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Excellent update Roem!

The nonsense surrounding the Royal Wedding is interesting - the overlying anti-Catholicism everyone focuses on doesn't seem to have that much popular impact, yet the diplomatic ramifications are rather deep. Given the 'occupation of Brittany' mentioned in the prologue, sour relations with France are perhaps to be expected, but some of the harbingers are... concerning.

Interesting update on Liverpool - I get a feeling events in my corner of the world are going to be important ITTL. I hadn't heard of George Wise before now - I didn't realise he was the man behind the Liverpool Protestant Party.

By the way, one tiny tiny nitpick: first, whilst I love the idea of the 'Toxteth Cocktail', I'm not sure it'd be called that ITTL - 'Toxteth' prior to the 1980s was a rather nebulous term for a vast swathe of south Liverpool, and was never as sectarian as the north of the city. 'Everton Cocktail' might fit... As I say though, one minor fault in an otherwise excellent update. Long live Radical Joe!
 
Gee, I wonder where you got the Evangeline idea from? ;)

I cannot possibly think what you could be insinuating. Act Three, which was never actually dramatised, involved Evangeline shaking hands with Gregor and turning everyone in the village into chai.

;)

Anyway, interesting how you've kept Rudolf from offing both himself and his wife and the fiasco that has emerged over Victor's marriage.

Rudolf's murder suicide was one of those things that I can across entirely by accident whilst researching something else. The Mayerling Incident was something that I was only tangentially aware of and I think that's quite a lot of truth in the rumours that it was actually a plot to remove a dangerously liberal Crown Prince from taking over from Franz-Josef, but in order to do this much credit, I think that I'll have to rely on OTL accounts instead.

Obviously, removing Meyerling is going to have an impact on Rudolf's perceived mental health, but let's face it, being a few prügelkrapfen short of a picnic hasn't traditionally been much of a barrier to inheriting a large central European empire.

Powell seems to think that everything Joe does contributed to his eventual taking of the premiership though, wouldn't be surprised if there was a bit about him buying new shoes leading to a rise in support for the Radical Association. It seems that the radical Protestants might be making a mistake in placing themselves against the marriage of one of the more popular royals of the time, Phillipe's agreement to allow a conversion seems to have prevented the matter from getting worse but I have the strangest feeling that events have been started.

Enoch's probably laying it on a bit think at this point, but that's to be expected in the context of TTL's 1955. As for the protestant angle, the nature of Church politics at this time was fairly interesting. As it happens, there was a slight shift of many of the Low Church away from the Conservatives during this period anyway. Most of them ended up going to organisations such as the Liverpool Protestant Party, but Chamberlain was always keen to broaden the Liberal appeal outside the non-Conformist base that it relied on during this time. One person who probably won't be happy about this is Gladstone, who was rather opposed to much of the Low Church Evangelising that took place during this time. Charles Bradlaugh has yet to move his Affirmation Bill yet, but I am fairly sure that the position of the Church of England would have to see some scrutiny over the next few years as a direct result of Victor's marriage.

Your mentioning of a Bonapartist rise in influence and of a First Korean War has already got me thinking about how Joe is going to find himself in this particular jam, it's all very interesting stuff and I cannot say more since I've probably already said any other compliment by now.

Your detailed comments are always a pleasure to read, it is very much appreciated.

Lord Roem

Intriguing developments. The 'First Korean War' is a bit worrying as it suggests there are going to be at least a couple. Very likely between Russia and either/both Britain and Japan? [Forgetting the political situation currently in that area].

The next updates will go into far more detail as to this particular conflagration, but to be honest, there's at least four occasions during OTL eighties when war between China and Japan could have broken out. The Gaspin Coup of 1884 is the most obvious one - I think EdT uses that in "Fight and Be Right" - as a group of pro-Japanese officers actually succeeded in removing the Peking-alined government in Seoul for a brief period. I am more interested in the impact of more serious Nagasaki Incident which took place two years later, but a colleague of mine has written an exceptionally interesting paper on the economic impact of disruptions to the soya harvest which I am going to make use of in future updates.

