The Treaty of Florence
In 1703, the powers who had feared the rise of a massive Habsburg Empire had assembled a fleet of diplomats to meet in Florence in negotiations. The campaign to begin the talks was spearheaded by the Stadtholder of the Netherlands, Willem III, who was upset over the colonial fights breaking out. The Dutch military, shortly before the meeting, would begin a period of significant military buildup, in order to show that they were not in a position of backing down, and wouldn’t tolerate any shrinking of their borders.
The members that had visited included diplomats from France, with famed ambassador Francois Bochart, The Netherlands, Portugal, who was now increasingly hostile, not seen since the Great European War, The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and Sweden. The first day of the meeting, on July 8th, the sun rose over Florence, and the city began its bustling about. The Palazzo Pitti was chosen as the meeting hall, and the various delegates gathered in one of the largest rooms to begin negotiations. What could be agreed was:
- Britain had become far more totalitarian and isolationist than what could be desired for her
- The seizing of Spain as a puppet state of Austria was overly expansionist and should be curbed by all means necessary
- The colonial claims of each of the colony-owning delegates should be respected
This led to the agreement on an alliance between each of the powers, and the end of July 8th marked a significant event in European history.
July 9th had each envoy and diplomat once again returning to the Palace to negotiate more over a treaty. This day marked several other, new things. An agreement was made to supply the Dutch and French with weapons and manpower in their colonies, in order to maintain American stability, and to strike back if the time comes. Another point was to establish a new monarch on the Spanish throne, perhaps a Hapsburg hostile to others in their own family. The powers also agreed on a military buildup along their borders with the countries in question in order to combat any military action from the enemy.
The last day, July 10th, was notably much more heavily guarded and kept secret from the other days, and it discussed the claims for each country in the event of a peace. France desired Southern Rousillon and a cession of claims west of the Appalachians in Spanish territory. The Netherlands called for sections of British New England and also a cession of claims, but also the notable releasing of several Imperial states from the HRE, right along the border of the Netherlands and the Ruhr, this was expected be in order to form a firm boundary between Germany and the Alliance. Portugal wished for the Duchy of Sardinia, in order to gain a Mediterranean foothold, some Spanish islands in the Caribbean, Spanish Indian settlements, and, their largest claim, at least half of the Spanish Philippines. Poland-Lithuania claimed Silesia, Moldavia, and, strangely, a cession of western Tirol to the Swiss Confederacy. Tuscany was the most humble, only calling for the release of the Italian states from the Holy Roman Empire, and a slice of Pisa (no pun intended). Lastly, Sweden desired colonies in America, and had set their eyes on British Virginia, as well as a claim on Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire, with minor boundary movements.
The Treaty of Florence is thought to be the first step in the fall of the ancient, crumbling Holy Roman Empire.
Kind of a short update, but I wanted to get this out today