1843 – 1844 – First Opium war. British attention was partially directed over to east Asia for this fight, and so only intervened late in the European revolutions to stop French expansion. Like in OTL, this opens up several treaty ports to China, gives Britain Hong Kong, and begins China’s concessions to the European powers.
1844 – Hispaniola uprising. The move threatens to send Mexico and America to war over their support of various factions in the struggle. America however has the better navy, and therefore is more readily able to supply her preferred government. The revolt is crushed, but Haiti is now even more dependent on the dominion.
1846 – Badr Khans revolt in the ottomans, resulting in direct ottoman and Persian rule over their former Kurdish autonomous subjects.
1844 – 1863 – French conquest of Algeria. France had originally only taken a few towns along to coast with the intention of action as a new trading ally with the interior. However, in 1844 al-Qadir attacks Oran, unofficially declaring war on the French garrisons. This struggle sees France expend lots of blood and treasure putting down a war they would not have liked to fought. Al-Qadir is captured halfway in this timeframe, but the Guerilla war continues deep into the interior. Pacification brings the pied-noirs just like OTL.
1848 – Austria joins the Zollverien, beginning to draw her closer to the German states.
1852 – British conquer Lagos as part of an anti-slavery push to put an end to one of the principle slave trading cities in west Africa.
1852 – Trucial states along the Arabian Coast sign a treaty of permanent alliance to London, finalizing their colonization.
1852 -1855 – Second Anglo – Burmese war which results in annexations along the southern interior and far north, along with British sole access to exploiting Burmese resources.
1853 – After several incidents and Naval Scouts, Russia sends a Naval squadron into Edo. Their goal is to open Japan to Russian trade, establish several treaty ports open to Russian trade, gain extraterritoriality agreements, and make Russia the Japanese MFE. Essentially, the same deal that was already being forced upon China. The Tokugawa have no option but to comply but are able to limit Russian trade access to several open ports in in the North and Hokkaido. Time would see further western powers demand similar treaties of concession from Japan, angering many of the Lower level reformist Samuri like OTL.
1854-1857 – Trier dispute and the collapse of the Zollverien. With the entry of Austria fully into German politics, there were now two power centers battling it out for influence over the minor states. Particularly problematic though was the fact that Prussia unlike in OTL lacked the Rhineland, giving France an entry point into German affairs. This eventually blows up into the Trier Dispute, with French influence in Trier angering the nationalist locals who revolted. When French troops entered, Austria and Prussia took this as an assault on the German Confederation and came to Triers defense. The UK backed the Germans, hoping to contain the rising French. Following several defeats, France was pushed back across the Rhine into Lorraine where bloody fighting ensued between the Germans trying to cross the river. When unable, a peace was settled that forbade France from interfering in German politics, but at the same time recognized French control over their portion of the Low Countries and gave France small pieces of the once-larger Luxembourg.
This peace breaks German Unity. In part this was because of the changing of the guard in Prussia that’s to Williams stroke towards a more nationalist group of leaders and officers. In part this was because without France the region lacked a common foe. In part this was because the Rhine now was a battleground for Austrian and Prussian influence. Either way, the fragile union breaks, and two new coalitions form: The North German Pact dominated by Prussia and the Danubian Alliance centered on Austria.
1855 – End of the Princes era for Ethiopia, uniting the once divided empire once again under one throne.
1856 – 1860 – Second Opium war. The end result is more treaty ports and more concessions, and the British demanding a similar lease to Hong Kong on Shanghai. Sontinuign treaties would see nearly all of china open to European trade. By now, the county is carved into spheres of influence.
1856 – through the mediation of the British, the Empire of Oman is divided between the Sultan of Man and Muscat and the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The sultanate of Zanzibar meanwhile ends up under British influence for the time being.
1857 – The Sepoy rebellion. The effects of this insurrection convince the UK to integrate the Failing East India company into the Empire. The Burman territories are added to the Raj’s domain. Unlike OTL, the UK has learned how to effectively rule a rebellious continent from the United states. The are many more ‘princely states’ that remain in existence when compared to OTL, including the Sikh Kingdom. Like OTL though, the two strongholds of British power are the Bengal – Delhi corridor along the Ganges, and the Bombay presidency. Later on, Britain would compete the ‘Americanization’ of the Indian subcontinent by creating the Dominion of India under a English Monarch after the Great War.