Also very intriguing is the mention of "marriage between King David III and Princess Hildegarde of Bavaria in 1947". This suggests three kings named David in Britain by 1947. Obviously going to be a popular regal name but definitely not one used in England before. [Can't remember if there had been a king David in Scotland at any point].

Albert Victor definitely set the cat amongst the pigeons. It sounds like Helene could be a crafty queen, wielding royal power through him. Which given his popularity could be a significant factor.

Steve

Thande has already covered this below, but David is actually a fairly common middle name for the male members of the current royal family, Edward VIII was known by that name to most of the immediate family, but there's certainly practical reasons for why TTL's monarch chooses to go by that name.

Helen is an interesting person. In OTL she ended up as Duchess of Aosta, which wasn't really the best march she could have hoped for, but she was an effective head of the household once she ended up there.

Judging by some of his Lordships Twitter pictures I'd say it's a fair bet.

I can only reply in the style of a social media savvy Francis Urquart.

Good update. Very interested about the Korean Wars (and how there is a King David III somewhere down the line)...

The "First" Korean War isn't going to be tremendously exciting to be honest. Militarily, the differences between China and Japan were not as pronounced as they were during the time of OTL's Sino-Japanese War, but from a Russian point of view it is going to be interesting. Petersburg always assumed that Peking was a far greater regional power than Tokyo was, to the extent that a Russian intelligence report of 1890 devoted over ten times as many pages to China as it did to Japan. Taking place a few years earlier, I would expect it to be even more pronounced.

The cultural sidelights are what makes this timeline great - I love the alternate G&S, and the poster is amazing.

I wonder if David III might actually be the first British king of that name - he might decide to be the Third rather than the First to avoid any confusion with the two Scottish kings.

Coming from you, I can only take it as a tremendous compliment, so my heart-felt thanks. I always like adding a little extra to the cultural divergences from this time, but my love for Gilbert and Sullivan is far more extensive than anything else during this period, so I doubt that I will be able to do the same for other areas. That said, I have always loved Puccini, so there may be something to add by the time we reach the mid-1890s.

Nice update, I like the Gilbert & Sullivan stuff. Seems like a plausible alternate royal succession crisis.

Also on the poster, I like how even in 1889, "Buy one get one free" is a surefire way of selling anything to Britons :D

Aye, I did have fun making this. I came across an advertisement for a Primrose League fete in the LSE Archives and copied quite a lot of the style and language from that. I didn't think that a rally such as this would have had much time to make a "troop of Oriental mistrals and fire-eaters" worthwhile, but everyone loves a buffet and some sousaphones, so I didn't see much reason to leave that out.

This is correct: although it hasn't really been tested in OTL, the principle is that all British monarchs count from the higher of the two regnal numbers established by the monarchs of either England OR Scotland pre-union. So for example if somebody called Alexander or Constantine came to the throne today, they would take the regnal numbers Alexander IV and Constantine IV respectively.

This stuff is Serious Business, incidentally; in the fifties a lot of Scots objected to having to call the current Queen "Elizabeth II" because she wasn't the second Elizabeth to rule Scotland, and there was a spate of people painting over the "II" in "E II R" on Scottish postboxes for a while, the so-called "Pillar Box War".

A distant relative of mine apparently ended up with some cast-iron shrapnel in his face when he was an Under-Postman in Dundee and delighted in getting his scars out during Christmas Dinner. It is such a wonderful story that I can only assume that it is entirely fictional.

So wait, the next king James wouldn't be James III but James VIII? The British monarchy is almost fortunate in that the Glorious Revolution has made James rather inappropriate as a regal name.

At least you don't run into the kind of problems that the Swedish monarchy runs into when it comes to regal numbers, where half of the kings are mythological, conjecture or mere figments of the imagination put in to fill the blanks. I had a look at that official list once. It turns out that allegedly we have had two or three kings in Sweden by the name of Attila. Like in, the Hun. Which means that in the unlikely event that a person by the name of Attila ascended to the throne of Sweden, he would either be Attila III or Attila IV unless we are to break with tradition.

