Union and Liberty: An American TL
- Thread starter wilcoxchar
- Start date
I'd love to see a world map, Wilcox
This timeline has been one of my favourites for a long time.
I'm planning on updating the world map after the war's over, and maybe making one based on Qazaq's BAM.
Part Fifty-Eight: Peace at Last
Alright, this update is taking a while to finish due to real life so I'll make this one an add-as-I-write one. Here's what I've got done so far.
Part Fifty-Eight: Peace at Last
Homage to Catalonia: After many back and forth battles in the Mediterranean and France only achieving much success around Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, France finally got the upper hand in the Mediterranean in 1870. In late 1869, France launched a new naval fleet out of Nantes and sailed it toward the English Channel. With several British ships recalled to the Channel to prevent the French gaining superiority in the seas, France caught the naval bases at Malta and the Ionian Islands off guard and landed small forces in various British islands around the eastern Mediterranean. Malta and Corfu were captured by March of 1870, and Kefalonia fell to the French army in September.
On the Spanish mainland, France continued gaining momentum against the Coalition forces in both Catalonia and the Basque Country. Barcelona succumbed to the French siege and balloon bombings after six months as thousands of men lay dead in the streets of the city. The Spanish had resorted to urban fighting to hold off the French as long as they could, and as a result many of the city's buildings were reduced to rubble. After the capture of Barcelona, the French army began advancing northwest. The war ended before any more significant gains were made, however, and Barcelona stood a ravaged husk as French troops filed back to the city during the occupation of the city in the winter of 1870.
In the Basque Country, the Spanish troops and the Irish Foreign Legion were in dire straits. French artillery had been bombarding the Spanish defensive networks and now made extending or repairing the defenses almost impossible. Along with the direct combat, French generals had also enlisted Basques and Carlists in their cause as saboteurs. These saboteurs were disrupting the Spanish rail and telegraph networks and misinformation and dwindling supplies in some areas, causing discontent and several lowered morale among the Spanish infantrymen. The stalemate at the Guernica River that had held off the French for years at last shattered in May of 1870 and French soldiers surged through the widening cracks in the Spanish line like water breaking through a failing dam. By the time the General Armistice was agreed to in November of 1870, the French had seized both Bilbao and Vitoria. Bilbao was one of the cities with a French presence between the General Armistice and the Berlin Conference in March of 1871 finally restored peace to Western Europe.
In Flanders Fields: France also made many gains in the final year of the Second Napoleonic War in Belgium. The French kept the front in the eastern half of Belgium at the approximate line following the Sambre River and moved tens of thousands of men to the western section of the front. The increase in French troops punched a hole in the Coalition lines near Lille and Kortnijk across the Belgian border fell into French hands by April. The French advance widened to include Tournai and Ypres in the next two months as Belgian leaders began considering engaging in separate negotiations with the French.
As the French continued marching through Belgium, the French general Antoine Chanzy turned the army's advance not toward Brussels, but rather toward the coast of Belgium. President Louis-Napoleon had reasoned that Great Britain had become the main opponent to France in the war and advised his military staff to focus on injuring Great Britain as much as they could. Additionally, the British had made a landing of thirty thousand more soldiers, two thirds of whom were Irish, at Dunkerque at the beginning of 1870. French forces had been able to contain this new British force in the city until now, but it was growing ever more difficult as the Royal Navy was sending supplies through several Belgian ports and the French ships in that part of the English Channel were unable to stop enough supply shipments.
General Chanzy kept the pressure against the Coalition lines as the British and Belgians were pushed further back toward the Channel. The French army in the central push was divided into three sections. The Ypres Corps was tasked with taking Nieuwpoort, the Rosselare Corps was tasked with harassing Brugge and taking the city if possible, and the Krontijk Corps was tasked with advancing toward Ghent. The Ypres Corps took Nieuwpoort while the Rosselare Corps reached as far as Oostkamp just south of Brugge by July. The trap was set and the Ypres Corps turned west to accompany the other French armies surrounding Dunkerque.
