The Red Crowns: An Imperial Tale

[Major Crimson]

-snip- Sorry, it was pretty long!

Give George to Canada or Australia.

That man and his impressive beard must be kept on the throne....at least somewhere.

I would love to see SPD imperial socialism Germany and Britain against the capitalist.

Great update. Damn you for that cliffhanger though! The Short War? Is that TTl's Great Wars?

Intrigued!

Wow, I'm glad everyone is enjoying it! It's cool to see a couple accurate predictions alongside some pretty damn wrong ones!

Another update should be out tonight

 

[Major Crimson]

Chapter 3: The Dark Continent

Excerpt from Stumble, Trip and Fall: France 1890-1922
By William Fitzgerald, published 1998 by Penguin Publishing

...despite this historical enmity however, Anglo-French had been on the upturn in the later half of the 19th century, following their victory in the Crimean War, the British and French governments began to develop a level of respect for each other, they were the Old Powers on Europe; the two bastions of stability that stood against the rising power of Germany. This relationship seemed destined for failure however. As in much of their history, British and French interests often lay in the same spheres; North East Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific ect. Wherever Empire could be found so could the Union Jack and the Tricolour. This conflict was most easily seen in North Africa, where the rapidly changing borders soon led to Anglo-French Domination. The Congo Purchase of 1894 led to huge tracks of Belgian land being sold to the British and French and though the price was high (£5 per mile of land), the Belgians were somewhat pressured into the deal by the respective governments. This renewed conflict between the world’s two premier empires was due, in large part, to the politics of the British Conservative Party and of French Foreign Minister Gabriel Hanotaux, who held the position from 1890. Hanotaux took a firm anti-British stand believing that: “Only with French Steel can the British Leviathan be tamed”. With the British Conservatives pushed further and further to the right as the other parties swung decidedly left, they felt a constant need to maintain prestige and did so through dramatic and hard-line expansion in North Africa, where they could stand firmly against their French rivals. Even when the Tories were removed from power in 1895, Britain had already take a far more active role in African affairs. It only made sense then, that conflict would occur…

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Map of The World- Circa February 1896

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Extract from Where and Back Again: The Autobiography of Winston Churchill
Published 1951 by the Churchill Foundation

… though my first true rise to prominence was during the Sudan Crisis, where I had been stationed in Lado as an Officer of the Cavalry. This was after my losing the local election at Oldham in the 1895 election, to a Fabian of course. My posting was a desolate, token one and I knew I would see little advancement from such a position. This is one of the few times in my life when I have been completely and utterly, wrong. I’m sure many of you will have seen Eric Blair’s fantastic “The Guns of Africa” but I have to say that, despite the otherwise accurate production, Mr Blair did have a tendency to exaggerate both the surprising nature of the conflict and of the “insurmountable odds”. We were, in fact, approached repeatedly by the French group beneath a banner of peace but with the repeated insistence that the town (and thereby territory) we were occupying was clearly and rightly; French. Of course, we were outnumbered, the garrison consisted of nigh on one hundred Redcoats, along with my thirty cavalrymen and the french came with a force somewhere between two and three hundred. It was a surprising, in my opinion, for the French to send such a dramatically large force however we can see with hindsight that they simply wished to scare the garrison out of the area, giving them good authority to claim the land. In truth, early talks were peaceful and truly quite cordial. As the highest ranking officer in the town, I helmed early discussions before the arrival of Lord Kitchener. I grew well acquainted with Major Marchand and even after the war we remained friends. It is strange that our Empire would clash with the other so similar to itself and not those rising forces whom I perceived as an ever greater threat. Despite popular belief, the first shot was not fired in the Dark Continent but thousands and thousands of miles away.

Winston Churchill, a few months prior to the Sudan Crisis​

2008 History O-Level Examination Practice
Student: Albert Bowen
Teacher: Mr Brill
Question: Outline the immediate and long term causes of the Short War.

For starts, We talked about this Bertie, no slang. England* and France had been dividing Africa between the two of them and even though the other countries wanted inBe more specific, mention the Italians and Germans , they didn’t let them. England* and France had been getting more friendly in the 1800s but this didn’t work out because of the Sudan Crisis. This happened when French Troops moved into British controlled Sudan. They talked for a while but then began shooting after a fight in IndiaNot India, Afghanistan. Be more specific! , not Africa where a lot of fighting happened. Originly the French didn’t want a war but because of HanutaxSpelling and the Russians they didn’t have a choice and though the first invasion failed, they sent more men to Africa as fast as they could. This made the UK angry and led to the fight at Lado, which Captain Churchill won for England. After this, the King sent a telegram to Paris to ask France to leave or there would be war, he said that Britain was alradySpelling at war with Russia and attack France unless they left but they didn’t and the war started anyway.