That's wonderful, although it is the sort of thing that I would just blame the Finns for.

An interesting crisis that seems to have been hotly discussed on both sides of the Channel. Amazing how something as seemingly simple as a marriage can cause two countries to quarrel and can have profound political ramifications.

There's little doubt that a marriage such as this would have prompted furious debate in Paris, which is one of the main reasons why neither Philippe nor the Pope consented to Helene converting to Anglicanism. Doing so her is going to harm the Legitimist claim for a considerable period of time, especially given how Boulanger's early death has led to a vacuum in the search for a strongman to unite the right and radicals against the left.

When I studied 19th Century politics for my A-levels I always did find Joseph Chamberlain an interesting character. This timeline certainly reinforces my opinion and I will be interested to see how he becomes PM.

Chamberlain's a fascinating man of contradictions, although I think it is hard to see him as anything other than an "Other Man" of British politics. Enoch Powell's OTL biography of him had the oft-repeated line that "all political careers end in failure" - so it is nice to be able to give him a moment in the sun, however fictional it may be.

Excellent update Roem!

The nonsense surrounding the Royal Wedding is interesting - the overlying anti-Catholicism everyone focuses on doesn't seem to have that much popular impact, yet the diplomatic ramifications are rather deep. Given the 'occupation of Brittany' mentioned in the prologue, sour relations with France are perhaps to be expected, but some of the harbingers are... concerning.

Interesting update on Liverpool - I get a feeling events in my corner of the world are going to be important ITTL. I hadn't heard of George Wise before now - I didn't realise he was the man behind the Liverpool Protestant Party.

By the way, one tiny tiny nitpick: first, whilst I love the idea of the 'Toxteth Cocktail', I'm not sure it'd be called that ITTL - 'Toxteth' prior to the 1980s was a rather nebulous term for a vast swathe of south Liverpool, and was never as sectarian as the north of the city. 'Everton Cocktail' might fit... As I say though, one minor fault in an otherwise excellent update. Long live Radical Joe!

Wise is an interesting man, he dominated Liverpool's politics for a period of well over two decades, with a legacy that lasted nearly twice as long as that. As you say, he was a major figure in the LPP, which frankly is one of those things that sounds entirely made-up, and given that I have preempted his rise by about four years here, it will have quite a big effect on the social development of the city. I was talking to Thande about this via PM a few weeks ago and I think it is fair to say that Liverpool has seen perhaps the greatest shift in internal politics of any city in the country over the past hundred years.

Thanks for the point about Toxteth by the way, I shall change it accordingly.

Good update, Jack!:)

Appreciated. Glad that you are enjoying it.

:)
 
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Also, have a poster of Minerva's much-loved 1954 luminal adaption of Evangeline.

evangeline_by_lordroem-d5xlb9m.jpg
 
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Chapter XV

“That King, although no one denies, his heart was of abnormal size,
Yet he'd have acted otherwise, if he had been acuter.”


-------------------------------

406px-Pedro_II_of_Brazil_and_grandson_and_wife_1887.jpg


By 1889, Emperor Pedro II of Brazil had cemented a place for himself and his country on the the world stage that no other leader in South America could claim. Although he had personally become tired of statecraft by this point, the Imperial family retained immense popularity, even after the controversy associated with the emancipation law signed by Princess Isabel.