The Evacuation of Dunkerque and the General Armistice: As the hot summer months bore down on Europe in 1870, the French armies in Belgium were content to sit and hold their positions while the main force of the French northern front was turned toward Dunkerque. The British had unloaded an extra hundred thousand men in the French port city the previous winter, bringing the total number of Coalition soldiers in the Dunkerque area to a staggering 150,000 men. By the beginning of August, the French had almost a complete wall of people and field guns arranged in a tweny mile wide semicircle from Gravelines to Koksijde.
The first site of fighting in the Battle for Dunkeqrue came in Koksijde, where the British armies attempted to push back the French and recapture Nieuwpoort and another supply port. The British force, while concentrated in this circle, was also necessarily spread out all around the circle and the Ypres Corps easily repelled the British attack. Once London realized the situation in Dunkerque as the French started to close in on the city, the Royal Navy attempted landings and naval bombardments at Calais and Boulogne and create a wider field of play in the battle. These landings succeeded for a few days, but within two weeks the British were rebuffed and the small landing parties had to be sailed back across the Channel.
The final assault on Dunkerque took place between August 13th and October 21st of 1870. In mid-August, the French forces began to close in on the city, taking large losses from the British artillery and the Royal Navy. Naval attacks on Gravelines heavily damaged the army there, but the French continued inching forward. The British attempted to break out of the city and gain a wider front as French artillery began lobbing shells into the city, but no attempts in August or early September were successful. Heavy fighting continued until early October, when the French had taken Capelle-la-Grande and it was clear to the British that continuing to hold Dunkerque was an untenable position. The Royal Navy set up procedures for evacuating the troops in the city, but as there were so many it took over two weeks under fire to get the last of the soldiers out. Over 40,000 men died in total during the two months of the French assault on Dunkerque, and the losses by the British were so great that in November Parliament agreed to sign the General Armistice and participate in the Berlin Conference early the next year.
Part Fifty-Eight: Peace at Last
Homage to Catalonia: After many back and forth battles in the Mediterranean and France only achieving much success around Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, France finally got the upper hand in the Mediterranean in 1870. In late 1869, France launched a new naval fleet out of Nantes and sailed it toward the English Channel. With several British ships recalled to the Channel to prevent the French gaining superiority in the seas, France caught the naval bases at Malta and the Ionian Islands off guard and landed small forces in various British islands around the eastern Mediterranean. Malta and Corfu were captured by March of 1870, and Kefalonia fell to the French army in September.
On the Spanish mainland, France continued gaining momentum against the Coalition forces in both Catalonia and the Basque Country. Barcelona succumbed to the French siege and balloon bombings after six months as thousands of men lay dead in the streets of the city. The Spanish had resorted to urban fighting to hold off the French as long as they could, and as a result many of the city's buildings were reduced to rubble. After the capture of Barcelona, the French army began advancing northwest. The war ended before any more significant gains were made, however, and Barcelona stood a ravaged husk as French troops filed back to the city during the occupation of the city in the winter of 1870.
In the Basque Country, the Spanish troops and the Irish Foreign Legion were in dire straits. French artillery had been bombarding the Spanish defensive networks and now made extending or repairing the defenses almost impossible. Along with the direct combat, French generals had also enlisted Basques and Carlists in their cause as saboteurs. These saboteurs were disrupting the Spanish rail and telegraph networks and misinformation and dwindling supplies in some areas, causing discontent and several lowered morale among the Spanish infantrymen. The stalemate at the Guernica River that had held off the French for years at last shattered in May of 1870 and French soldiers surged through the widening cracks in the Spanish line like water breaking through a failing dam. By the time the General Armistice was agreed to in November of 1870, the French had seized both Bilbao and Vitoria. Bilbao was one of the cities with a French presence between the General Armistice and the Berlin Conference in March of 1871 finally restored peace to Western Europe.
In Flanders Fields: France also made many gains in the final year of the Second Napoleonic War in Belgium. The French kept the front in the eastern half of Belgium at the approximate line following the Sambre River and moved tens of thousands of men to the western section of the front. The increase in French troops punched a hole in the Coalition lines near Lille and Kortnijk across the Belgian border fell into French hands by April. The French advance widened to include Tournai and Ypres in the next two months as Belgian leaders began considering engaging in separate negotiations with the French.
