victoria in early 1901 was seen as a tragedy by much of Europe. The royals of all her monarchies were present at the funeral, for many were related to that great Queen. She was succeeded by her son Edward VII of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who would preside over the Edwardian era of European history.
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] Our divergence, folks.
[2] This will be explained.
[3] As OTL.