“Theodore Roosevelt, President Ned Harriman’s Secretary of War, often said that there were two rebellions that he could never quite work out the motive for. The first was the French Revolution which overthrew the July Monarchy of King Louis-Philippe. The second was the aborted coup d'etat against the Brazilian Imperial family in 1889. Brazil - the only empire in the new world aside from the two short-lived Mexican puppets - was an improbable enough regime, but Roosevelt’s incongruity certainly warrants close study. When news of the attempted deposition of Pedro II reached Europe, the reaction was broadly one of bafflement. Under the liberal rule of the Braganzas, Brazil had enjoyed fifty years of almost unbroken peace and prosperity. For moderates of all colours, the Brazilian Empire seemed to represent the long-heralded wedding of hereditary monarchy with widespread personal and economic freedoms. The attempted banishment of the genteel and well-liked old monarch, “the grandson of Marcus Aurelius” as he was whimsically christened by Victor Hugo, shocked the liberal intelligentsia of Europe, with the Brazilian military establishment being widely demonised as ungrateful and selfish rogues, seemingly determined to send the country down the same route of colourless colonels and rule-by-decree that was perceived to dominate the rest of Latin America during this period.

The common view of the Crisis of 1889 has almost exclusively focused on the dispassionate position afforded by the army towards the imperial government, with a resentment building towards a typically South American attempt by a small minority of officers to seize power against the popular perceptions of civil governance. In actuality, anger towards Pedro and his family was far more widespread than either their supporters, either domestic or international, have been prepared to admit. Indeed, that a few rebellious regiments stationed in Rio de Janeiro were able to come so close to toppling the imperial rule shows that the alleged resoluteness of the Empire at this time was demonstrably false. The foundations of the Empire of Brazil were at their weakest at the end of Pedro II’s long reign. Had they not been, then neither the republican coup, nor Empress Isabel’s Constitutional Convention of 1892 would have taken place. In 1889, the Empire had lost a great deal of legitimacy, which is best shown by contrasting it with the old monarchies of Europe. To be successful, a monarch requires pomp, ceremony and an aristocracy centred around social position, if not political power. Under Pedro, the Brazilian Empire failed on all three. The peerage was almost entirely honorific, with none of the familial ties that gave strength to the Lords of the United Kingdom or Germany. The massed ranks of Counts and Barons had been created ten-a-penny, often for little more than charitable work or philanthropy, or simply by decree of a Prime Minister who wanted to reward sycophancy. In 1883, the nobility was composed of one duke, five counts, thirty-nine viscounts and two hundred and sixty-eight barons. Titles were based on geographical titles and little else, creating a host of people who saw little difference between constitutional monarchy and the promise of liberal republicanism. Equally, the imperial court had almost none of the trappings of power that his counterparts in Europe observed. Whilst ostentatious gilt and gold did little to show the consolidation of revolutionary fervour amongst the proletarian of Russia and Hungary, the Emperor dour austerity served to alienate him from the social elite. This lack of interest in the perception of the imperial court is perhaps best summed up by Pedro’s own admission that “if I were not emperor, I should like to be a school teacher. I know of nothing nobler than to mould the mind of youth, preparing them to be the men of the future." Whilst humble, by the late-eighties, support for the Brazilian monarchy was already fading amongst the constituency most likely to back it.

When Pedro left for Europe in the spring of 1887 to receive medical treatment, Isabel became acting-Head of State when the division between progressives and conservatives over the slavery issue were at their height. When Isabel signed the Act of Emancipation - or A Lei Áurea (Golden Law) - on 13th March 1888, it prompted massive celebrations amongst all but a small minority of the population, placing the dynasty at the zenith of public support. Even the most experienced of Isabella's advisors tended towards a highly cavalier attitude towards Emancipation. In a letter to the conservative Senator, Baron Cotegipe, the former Liberal Prime Minister, Manuel de Sousa Dantas, simply replied;
"If it were better only to wear the crown a few hours and enjoy the immense happiness of being a fellow worker with a whole people in such a law as this, than to wear the same crown year upon year on the condition of keeping up the accursed institution of slavery. No, there is no danger. From my experience and on my political responsibility I declare from my seat in this house that today we have a new country, that this law is a new constitution."
However, support from planters was not forthcoming, with a number joining the republican cause. Portentously for the monarchy, these movements were at their strongest in the most populated urban provinces of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Minas Geraes. As 1889 approached, a number of rallies were held by the republican movement, who demanded an end to reparations as well as the opening of discussions into a new constitutional deal. Shortly before the end of her regency, Isabel had held a summit with the Church leadership, with whom the imperial administration had developed increasingly bitter relations with thanks to a combination of land reform and a insipid position towards Masonry that satisfied neither liberal nor clergy, republican sentiments within the Brazilian Church grew exponentially during the fraught years of the eighteen-seventies, with neither Pius IX nor Leo XIII being especially concerned with the survival of the monarchy.