1857 – Mughal remnants are forced into the Raj.
1857 – 1859 – French Entry into Indochina through the conquest of the South and annexation of parts of Cambodia in 1863. The French however are more invested in North Africa then in OTL, and Indochina becomes the edge of the French empire, often ignored.
1858 – 1859 – The two Romanian princes vote for the same leader, effectively forming a personal union, and then takes steps towards independence with Russian help. This move is opposed by Budapest but supported by Russia. A brief struggle between Hungary, the Ottomans, and her supporters in the west and Romania and her Russian allies sees a quick negotiated peace. Romania is united, but remains under joint Ottoman administration and Hungarian garrisons in key border forts.
1859 – 1869 – Suez Canal construction under the French company with British backing. However, there will be no Franco-Prussian war like OTL to see Britain buy out the canal later on.
1860 – Egyptian soldiers under the encouragement of the Ottoman caliph and the Franco-British in the Suez enter Arabia and flush out the remaining Saudi State, handing power fully to the Rashids.
1860 – Russia gains Outer Manchuria from China via concession. This begins the growth of the city of Vladivostok as Russia’s port on the East.
1860 – 1861 – Moroccan – Spanish war. Morocco ends up conceding to Spain enlarged enclaves, mainly in the north.
1861 – Unofficial start of the scramble for Australia. Before this time, there were only a few limited British settlements on the East of the continent. However, by now gold and other metals were being found in the wild outback. France, the United Kingdom, and the Dutch all scramble to draw upon historical documents and claims to pieces of the continent to grab access to the resources. Population also rush in during this initial wave.
1864 – UK hands Ionian Islands to Greece.
1864 – 1867 – The Austro-Prussian War, otherwise known as the German Civil War, consumes central Europe. There are arguments that this war was inevitable ever since the region polarized along the North/South divide. Others point to the Romanian war that convinced Berlin that the Balance of power had shifted away from Vienna and Budapest. But the wars official trigger was actually in Italy rather than Germany. Carbonari revolts in Venice required Italy’s response, and then following Italian losses, Germany would intervene to save her ally.
Unlike the short OTL Brothers war, this war is perhaps one of the single most bloody in the 19th century. The battles are basically a preview of the conflicts to come, like the OTL US Civil War previewing WWI. There were three basic fronts: the Po River, the Central German front, and Bohemia. The Po River front settles down into an early version of Trench Warfare the few back-and-fourth battles across the region. The front is eventually broken because of the Carbonai behind Austrian lines, but this lack of progress weakens the Italian state. The Central German front begins disorganized as fighting is originally led by small armies of the minor states. Prussia’s eventual victory on this front comes from integrating and centralizing the smaller states militaries into their own. The Bohemian front was originally quiet, but the Austrians later outmaneuvered the Prussians and invaded Saxony. This army however found itself cutoff and then eventually surrendered to the Prussians. This led the Prussians to invade, and eventually capture Prague. With North-German victories on all fronts, and soldiers traversing down towards Vienna, the Austrians capitulated.
Prussia essentially now is the Hegemon of Germany and begins integrating the other states – including Austria. Italy gains Venice, but enters a Crisis.
1866 - 1868 – Death of the Japanese Emperor and rise of Emperor Meiji. This event prompts the Imperial faction into action. They launch an immediate coup against the Shogun, which sparks civil war. They samurai are backed by the British and French who wish to limit and gain greater access over Russia who has come to dominate the shogunate. The fall of Edu however sees Russia back away from the Shogun and begin negotiating with the rebels. These talks go nowhere, and even result in worse relations when angry peasants storm and massacre the Russian quarter. In retaliation, the Russian army stationed in the east lands and seizes Hokkaido. With the home islands in chaos, the Emperor and Western Europe can only protest against Russia’s retaliatory action. The Imperial faction will soon have full and centralized control over the home islands.