As the French continued marching through Belgium, the French general Antoine Chanzy turned the army's advance not toward Brussels, but rather toward the coast of Belgium. President Louis-Napoleon had reasoned that Great Britain had become the main opponent to France in the war and advised his military staff to focus on injuring Great Britain as much as they could. Additionally, the British had made a landing of thirty thousand more soldiers, two thirds of whom were Irish, at Dunkerque at the beginning of 1870. French forces had been able to contain this new British force in the city until now, but it was growing ever more difficult as the Royal Navy was sending supplies through several Belgian ports and the French ships in that part of the English Channel were unable to stop enough supply shipments.
General Chanzy kept the pressure against the Coalition lines as the British and Belgians were pushed further back toward the Channel. The French army in the central push was divided into three sections. The Ypres Corps was tasked with taking Nieuwpoort, the Rosselare Corps was tasked with harassing Brugge and taking the city if possible, and the Krontijk Corps was tasked with advancing toward Ghent. The Ypres Corps took Nieuwpoort while the Rosselare Corps reached as far as Oostkamp just south of Brugge by July. The trap was set and the Ypres Corps turned west to accompany the other French armies surrounding Dunkerque.
The Evacuation of Dunkerque and the General Armistice: As the hot summer months bore down on Europe in 1870, the French armies in Belgium were content to sit and hold their positions while the main force of the French northern front was turned toward Dunkerque. The British had unloaded an extra hundred thousand men in the French port city the previous winter, bringing the total number of Coalition soldiers in the Dunkerque area to a staggering 150,000 men. By the beginning of August, the French had almost a complete wall of people and field guns arranged in a tweny mile wide semicircle from Gravelines to Koksijde.
The first site of fighting in the Battle for Dunkeqrue came in Koksijde, where the British armies attempted to push back the French and recapture Nieuwpoort and another supply port. The British force, while concentrated in this circle, was also necessarily spread out all around the circle and the Ypres Corps easily repelled the British attack. Once London realized the situation in Dunkerque as the French started to close in on the city, the Royal Navy attempted landings and naval bombardments at Calais and Boulogne and create a wider field of play in the battle. These landings succeeded for a few days, but within two weeks the British were rebuffed and the small landing parties had to be sailed back across the Channel.
The final assault on Dunkerque took place between August 13th and October 21st of 1870. In mid-August, the French forces began to close in on the city, taking large losses from the British artillery and the Royal Navy. Naval attacks on Gravelines heavily damaged the army there, but the French continued inching forward. The British attempted to break out of the city and gain a wider front as French artillery began lobbing shells into the city, but no attempts in August or early September were successful. Heavy fighting continued until early October, when the French had taken Capelle-la-Grande and it was clear to the British that continuing to hold Dunkerque was an untenable position. The Royal Navy set up procedures for evacuating the troops in the city, but as there were so many it took over two weeks under fire to get the last of the soldiers out. Over 40,000 men died in total during the two months of the French assault on Dunkerque, and the losses by the British were so great that in November Parliament agreed to sign the General Armistice and participate in the Berlin Conference early the next year.
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Got the last bit of the combat in the war put up in the last update. Now for the start of the Berlin Conference to decide the final peace negotiations!
Part Fifty-Nine: The Berlin Conference
I decided to add the Berlin Conference as a separate update.
Part Fifty-Nine: The Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference:
The final combat of the European Wars ended when the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Spain signed the Great Armistice in November of 1870. All the European powers had suffered from the wars of the 1860s. The Habsburg domain of Austria had completely fallen apart, while Great Britain was experiencing a large amount of unrest from the underground Chartist Societies and pro-Irish organizations disgruntled by the treatment of the Irish during the Great Famine and the seeming use of Irishmen as cannon fodder in the European Wars. However, one power had clearly come out on top in the wars: Prussia. The fall of Austria guaranteed Prussia hegemony over the German states, and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck attempted to capitalize on Prussia's growing position in Europe by hosting the Berlin Conference in 1871 to solidify the new postwar borders in Europe.
The Berlin Conference envisioned by Bismarck was supposed to be a revival and continuation of the Congress system of geopolitics established after the First Napoleonic War with the Congress of Vienna. After the increased competition between European nations in the 1850s that led to the wars, Bismarck felt that peace could be maintained with the same system due to the increased use of the telegraph allowed faster communication between governments and leaders. Privately, however, Bismarck wanted to use the conference to affirm Prussia's consolidation over the German states in the eyes of Europe and entrench Germany as a great power on the European and indeed the world stage.