Republicanism - either by establishment change or by romantic attachment to the United States and France – was therefore a powerful movement by 1889. Although the Republican Party’s three gains in the 1885 election were soon undone at subsequent elections (although it should be pointed out that their relatively weak representation was often due to the Liberal and Conservative parties combining forces against them) they remained the party best placed to articulate popular disapproval regarding the abolition of slavery. Political action was emphasised by a dramatic growth in the number of anti-monarchist newspapers and periodicals. One of the most powerful of these propagandists was a young idealist named Silva Jardim, a man better immortalised by his death rather than his actions, falling into Vesuvius whilst in exile in 1891. Jardim nevertheless dominated the republican movement in 1888 and 1889, touring almost every province of the Empire and hosting rallies against the abolitionists and the Princess Imperial. Isabel herself had narrowly avoided a massive loss of public support in the autumn of 1888 when she refused to support a petition opposing the removal of some legal disabilities of the German Protestants in the south of the Empire. Nevertheless, the heir to the throne was still regularly accused of being too close to the Catholic Church.

With republicanism clearly established throughout Brazil, it is clear that something went wrong on the 15th November, 1889 to deal such a blow to the anti-imperial forces. Whilst the Empire had avoided the succession of military coups that had dominated the rest of South America, historians of the period have continually, and erroneously, given a perception that the army was persecuted, military discipline actually declined during the decade of peace following the end of the Paraguayan War. When the Viscount of Ouro Preto’s liberal ministry was appointed in June 1889, he instantly made efforts to preserve the monarchy in the face of an increasingly malcontent military. Although he was keen to deal with some of the more conventional demands of the armed forces, not least regarding pay and conditions, his refusal to appoint General Deodoro da Fonseca – the officer with the most obvious and populist republican sentiments – as Military Governor of Rio, must be seen as vital in ensuring the stability of the imperial rule. In any event, da Fonseca was not available for the cabal of senior officers who met to discuss action against Ouro Pretro’s Ministry on 9th November. Although the government was pitifully unaware of the events leading to the coup attempt on 15th, in which the Prime Minister took at face value the views that "At this hour your Excellency must have observed that plotting is taking place in certain quarters. Attach no importance to it. Trust the loyalty of the military leaders who are on the alert. I thank you once more for the favours you have deigned to bestow upon me” which was sent to him by the coup’s ringleader and adjutant-general of the army. The attempted seizure of power failed, although the plotters managed to capture both the Ministry of War and the General Post Office before loyalist reinforcements were able to put down the rebellion shortly after seven in the evening. Visibly shaken, Ouro Preto tendered his resignation the following day.”

-From “Brazil: A History through Five Centuries” by Aaron DeWitt, Prendergast Publishing 1999

“Disputes over the Newfoundland fisheries had intensified during Cleveland’s Presidency, with protracted delays emerging from Lord Salisbury’s assumption of the Premiership in 1885. A commission was established in March 1888, let by Secretary of State Bayard, William Puttnam of Maine and Samual Cox, the former Minister to the Ottoman Empire. The British delegates were the Colonial Secretary, Edward Stanhope, the Canadian Finance Minister, George Foster and the Ambassador to the United States, Sir Edward Malet. Beset by delays, the Commission took almost a year to report back, by which time John Sherman had already become President-elect. Nevertheless, the Bayard-Stanhope Treaty was submitted to Congress in February 1888, with Article XV granting the Canadians duty-free fish sales, in return for American boats being allowed to change crews within the Maritime Provinces’ inshore waters. However, neither delegation could agree on a grace period that would permit licence holders to cross into Newfoundland waters. Predictably, the Republican Senate voted down the arrangements by 32-25. Although American fishermen would continue to buy the new licences, a formal settlement would not be reached for nearly two decades.”