1867 – Moroccan – French war. Morocco had been giving residence to rebels and raiders against French Algeria. France declares war when their ability to punish these men is repudiated by Morocco. France ends up taking large chunks of eastern Morocco, now part of OTL Algeria.
1868 – Russo-German war. With the collapse of Austria, Russia decides to negotiate with Germany over ending the disputes over Poland and Galicia. Like with OTL France, Bismarck outplays Russia, pretending to give them the go ahead to go and ‘end’ the dispute through intervention. After Russian troops invade, Germany releases confidential documents to the press about how Russia wanted to invade and annex the region into the Empire. ‘Acting on the Advice of Vienna’ Prussia declares war on Russia, to preserve the Habsburgs dominion. This is Bismarks War to Unite the Germans, have former North Germans fight to protect the former interests of South Germans.
The war is Shockingly easy and Quick. The German armies are united, marshalled, and veteran after the German Civil War, whereas the Russians are weakened and still lack modern mobilization tactics. Germany routes the armies around Poland, capturing the general during a rout. The Germans begin to advance further into Russia, traveling mainly up the Baltic towards Petrograd. With defeats on all fronts, Russia enters her own period of chaos.
1868 – 1869 – Carbonari insurrection. The Italian monarchy has thus far angered the liberal underground: they turned against them in 1843, they suppressed them in the 1850s, they have refused to march south against Rome or Naples, and failed in their war with Austria. The Italian radicals fill the void by the evacuating Austrians from Venice and from there announce a full revolution against the old kings of Piedmont. Getting in front of the insurrectionaries, Victor Emmanuel II announces a liberal constitution much like the United Kingdom monarchy but with a few more powers for himself. Then allying with the conservatives, he hopes to quickly quell the revolt. But revolutions now have socialist undertones. The North refuses to put down their arms, and the army has to engage in brutal urban sieges of Milan, Ferrara and Genoa before isolating and destroying Venice.
1868-1869 – First Russian Revolution. With the Germans advancing towards Petrograd, Alexander II flees the city for Moscow. Already unpopular among elites for his policy towards the serfs, a gang paid by a clique of angry elites ambushes the train and kills the Royal Elite. When the news reaches Petrograd, the state new enters emergency mode. The political advisors in Petrograd declare a regency council, with themselves as the council of state. With the Germans now near the outskirts of Petrograd, the council opens negotiations with Berlin. To their surprise, Berlin demands far more then ever expected. The Baltic coast (Most of OTL Latvia and Estonia), where there are large German minorities, is to be transferred from Russia to Germany – effectively giving the Germany a dagger pointed at Petrograd. Parts of the former Congressional Poland are to be handed over Galicia, effectively finalizing the Galicia dispute in favor of the Poles.
This demand breaths new life into the resistance, but without a Czar, the council has no choice but to comply. The German soldiers march into Petrograd and crown a new Kaiser of a united Germany in the Winter Palace. This act ignites the kindling already thrown into Russia by berlin. As the soldiers leave, the Liberals of the city rise up. The Council, fearing for their lives, flees to Helsinki to potentially resist and retake the capitol. But they have already lost. The monarchy is now tainted with scourge of defeat, after already losing the support of the nobility from the emancipation of the serfs. The Nobility turns to the liberals effectively dooming the Republic before it even began. Even though the revolution was bloodless, it effectively set Russia back as the government now is ruled by a coalition of Panslavic, nationalistic, Liberals, who only care about the urban population and the rural elite. The majority of the population, the former serfs, are ignored.
1869 – 1870 – Tunisia declares itself bankrupt to international creditors. This is used as an excuse for the colonials to impose their own restrictions on the Bey. The lack of cooperation from the Tunisian side however sees the UK give the go-ahead for the Two Sicily’s to extract their debts by occupation and structural readjustment. The later sees the Dey become a puppet of Naples.
1870 – 1871 – British back the Ghafiri tribes of Oman in their revolt against Muscat. With the Ghafiri victory, Oman fully becomes part of the British Empire.
1871 – 1873 - Iwakura Mission from Meiji to Europe. While the trip is designed to get recognition for the new Japanese government, it also studies the political culture of Europe. They find themselves preferring the German system, both as a counterweight to Russia, and because Autocracy is the name of the day. They also bring back the ideology of ‘blood and iron’ and revanchism against Russia, seeking to modernize Japan along military-industrial lines.
