The Water's Wrath: An alternate 19th century and beyond

[connorCD]

​

The Ligurian Sea - 1815​

The waters of the Mediterranean swayed in anger as the storms raged across the sea. The waves thrashed and rippled among the walls of the Inconstant. Aboard the ship was a collective of men, including one particular man who had nearly brought the empires and kingdoms of Europe to their knee's until his eventual downfall. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte. This man was aboard the ship for a reason; to return to the fields of France once more and once again become the leader of its people. Doing such, however, would not be easy as not only does it seem like the nations of the continent were at his throat, but so were the very waters that surrounded and provided it.

​

The sea that encased this boat kept everyone at bay, trying to make sure not to fall and drown; Napoleon especially. But like all men, the former Emperor was not invulnerable and, in a swift turn of events, was cast overboard by the thrashing waves, driving everyone to a near panic. Not long afterwards, a dog of one of the men jumped to the waters to save the fallen general, but to no avail [1]. In the span of 15 minutes, the man that challenged nearly the entirety of Europe and would change the course of history forever, had drowned.​

(1769 - 1815)​

[1] - This is obviously meant to be our point of divergence. IOTL, the dog kept Napoleon above water until he was pulled back onto the brig, making way for the general to return to France and begin his hundred days regime.

So after about more than a year of lurking, commenting, and occasionally making threads, I decided to finally make an actual timeline. Now, to clarify a few things, I will firstly mention that I am not an expert researcher or writer, so there may be some points in this timeline that may get glossed over, be rather implausible, or even inaccurate to history, so if there's any wrong to that, then mention it to me. Second, I'll probably be using a bit of Wikipedia for this so again, my information for some of this could be wrong. Thirdly, The updates to this timeline will likely not be consistent in release, especially when I have school starting up later in the month, So don't expect an update every day or week. Hell, I'm not really sure how long this series will last or how in depth I would get into it, so I may occasionally need help for it. Anyways, this timeline will of course be in which the hundred days government doesn't happen, leading to a mildly different Europe at first which would slowly change overtime (along with the world in general). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this timeline and we'll see what we can expect in the future.

 

[connorCD]

The Congress of Vienna

A German illustration of the aforementioned assignment, 1815​

After Bonaparte's exile to the island of Elba, the great powers of Europe made several agreements on what would become of the continent after the conflicts that were the Napoleonic wars. While there were some disagreements between said powers and their delegates (most importantly the Polish-Saxon crisis regarding the territories of Poland, Saxony, Prussia and Russia), at the end it was all eventually finalized by the midst of 1815, a few months of Napoleon's tragic death at sea. Various territorial changes were made including compromises held for Poland and Saxony, the reorganization of the German and Italian states, the creation of the German confederation, and so on. The most important details would regard the state of France and the house of Bourbon.

The agreement that was made by the delegates for the 1814 treaty of Paris was that the house of Bourbon, headed by Louis, Count of Provence was to be reinstated as the monarchs of France under a constitutional monarchy and that France were to secede a multitude of their colonies (though islands such as Mauritius, Tobago, St. Lucia and the Seychelles were to be given back to France in a later date [1]). Frances proper were to also be reduced to its 1792 territories, however some minor territories such as minor parts of the Saar and Rhine, parts of Savoy, Montbeliard, Avignon and the Comtat were to be kept. In Exchange, France would also be allowed to keep several artifacts taken during the Napoleonic wars and that most other generals that served under Napoleon would remain in their positions (albeit under potential monitoring from the restored monarchy[2]).​

The Borders of France after the Congress​

Another important note regarding the congress regards two countries not often mentioned in world history: Sicily and Naples. Before 1799, Naples and Sicily were under a personal union under the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV and III. However, a swift invasion by the French led to the king fleeing to Siciliy as Naples is put under a puppet government known as the Parthenopaean Republic (which wouldn't last long as the next year, it would collapse and Ferdinand would be restored as king of Naples again). After the third coalition, however, Ferdinand would flee again and this time would be replaced by Napoleon's brother, Joseph, as king and later by Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law. After the congress of Vienna, however, it was decided that the personal union between both kingdoms would be broken, with Joachim retaining the throne of Naples and Ferdinand solely ruling over Sicily under British protection [3].

The arrangements of the treaty would be put into effect on June 9th, 1815, reshaping Europe as we now it. But while Napoleon's empire had been, in all aspects, crushed, his legacy would not. The ideas of liberalism and republicanism would continue to persist, leaving the conservative powers of Europe and beyond at bay.​

[1] I found out about this from this thread by PauL62. I'm not sure if this is actually accurate so if someone says otherwise, let me know.
[2] I believe all or most of this information came from the original treaty of Paris of 1814, however it all went down the drain when Napoleon came back and engaged with the coalition once more. With him out of the picture, these terms stay which may or may not have some effect on France's future.
[3] I remember hearing one person claiming this isn't likely in another thread questioning about no hundred days, so I want to hear information about that from someone else as well. Though I still want to explore the idea.

 

[connorCD]

Across the pond


​

Around the same year as the Congress of Vienna, another important truce was taking place: the end to the war of 1812.

Since the nation's independence, the United States' relations with the British empire had been considered muddy and this period was no exception. Between 1812 and 1815, the two nations had been at war for various reasons (particularly trade and territory) and had just now finally started to calm down. Despite that, many Americans nowadays don't consider the war to be part of the Napoleonic wars due to the US not ever forming an official alliance with the French at this time. Terms between the republic and the kingdom were finally ratified by the US senate on February 17, 1815, only a few months before the Congress of Vienna. Despite nearly 3 years of conference and many ounces of blood shed, no real long term settlements were made, not even over territorial disputes. That meant territorial issues regarding areas like the Oregon territory, Red River colony and the Islands of Refreshment wouldn't be resolved until years later [1]. One notable impact it made for the Americans, however, was it worsening the popularity of the already declining Federalist party, which would drag on their eventual demise in the coming decades.​

The signing of the treaty of Ghent, December 14 1814, which would not be put into effect until months after
​

[1] OTL Tristan De Cunha. One of the reasons the islands were annexed by the UK was because they wanted to keep track of Napoleon on St. Helena to make sure he doesn't escape again. Without him running around, the UK would have less of a reason to annex them (though they probably would still try to due to its close proximity to South Africa). However, I'm thinking about keeping them under US sovereignty mainly because I thought it would be at least interesting.