-From “American History from Grant to Munsey” by William Keble, Merlin 2004

“In the summer of 1889, Sherman was afforded the opportunity to re-draft the map of the United States. The Dakota Territory, fuelled by the railroad boom of the 1870s, the discovery of gold in the Black Hills and the end of the Sioux Wars, had tripled in population in the space of little over a decade. This, coupled with the region’s reputation as a Republican stronghold, made the prospect of statehood attractive to both Sherman and the Republican majority in the Senate. Shortly after his inauguration, the President had met with Alexander McKenzie, the Northern Pacific's political agent in northern Dakota and Sheriff of Burleigh County, to even discuss the possibility of splitting the territory, following McKenzie’s successful attempt to move the territorial capital from Yankton to Bismarck. This action had served to increase resentment between the mining community in the Black Hills and ranchers in the north, reinforcing lasting sentiment in the south that statehood could only come with the splitting of the territory.

However, McKenzie’s position as head of Dakota politics made him skeptical of the idea dividing his empire in two. Equally, whilst he, Sherman and the Senate all supported the possibility of admitting two reliably Republican states into the Union. In 1880, the appointment of Nehemiah Ordway, considered by many Dakotans as being the most corrupt and devious of all the Washington-appointed officials, only served to increase the calls for representative government for the region even after the 1887 legislative session in Bismarck was unable to resolve the partition question.. In the face of such overwhelming public opinion, opposing statehood was no longer a viable option by the Democratic minorities in Congress, with John Carlisle moving towards a view of “statehood as soon as possible,” to limit the possibility of doubling the number of new Republican Senators. This represented an about-turn for the Party, who had steadfastly opposed the idea throughout the 1880s. In mid-February, shortly before Sherman’s inauguration, William Springer of Illinois, the Chair of the House Committee on Territories, proposed admitting Dakota as a single state along with New Mexico, Montana and Washington, thereby balancing the partisan gains from statehood. Sherman - unwilling to pick a fight with Congress so early in his term - begrudgingly agreed to a compromise where Dakota would be admitted as a single state, with the other three joining over the next few years. Secretly, he also began discussions with Governor Cyrus Luce of Michigan regarding the growing calls for the secession of the state’s Upper Peninsula.”

-From “An Icicle in the White House: The Presidency of John Sherman” by Hanna Fedorchuk, Temple 1978

“Gris and Lieven held the text of the Reinsurance Treaty under lock and key throughout their terms as Foreign Minister, although it rapidly became an open secret in both Saint Petersburg and Berlin. This resulted in major consequences for Alexander III, who was drawn between his own distrust for Bismarck and his disapproval for French republicanism. Whilst his continued support for Germanophiles in the Foreign Ministry gave implicit support for Lieven’s actions, it did little to limit the calls for an Alliance with France that had started to arise within the Pan-Slavic circles within the Imperial Court. As devout man - who saw the Orthodox Church as representing an integral part of the Russian state - Alexander was sceptical of the atheist and bourgeois nature of the French political system. The Emperor was predisposed to not side with either camp, but with the growing controversy over the covert arrangements with Berlin, he was forced to engage directly with the Slavophiles.