* Britain, not England! Remember!

Come on Bertie, I know you can do better than this! I’m almost certain you wrote this on the way to school, you’ve forgot huge details, most of the names, massive spelling and factual errors and of course, you barel had anything on the most important immediate reason: the Russian Invasion! Please redo for monday


7/30
D​

 

[Major Crimson]

Hey guys, I realise the Africa I've come up with is quite dramaticly different, maybe a Brit-wank, maybe a France-wank, maybe both. The idea was to put emphasis on those two are even more dominant than OTL,as well as having a naturally occurring Cape to Cairo route. Map making isn't my strong suit however so feel free to give me a heads up if I've missed anything!

 

[LeCHVCK]

Based on this I have the feeling that the German Imperial Socialists will get some votes soon or George becomes King of Australia.

 

[Zorqal]

Interesting update. A creative way to deliver, especially with the kid's report.

When I was looking at the map, I, with no backing, had the idea of King George of India. Australia seems more likely though, if he was to become king of a colony.

 

[Xenophonte]

Monarchichal Socialism?

Sorry but the political hybrid that was created can not exist.

* A monarchical socialism = Marxism without class struggle? with a Market economy? = not Marxism

It is a social democratic political movement which has created ,not one socialist
* and much less a Marxist.

 

[Major Crimson]

I get that, by nature, Imperial Socialism is illogical but the idea is to reconcile Socialism with traditional values and I attempted to make it clear in the first part that it's very much not Marxist.

Marxism was seen as a good but flawed stating ground for Cunninghame Graham ITTL so he created this, social democracy with a royal spin. And I'd argue that you can be a socialist and a monarchist, Atlee, Moseley and many traditional British socialists (Wells, The Pankhursts and Cunninghame Graham himself) all fell into that category OTL.

Apologies if this is somewhat ranting but it's useful to have a genetic explanation anyway.

EDIT: actually, the Fabians have already had a big impact ITTL, ImpSoc is primarily based on OTL Fabian beliefs.

 

[Badshah]

I'm not sure if Britain or France would be that dominant in Africa. I'd still wager a German Cameroon, an Ethiopia with most of its territory intact, a Portuguese claim on Rhodesia, more protectorates and colonial administrative boundaries, etc. etc.

While there are ways to increase tension between Britain and France, you would still see other powers with a vested interest in acquiring colonies.

EDIT: Also, subscribed!

 

[fernerdave]

What happened to Liberia? Looking forward to more!

 

[King of the Uzbeks]

What happened to Liberia? Looking forward to more!

Both Britian and France annexed large swaths of it IOTL, it looks like they plucked a tad more.

 

[Zorqal]

Are you sure the your poll has absolutly nothing to due with the TL. I would be happy if it had something to do with it.

 

[Major Crimson]

Thanks for the comments guys, I'll take them into account (especially Africa, I might redraw the borders with more Spanish, Italian and German territory). Hope you're all enjoying it!

Are you sure the your poll has absolutely nothing to due with the TL. I would be happy if it had something to do with it.

What? No, that was an entirely unrelated, in no way relevant poll that will have absolutely zero effect on the progression of the TL, at all, zilch, none, nada. Especially not for Prince George...

 

[Major Crimson]

Chapter 4: Sic Semper Tyrannis


Extract from The Turning Points: How History Happened
By Nicola Jovanovich, Published by Moscow Book House 2012


Tsar Nicholas had been seen by many as a peaceful man, continuing his father's policies of a strong Franco-Russian alliance with the express purpose of preventing war. It is, therefore, strange that his Generals would perpetrate an attack that would lead to such a large, if short, war. To understand the situation it is important to note that tensions had been boiling for some months. French forces arrived at Lado on the 18th May 1896 and it would take two weeks for London and Paris to begin real communication. Thus negotiations began on the 3rd of June and were tense the entire time, from step one the British refused to back down: they had been administering the Sudanese Region for a great deal of time now and were not about to bow to French ambition. Though the British government was Liberal-ImpSoc (Commonly called the “Orange Government”), the Tories still had great sway in Parliament and the British public were outraged by the incident. As such, the British Foreign secretary, John Wodehouse, decided on a hardline policy. This is often seen as unusual as Wodehouse was known for his compromising policies, however he was still a Liberal of the Old School and did not foresee the long term effects of his decision. Despite heavy debate, it is now generally accepted that the French were the first to mobilise forces. This may seem hugely reckless, given the situation but by this point a month of negotiations had passed. On the 5th of July French forces in Africa mobilised, though this was expressly stated to be a defensive action and isolated to the African region. The mobilisation was carried out under the advice of French Foreign Secretary Hanotaux who was know to be a diehard Anglo-phobe and saw the British domination of Africa as unacceptable. The British were outraged at the act and carried out their own colonial mobilisation, calling an emergency meeting of the Imperial Council wherein the Dominions pledged their support should war break out. The Russians mobilised two days later and, surprisingly, so did the Japanese. Tensions were at an all time high by July 12th and it would only take a tiny spark to cause war.