The conference, which lasted from March into April of 1871, covered three main topics of diplomacy between the attending powers. The first and foremost of these was negotiating the peace treaty and concessions resulting from the Second Napoleonic War. It was decided that the war ended in a French victory, and although the British greatly contested the focus of concessions from them rather than the Belgians at the conference, they reluctantly conceded. The results of the conference saw Britain and Spain cede the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Minorca to France and the return of the Ionian Islands to Greece. Britain's rule over the Mediterranean Sea was thus lessened, although they kept Gibraltar. In Belgium, France gained the department of Namur and the small French-speaking section of West Flanders.
The second major diplomatic session involved in the Berlin Conference was the recognition of parts of the former Austrian Empire that had now stabilized into some form of government. On the Adriatic, several cities had declared independence as free city-states and had formed a league to cooperate against the piracy that had sprung up during the lawlessness. At the Berlin Conference, this league was recognized as being under the supervision of Italy, and the Adriatic League[1] signed a treaty by which Italy had the right to veto any of the league's policies, and that plebiscites would be held at some point to join Italy or not. The independent state of Trent that had been created pending a vote to join Italy or Bavaria in the region ended with the region joining Italy in 1872. Additionally, the newly independent states of Galizien and Moravia were recognized as Russian and German puppets, respectively.
The other matter concerning the German states was the new organization of the German Confederation, now that Austria had collapsed and Prussia had become the most powerful country in Germany. Bismarck attempted to get the powers to agree on reforms which would make Prussia the clear leader of the German Confederation and centralize much of the power of the Confederation in Berlin. Russia and Great Britain initially refused Bismarck's aims on the grounds that it would disrupt the balance of power in Europe, but Russia was placated with a secret non-aggression pact between Germany and Russia. Great Britain still remained the sole dissenter now, but the continental powers agreed to the German goals after the British delegation realized that Germany would simply be replacing Austria as the dominant force in Central Europe. Prussian dominance over the German states was secured and in 1874, the states in the German Confederation were consolidated into a new German Empire. The Dutch provinces that had been part of the Confederation left in order to placate the Dutch and French upon the formation of the Empire. The new German Empire was led by Prussia, while Bavaria and Hanover received special privileges within the new federal government and the smaller German states largely kept their original borders while conceding several functions to the government in Berlin.
[1] The Adriatic League was founded by the cities of Trieste, Fiume, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik, and Kotor.
Part Fifty-Nine: The Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference:
The final combat of the European Wars ended when the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Spain signed the Great Armistice in November of 1870. All the European powers had suffered from the wars of the 1860s. The Habsburg domain of Austria had completely fallen apart, while Great Britain was experiencing a large amount of unrest from the underground Chartist Societies and pro-Irish organizations disgruntled by the treatment of the Irish during the Great Famine and the seeming use of Irishmen as cannon fodder in the European Wars. However, one power had clearly come out on top in the wars: Prussia. The fall of Austria guaranteed Prussia hegemony over the German states, and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck attempted to capitalize on Prussia's growing position in Europe by hosting the Berlin Conference in 1871 to solidify the new postwar borders in Europe.
The Berlin Conference envisioned by Bismarck was supposed to be a revival and continuation of the Congress system of geopolitics established after the First Napoleonic War with the Congress of Vienna. After the increased competition between European nations in the 1850s that led to the wars, Bismarck felt that peace could be maintained with the same system due to the increased use of the telegraph allowed faster communication between governments and leaders. Privately, however, Bismarck wanted to use the conference to affirm Prussia's consolidation over the German states in the eyes of Europe and entrench Germany as a great power on the European and indeed the world stage.
The conference, which lasted from March into April of 1871, covered three main topics of diplomacy between the attending powers. The first and foremost of these was negotiating the peace treaty and concessions resulting from the Second Napoleonic War. It was decided that the war ended in a French victory, and although the British greatly contested the focus of concessions from them rather than the Belgians at the conference, they reluctantly conceded. The results of the conference saw Britain and Spain cede the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Minorca to France and the return of the Ionian Islands to Greece. Britain's rule over the Mediterranean Sea was thus lessened, although they kept Gibraltar. In Belgium, France gained the department of Namur and the small French-speaking section of West Flanders.