This came as a boost to the fortunes of Konstantin Pobedonostsev, the Procurator of the Holy Synod and Alexander’s most trusted advisor. Whereas the Emperor simply held an interest in the Pan-Slav movement, to Pobedonostsev, it was a crusade, representing the best way of moving the Empire away from modernism and ensuring that it developed on purely Russian lines. The Slavophiles had also adopted resolutely anti-German views, with many formulating a view that the next great war would be directed, not against the Ottomans, but the Teutons. Lieven’s renewal of the Reinsurance Treaty was tolerated only for as long as it permitted industrialisation, but as the decade wore on, Pobedonostsev’s calls for an alliance with France began to resonate far more with the Emperor. Repin’s famous portrait is testament to this strategy, with the statesman painted behind a desk, wearing both the Star of the Order of Saint Andrew and the medal of an Officier de l'Instruction Publique. By 1889, Alexander III had resolved to veto any further extension of the Treaty. With the death of Kaiser Friedrich in April of that year, he took the opportunity to remove Lieven from the Foreign Ministry, although he remained as Chair of the Council, with a view to appointing an ethnic Russian to the position instead. However, early discussions with Prince Heinrich, regent to the young Kaiser, changed this.”

-From “The Decline and Fall of the House of Romanov” by Elizabeth Dixon, Boreal 1998

“With the death of the Kaiser in early February, Prince Heinrich’s assumption of the regency came as little surprise. Although he considered sacking Bismarck, who he felt had avoided any culpability for the assassination of his brother, Heinrich’s allies within the Court persuaded him to ease the Chancellor out of office, rather than inflict the chaos of a sacking upon the country. “The Chancellor is a despot” Philipp zu Eulenburg had written in 1881, “but he has the right to be one, indeed, he must be one. If he were not a despot, if he were an ideal parliamentarian who allowed his course to be determined by the dumbest thing there is, by parliamentary majorities, then we wouldn’t even have a chancellor yet, and least of all a German Reich.” Heinrich shared these opinions, although he made no secret of the fact that the Chancellor would have to jump before being pushed.

The most pressing issue for the new head of government was settlement of the Eastern Question with regards to Russia. Bismarck’s Germanisation program in Old Prussia had resulted in considerable friction between the state and the Polish-speaking majority areas of the Reich, which in turn gave rise to ultra-nationalist sentiment in the Reichstag. The Chancellor’s Kulturkampf had created a number of problems with regards to religion, with the Protestant ‘state-priests’ that had been sent to replace sacked or incarcerated Polish clergy often being shunned or physically attacked by their congregations. One unfortunate minister, Father Moerke, even suffered the indignity of having his coffin thrown into a lake by the residents of his former parish. Whilst the problems inherent within the Reich’s rule of Poland paled in comparison to the pogroms and state-sanctioned massacres seen in the Russian held-parts of the former kingdom, neither Bismarck nor the new Regent saw any reason to further antagonise the eastern territories.

Heinrich’s arrival in Petersburg in July 1889 did much to signal a genuine “New Course” in German foreign policy. At a stroke, it greatly reduced the risk of making the Reinsurance Treaty by demonstrating that a shift in Russo-German relations was developing anyway. This annoyed a number of Slavophiles in Alexander III’s court, least of all the influential newspaper owner Aleksey Suvorin, who had planned to leak the text of the agreement to his colleagues in Paris. The Tsar was also sceptical of disrupting market transactions with Germany, which accounted for over 26% of Russia’s trade, in favour of France, which was responsible for barely 5%. Although President de Freycinet had spoken to Bunge about his eagerness to to invest in the Imperial railway network, Alexander enjoyed far warmer relations with Heinrich than he had with Crown Prince Wilhelm, which was cemented by the state visit. Although Pobedonostsev continued to press for a break with Berlin, the Tsar remained obstinate, which was further demonstrated with the appointment of Roman Rosen as Foreign Minister, who in many respects represented continuity with Prince Lieven.

-From “The Three Empires: Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Making of Europe” by Paul Davies, Brent 1960
 
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Lots of intriguing stuff here. The one problem that occurs to me is that if the Dreikaiserbund is maintained, and Britain allies with Germany, would it not be very foolish of France to get involved against such a large and powerful military alliance, with so few allies of their own?
 

Thande

Donor
Interesting; were there any direct ramifications of the POD on Brazil or is this pure butterflies?