This spark came in the form of an 18 year old Georgian poet, Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili, who on the 18th of July was in Moscow, having joined the Russian Social-Democratic Party two years earlier. On this day Russian forces were taking part in a huge military parade, a show of force that was intended to kick start stalled negotiations. At the front of this parade was Tsar Nicholas himself, adorned in his military uniform , alone but for his driver and waving from a gilded carriage, but flanked at all times by his elite guard. The Tsar had taken part in an attempt to show solidarity with his soldiers and with the Empire. After the parade was half done, the Tsar was advised by one of his guards to stop waving as it drew unnecessary attention which could be a security threat. The Tsar advised the guardsman to find a new career and, after an argument with one of his Generals, dismissed his guards entirely, stating that he: "Wished his people to see him as a strong warrior, not a coddled child." We see in hindsight that this was quite possibly the most stupid decision ever made. As the Parade passed by the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Jughashvili lept from the crowd and, shouting the now infamous words: “Sic Semper Tyrannis”, threw a bomb into the Tsar’s carriage. The Georgian was shot more than twenty times in the moments that followed but that didn’t stop the crude, home-made bomb from killing the Tsar instantaneously. Jughashvili saw the current tensions as a side effect of Bourgeoisie Imperialism and hoped that his act would bring about world change, he would never know how right he was. It would take the Russians two months to determine the identity of the killer but only took them two days to declare war.

Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili, The Man who created the 20th century​

 

[LeCHVCK]

Why would France go to war? They are way weaker and they would probably give up some sand in africa for alsace.

 

[Major Crimson]

Why would France go to war? They are way weaker and they would probably give up some sand in africa for alsace.

They haven't yet but it's worth considering that the OTL pro-British French government isn't in power ITTL.

 

[Darth_Kiryan]

Oh my god the massive irony here.

The man of steel must always make an impact.

 

[Major Crimson]

I'll try and get another update up tonight and I'm considering tweaking the map in terms of Africa. Giving Germany more land in West and East Africa, less in the south and maybe something to Italy in the East.

For now though does anyone have any thoughts, complaints, comments ect?

 

[LeCHVCK]

France will never go to war with Britain because alsace-lorraine

 

[Keb]

France will never go to war with Britain because alsace-lorraine

They nearly did OTL, much like Britain and Germany nearly went to war with the USA over Venezuela. While ultimately cooler heads prevailed in both cases, there was no shortage of hotheads anywhere at the time and all it takes is a wrong person at the wrong time in the wrong place.

Also, Alsace-Lorraine, for the most part, didn't even factor in the French public conciousness in the lead-up to the war. While there was a perception of Germany as a rival, the public only really began to care for Alsace-Lorraine after the war began and propaganda started going full-tilt.

If anything, a Franco-British rapproachement was unexpected OTL. The two powers had been rivals for a very long time.

 

[LeCHVCK]

They nearly did OTL, much like Britain and Germany nearly went to war with the USA over Venezuela. While ultimately cooler heads prevailed in both cases, there was no shortage of hotheads anywhere at the time and all it takes is a wrong person at the wrong time in the wrong place.

Also, Alsace-Lorraine, for the most part, didn't even factor in the French public conciousness in the lead-up to the war. While there was a perception of Germany as a rival, the public only really began to care for Alsace-Lorraine after the war began and propaganda started going full-tilt.

If anything, a Franco-British rapproachement was unexpected OTL. The two powers had been rivals for a very long time.

Do you mean Fashoda? Go to the Fashoda Timeline on this board there are empnough reasons for that. A French-British war is possible but for that you need the Pod elsewhere. But keep in mind that I'm not an expert in this period of time and write the story you want angryenglishman