The second major diplomatic session involved in the Berlin Conference was the recognition of parts of the former Austrian Empire that had now stabilized into some form of government. On the Adriatic, several cities had declared independence as free city-states and had formed a league to cooperate against the piracy that had sprung up during the lawlessness. At the Berlin Conference, this league was recognized as being under the supervision of Italy, and the Adriatic League[1] signed a treaty by which Italy had the right to veto any of the league's policies, and that plebiscites would be held at some point to join Italy or not. The independent state of Trent that had been created pending a vote to join Italy or Bavaria in the region ended with the region joining Italy in 1872. Additionally, the newly independent states of Galizien and Moravia were recognized as Russian and German puppets, respectively.
The other matter concerning the German states was the new organization of the German Confederation, now that Austria had collapsed and Prussia had become the most powerful country in Germany. Bismarck attempted to get the powers to agree on reforms which would make Prussia the clear leader of the German Confederation and centralize much of the power of the Confederation in Berlin. Russia and Great Britain initially refused Bismarck's aims on the grounds that it would disrupt the balance of power in Europe, but Russia was placated with a secret non-aggression pact between Germany and Russia. Great Britain still remained the sole dissenter now, but the continental powers agreed to the German goals after the British delegation realized that Germany would simply be replacing Austria as the dominant force in Central Europe. Prussian dominance over the German states was secured and in 1874, the states in the German Confederation were consolidated into a new German Empire. The Dutch provinces that had been part of the Confederation left in order to placate the Dutch and French upon the formation of the Empire. The new German Empire was led by Prussia, while Bavaria and Hanover received special privileges within the new federal government and the smaller German states largely kept their original borders while conceding several functions to the government in Berlin.
[1] The Adriatic League was founded by the cities of Trieste, Fiume, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik, and Kotor.
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Map of Europe after the Berlin Conference and the founding of the German Empire. Haven't fully decided if Baden is going to join Germany, since they stayed neutral in the European Wars. An independent Baden could add an interesting dynamic to Franco-German relations in the next decades.
Just catching up. Those last few updates were excellent. I really like how you handled them.
I'm a bit sad about the Papal schism though. Although the idea is certainly unique, it has less fortunate theological consequences for the Church. Perhaps it will get repaired eventually.
I'm a bit sad about the Papal schism though. Although the idea is certainly unique, it has less fortunate theological consequences for the Church. Perhaps it will get repaired eventually.
It is interesting that you decided to keep Baden independent from the German Empire and that Bavaria ended up being annexed when it had a more independent mid set earlier. Are there any important politics between the end of the war and the Berlin conference that happened to cause this?
Also a Franco-wank next to a Greater Germany next to a Russian controlled Galicia (we still can't call that one a wank just yet) should have some very explosive consequences.
BTW: What is that little grey spot between France and Switzerland
Also a Franco-wank next to a Greater Germany next to a Russian controlled Galicia (we still can't call that one a wank just yet) should have some very explosive consequences.
BTW: What is that little grey spot between France and Switzerland
Excellent updates. I haven't commented in awhile, but I have been following it all the same. I have to say the power axis you have setup has us all geared for WW1 whether we like it or not. Be it Franco-Russian and a Anglo-French alliance that takes on Germany +1. I think we are all set.
On the map, what's up with that Dutch strip? and I second Jycee's question on that Gray blotch in Switzerland?
On the map, what's up with that Dutch strip? and I second Jycee's question on that Gray blotch in Switzerland?
Eurofed
Banned
Excellent update otherwise, but am I the only one to think that an independent Moravia is incredibly silly and ASB, useless Balkanization for the sake of Balkanization ? I mean, there was not any barely OTL significant manifestation of separate Moravian nationalism, Germany has already annexed Bohemia, Moravia is a german puppet, Bohemia and Moravia were universally seen as a unity, what's the point of it ? I can see the geopolitical reason for independent Baden, the Adriatic league, and Galicia, but Moravia just seems silly.
Thanks for all the comments everyone!
The German bit in Switzerland is the principality of Neuchatel, which remained Prussian until 1848 in OTL (although is had been part of the loose Swiss Confederation since 1814). It will probably join Switzerland in full fairly soon.