1872 – British conquest of Tangiers. Done mainly to have a colonial outpost opposite Gibraltar, Morocco easily concedes the city after brief naval assaults.
1872 – Arrival of the German warship Nymph to Sabah. This complicates matters over the north Bornean territory. The British had outposts on the territory, including Brunei to the south and the White Rajas in Sarawak. The Spanish meanwhile claimed total rule over Sulu and had been fighting on and off with Sulu for years. He is sold large amounts of territory that has competing claims over it.
1874 -1877 - Egypt through debts imposed upon them by the Suez Canal company, cash crops, and disease, finds itself more of less a puppet of the French. This would later evolve into a dual colonial arrangement: the French Egyptian company has authority over OTL Egypt, Sudan, the Hedjaz, and the lower Levant, whereas the Anglo-Franco Canal company ‘shared’ access to the Suez. Because the British had acquired more of Egypt’s shares, they technically had majority ownership in the company.
1874 – Creation of the Aden Protectorate around the British Outpost of Aden. The point of the Aden colony was to protect the trade routes to India.
1876 – 1877 – Balkan war, and the following Congress of Paris. The new Russian Republic both in an attempt to prove its strength and success since the revolution. Russia goes to war with the Ottomans in support of Slavic Revolts in the Balkans and to push its ideology of Panslavism. Russia, despite its low-quality army when comparison to Europeans, is easily better armed then the Ottomans. Hungary joins the Ottomans initially, but then pulls out after defeats in Serbia. Russia’s gains in almost all of the Balkans and liberation of several Slavic states worries the other European powers of rising Russian power. At the advice of Bismark who wished to counter Russia, France calls for a conference to decide the fate of the Balkans.
The rough divides of the Congress are: Romania, Russia, and Italy were in favor of a full Balkan Breakup. Hungary, Germany, and the United Kingdom were if favor of preserving Ottoman power. France and her Spanish allies came undecided but were swayed to the preservation argument. France was given Cyprus for her support of the UK’s position. From here, the powers at play swayed Italy from the opposition, promising full approval for an invasion to unite the boot – except Lazio.
With a Preservation majority, the congress turned against Russia. The results were: Romania gains independence and Dobrudgia, Greece gains Crete and several northern territories, Serbia extends her reach a little bit southwards and northwards, Montenegro expands, and Hungary gains both Bosnia as a protectorate and bits of territory between Serbia and Romania. Bulgaria is released but does not get the full swath of territory Russia wishes. Overall, the ottomans are left with Greek Macedonia, Upper Macedonia, Albania, and the Edirne region. The results anger Russia, who sees the congress as a coup by their enemies in Berlin.
1877 – The Sabah Agreement. Germany, with the largest claim to the territory hosts a conference between the powers hosts a congress between Spain, Netherlands, the UK, and themselves to decide the Territory. The end result is the Dutch getting some land to the north of their Bornean territory, The British keeping Labuan and extend their influence over Brunei further north. Spain has her claim over the Sulu islands recognized, but Germany gains the Sabah mainland.
1878 – Famous meeting between Morgan Stanley of America and Dr. Livingston of the United Kingdom in the Congo. This event peaks the British interest in the Congo Basin.
1878 – 1881 – Italian war of Unification. Now with the UK and France pulled out of the Peninsula (outside of Lazio) Italy marches south. Under the advice of France, the Papal States doesn’t resist the advances of Italy through Umbria and Urbino. However, the South is a far harder nut to crack. Naples has been armed and trained by the United Kingdom to resist any incursions like this and fights the north tooth and nail. Ironically the war sees the Carbonari resurface – now converted to a die-hard socialist revolutionary group, and ally with the absolutists to the south. This is the end of the road for both groups though, and Italy eventually defeats both the urban and the rural guerrillas. Italy integrates the Two Sicily’s and their Tunisian colony (soon to be culturally bastardized with the name ‘Carthage’) and unites the Boot – except Rome. The new Capital of Italy is declared to be Florence, moved from first Turin, and then Milan.
