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A Brighter Dawn


This is a revision of my earlier “Kicking an Open Door” TL, looking at how to create a plausible Brit-wank, extending British hegemony in the 19th century from first amongst the Great Powers to a true Superpower.


PoD 1802: I'm choosing to avert the Yellow Fever epidemic which claimed the French expedition to Haiti. This is quite possible, as the timings of epidemic flare ups does seem quite arbitrary. This means that Napoleon's American dreams are not yet extinguished, so there is no Louisiana Purchase later on.

1803: Hostilities resume between Britain and France. Secret Negotiations begin concerning the sale of New Orleans to the United States, but Napoleon is unwilling. He still hopes to knock Britain out of the war and gain further colonial possessions for France.

1805: The Royal Navy under Nelson lure the French Mediterranean and Spanish Fleets from port and destroy them in the Battle of Gibraltar. Britain seizes New Orleans from the weak French garrison there, seizes the Baleriacs from Spain, and takes the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch. Later that year Napoleon sells (British occupied) Louisiana and the French Caribbean, including Haiti to the United States, realising they are doing him no good, and hoping to tempt the United States into the war.

1806: The British take Montevido in Rio de la Plata (Argentina). The commander is welcomed by the local merchants, as the British takeover partially reopens their markets. He maintains a set of policies designed to keep the locals happy.

1808: The short Russo-Swedish War ends. After the Russians made disappointingly progress the bulk of Finland remains Swedish, but border adjustments favourable to Russia are made.

1809: A rebellion in the Rio de la Plata is suppressed.

1810: Frustrated with British interference in their trade, the continuing practice of impressment, and British control of New Orleans, and encouraged by Napoleon's continued successes in Europe, the United States declares war on Britain. The war is not initially decisive, although the British and their Indian allies see some minor successes in the North, and both British and American privateers range widely. The United States moves into Florida, at Spanish invitation. The British begin a strategy of blockading the Southern ports but leaving the New England ports untouched, and encouraging smuggling. As a result, the New England state governments refuse to substantially assist in the war.

1812: Napoleon dies during the opening stages of invading Russia. His young son is proclaimed Emperor, but a power struggle breaks out for the Regency. The Austrians take advantage of this weakness, and rejoin the war. An American assault on New Orleans is defeated

1813: After a series of significant reverses, the French internal power struggle is resolved with the emergence of Marshall Bernadotte as President of the Council of Regents. The French have been driven from Spain and Poland, the members of the Confederacy of the Rhine and virtually all other French Allies have defected to the Coalition, Illyria, and the Dutch Republic has been conquered by the Allies. In America, the British win a series of decisive victories in and around the Great Lakes, although lack of manpower prevents them from consolidating these victories, they continue to supply their Indian Allies. The war settles into a lower ebb, with the French fighting a defensive war

1814: With the Continental System broken, the British can turn more of their attention to North America. The United States is defeated. By the end of the war, Washington has been burnt to the ground, and Britain retains New Orleans, and it and its Indian Allies have advanced in the North East, expelling US forces from the Great Lakes and taking Michigan and Northern Ohio. In June, the French sue for peace, and the Americans follow suit shortly afterwards. With Napoleon dead, the British will to fight it exhausted, and they are no longer willing to bankroll the war. The Congress of Frankfurt later that year produces the following results:

-The Confederation of the Rhine is dissolved.
-A German Federation, comprising of 24 states is created. The major states are Prussia, Austria, Hanover, Bavaria, Saxony and Westphalia. Westphalia remained under the rule of Jerome Bonaparte, who had broken with France after loosing the political struggle over the regency of Napoleon II.
-Russia gained half of of the Duchy of Warsaw.
-Prussia gained the other half of the Duchy of Warsaw.
-The Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed from the Dutch Republic.
-Hanover gained Frankfurt and the northern part of the Rhineland.
-Austria regained, Tirol, Salzburg Illyira, and Venetia (reduced in size, so that its border runs along the Adige).
-The French retain their Italian possessions, and the infant Napoleon II remains King of Italy.
-Joachim Murat remains King of Naples. The Kingdoms of Sardinia and Sicily are confirmed as territories restricted to those islands.
-Britain's rule over the captured colonies of the Rio de la Plata, Louisiana, the Cape Colony, Ceylon, and the Dutch East Indies is confirmed. The Americans also agree to cede the entirety of the Indiana Territory, plus Michigan, and agree to border adjustments around Niagara. The US retain Haiti and the French Caribbean. US forces remain in Florida, although it remains nominally Spanish. American freedom of navigation on the Mississippi is guaranteed.
-Gibraltar, the Ionian, Faroe and the Baleriac Islands and Heligoland remain British.




Comments, criticisms, revisions?

Anything ludicrous in the above?

Outstanding questions I see:

How long will New Orleans remain British? I can't see them hanging on to it forever in the face of American expansion, but I do see it as a delaying factor.

Will peace in Europe survive in the face of a much stronger France? The government is in the hands of a divided Regency Council, will this encourage or prevent foreign adventures?

Germany is more evenly divided than OTL, and there are fewer states. How does this impact German unification?

Italy remains within the French sphere of influence - and partially under direct French rule. Will Sardinia and Sicily seek foreign patrons as well? The British are distracted with colonial games, will be see a Austria seeking to extend its influence here?

Russia has not made anything like its OTL gains. Will it look south, and what will happen come the Greek revolution? With a stronger France will Britain desire a stronger Russia as a counterweight? Austria certainly won't, but will want to nobble its own pieces of the Ottoman Empire.
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