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(OOC: I first tried this TL in the After 1900 discussion, but I failed to have a decent PoD and my ideas were all over the place. Hopefully with an earlier, improved PoD the TL would make more sense. If anyone has read my first attempt let me know if the PoD improved at all, I tried to make it more plausible but I don't know if it came out that way. Here it is, my second shot at The Iron Crown and the Eagle.)


Part One: Introduction





Point of Divergence: 14 June 1888, Otto von Bismarck sits at the bedside of Frederick III. The two discuss the path of the German Empire in the future with the King’s failing health in mind. Bismarck, speaking on plain terms as requested by the King, brings up Crown Prince Wilhelm and with Bismarck’s silver-tongue, convinces Frederick that the Crown Prince will destroy the nation. That night, Frederick declared his second son, Prince Henry, as his heir and the new crown prince.

The very next day, the King of Prussia and German Emperor Frederick III died due to complications from cancer of the larynx. Crown Prince Henry is crowned the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Germany as Heinrich I. Questions and unrest arise as to the passing of succession to Heinrich, but Bismarck’s grip and Henry’s diplomatic popularity give strength to his reign and he is recognized as the legitimate ruler of Germany. Wilhelm is struck hard emotionally by this, and leaves the country in a self-imposed exile. Some say he left to South America, other say that Bismarck had him taken care of, but the truth is he was never found after he left Germany.

In the Empire, Heinrich and Bismarck worked together to strengthen Germany from the interior, using his Kartell (absolute control of the Reichstag), they initiate the anti-Socialist bill, and with the support the King, the Reichstag signs it. Heinrich also took interest with the lower-class and the mine worker’s strike of 1889, not taking control of the situation, but simply showing his people that he cared for them and sought to improve their situation. This alone was enough for Bismarck to smooth over the situation and help quell the strike with some well placed reforms.

In 1890, Heinrich married Archduchess Valerie of Austria to strengthen the ties of the two countries, but it was also out of true love. The two had met at a ball, and hit it off, becoming entranced with one another. Not shortly after, the two were wed in July. Over the next few years, things were very peaceful and prosperous in the German Empire. The new Empress Valerie was loved and easily accepted by her people for her charitable and down-to-earth personality. Soon enough, the Royal couple was gifted with a child, Crown Prince Franz Wilhelm, after his maternal grandfather and paternal uncle.

Bismarck and Heinrich grew close because of the way they ruled Germany, and the Emperor learned much from his Chancellor as he served over him. This lead to Heinrich strengthening ties with the British Empire, an act that seen as a wise one by Bismarck and the people of Germany, and would lead to a future alliance between the two countries.

Heinrich was a skilled diplomat and kept a strong foreign policy under his belt as the Kaiser, but also favored the military as well. Serving in the Imperial German Navy as a commander, he took the knowledge gained from his service and used it to implement changes into the Imperial Navy, strengthening it by denying the grandeur of battleships and dreadnoughts for superior German u-boats and developing the weapons and tactics used by said vessels. All of the naval reforms were eventually approved by the Reichstag and implemented into the Imperial navy by the end of the decade.

Finally, in 1898, with the death of the Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Paul von Hindenburg was chosen by Heinrich as his successor and continued the policy “of the interior” started by Bismarck. The Kaiser and the Chancellor cooperated on many things and were on excellent terms with one another throughout their time leading Germany together, as Hindenburg was a monarchist himself and understood that even though he had great power as the Chancellor, he still had to answer to the Kaiser, something that Bismarck did not care for but worked around with Heinrich due to their relationship.
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