I'm basing the resurgence of Moravian nationalism on the similar case after the Velvet Revolution. In the 1991 Czechoslovakian census, over 1 million people identified themselves as being of Moravian nationality. The nationalist sentiment would probably only last a few years at most, but with an independent state maybe a bit longer.
Well, Belgium didn't get it too bad. None of their colonies got taken and they only lost some of the more fervently Walloon areas of the country.
Yeah, I still have to figure out what's going to happen with the Papal Schism in the long term.
France had been courting Baden into being more independent-minded under French protection as a measure to counter a potential Germany from getting too powerful along the Rhine. Also, since Baden stayed out of the European Wars, it was dubious during the Berlin Conference whether they were still part of the German Confederation or not. Bavaria was enticed to join the German Empire through a special autonomous status, but Wilhelm and Bismarck had no desire to do the same with Baden.
The Dutch strip is the leftovers from the Limburg/Liege/Luxembourg that had been part of the German Confederation while still being Dutch provinces. When the German Confederation became the German Empire, they remained part of the Netherlands.
The German bit in Switzerland is the principality of Neuchatel, which remained Prussian until 1848 in OTL (although is had been part of the loose Swiss Confederation since 1814). It will probably join Switzerland in full fairly soon.
Bohemia and Moravia were separate divisions within the Austrian Empire, and in the war Prussia did not want to be seen as taking too much land so they did not take all the Czech lands. In the ensuing chaos, the romanticist idea of Moravian nationalism that had also surfaced briefly during the Midcentury Revolutions took hold in a small portion of the population, and a few people took advantage of this to create and independent state. As the purpose of the Berlin Conference was not for the great powers to take even more land from Austria, the Moravian Republic only became strongly influenced by Germany.
I'm basing the resurgence of Moravian nationalism on the similar case after the Velvet Revolution. In the 1991 Czechoslovakian census, over 1 million people identified themselves as being of Moravian nationality. The nationalist sentiment would probably only last a few years at most, but with an independent state maybe a bit longer.
I think Baden is a set up to have a Franko wank bite a German wank at some point.
This is probably overtaken by events aleady, but... It also has other impacts. The railway, presuming BC still demands it & it's still built, will be built on the (original) more northerly route, which was easier, so it will be completed somewhat faster. It also means Saskatoon will be the major trade hub for the Prairies
& second in size only to Edmonton. (Depending on where the borders are, Battleford is likely to end up capital of Saskatchewan. And yes, in case you haven't already guessed, I live in Saskatoon.)This is probably overtaken by events aleady, but... It also has other impacts. The railway, presuming BC still demands it & it's still built, will be built on the (original) more northerly route, which was easier, so it will be completed somewhat faster. It also means Saskatoon will be the major trade hub for the Prairies
The 52 border is only in Oregon (British Columbia) the prairies are still all British. Canada (Quebec) and Acadia (New Bruinswick+Nova Scotia) have already been made separate dominions after the Oregon war. "Canada" (probably called something else ITTL) will likely only consist of OTL's Ontario, prairie provinces, ALberta, and the Northwest. Although the mormon presence in Mantitoba (and its higher population due to this) is a wild card on how things will turn out.
Yep, it's set up so France and Germany have some diplomatic issues in the future.
Aha! Thanks for reminding me, I'd been thinking about how western Canada would develop but forgot about it after a while. Doing a little searching, it looks like Fort Simpson will become the major Pacific port in British North America instead of OTL Vancouver, which could mean that the railway generally starts sloping north after Winnipeg and goes by Saskatoon.This is probably overtaken by events aleady, but... It also has other impacts. The railway, presuming BC still demands it & it's still built, will be built on the (original) more northerly route, which was easier, so it will be completed somewhat faster. It also means Saskatoon will be the major trade hub for the Prairies
I'm thinking that the railroad would partially follow the York Factory Express, probably from Fort Assiboine eastward to around where Saskatoon is. Taking a quick look at an elevation map, the best way for the railroad west of the Rockies would probably be going from Fort Simpson up the Nass and Babine valleys then over to along the Fraser and over the Rockies to where Jasper is. Does that sound reasonable, from a Canadian's perspective? Mostly some quick brainstorming here.