Seems a plausible alternate state map of America; how many people did the Upper Peninsula of Michigan have at this time? In any case, it wouldn't make much difference to presidential elections because Michigan at this point was using the congressional district breakdown rather than winner-take-all, but it might indeed nab the Republicans another couple of reliable Senate seats.
 
It's interesting how an event such as a revolution can be seen as either the actions of an entire nation wanting freedom or the work of a few extremists who the public hate more than the rulers of the time. It seems that Brazil instead had its OTL removal of the monarchy be done by all of the vested interests that are often seen as with the system. Brazil seems to have taken off in terms of being used in TLs compared to last year, you, 013771 and EdT have taken to different periods of its history and all of you are doing it well.

The German-Russian cooperation looks to be a thrill to read about, and how Bismark's phased retirement will be executed by Heinrich, though it appears that the Romanovs are still doomed from their positions as the rulers of Russia, whatever Big Europe War will be breaking out, it looks to be a very intriguing one.

All in all, great update on seeing how the world beyond Britain is developing and the case of Upper Dakota may be more linked in with the TL then I initially thought. Keep it up.
 
Very interesting to see how the world outside of Britain has been effected, particularly the section on Brazil. I know next to nothing about Brazilian history, but this was an intriguing take on a nation that even with my very limited knowledge I could tell is going to be very different.

I find it interesting to that despite closer relations between Russia and Germany the Romanovs are still doomed to fall from power. The intriguing question now becomes when and how they will fall and what the effect of the closer Russo-German ties will be on Europe.
 
Yet another TL I start reading that's been about for a while, and end up liking. :cool:

I have seen your lordship's DeviantArt page, and stroke my beard at some of the things implicated in it, particularly viz a poster of a certain nation in the middle of Europe... ;):cool::eek:

Nice to see the elder Chaimberlain have some time in the limelight. I didn't know much about Randolf Churchill until I read FabR!, and equally little about 'Brummie Joe'.

There was rather a big split amongst every party on the whole Home Rule thing. If I'm understanding your TL correctly (which I might not :eek:), Chaimberlain isn't opposed to home rule, per se, but would rather an imperial federation, with home rule to the component parts, rather than devolution to one particular bit.

I look forwards to this Federal Kingdom.

Also, I see that a lot of these posters you have made has "Action Party Archive" stamps. Going by that, I'm having a sneeking suspicion that perhaps the FK's politics takes something of an unsavoury turn during the 20th century... :(
 
Good stuff, Roem - I suspect non-militarised Brazil is going to have some interesting butterflies, in South America at least...
 
Lots of intriguing stuff here. The one problem that occurs to me is that if the Dreikaiserbund and Britain allies with Germany, would it not be very foolish of France to get involved against such a large and powerful military alliance, with so few allies of their own?

I think we are quite a while away from any serious European conflagrations. As it happens, the Three Emperor's League is pretty much moribund at this point anyway. The Russo-Austrian jockeying in the Balkans had led to the League being rescinded in 1887, which is why the Reinsurance Treaty was set up instead as a direct link between Moscow and Berlin. ITTL, I can't see the issue being much different.

Interesting; were there any direct ramifications of the POD on Brazil or is this pure butterflies?

It is almost entirely butterflies, albeit fairly possible ones. Everything is OTL up until the penultimate paragraph, with two points of divergence taking place. Firstly Isabella decides not to sign the petition regarding the rights of German settlers near the Argentine border, which in OTL resulted in her losing almost all of the popular support she had built up during the slavery question. The second is General da Fonseca not being appointed as military governor of Rio, which takes away the most competent leader of the coup.

Seems a plausible alternate state map of America; how many people did the Upper Peninsula of Michigan have at this time? In any case, it wouldn't make much difference to presidential elections because Michigan at this point was using the congressional district breakdown rather than winner-take-all, but it might indeed nab the Republicans another couple of reliable Senate seats.

The Upper Peninsula hasn't grown much since 1900, but it rapidly increased from 180,608 in 1890 to 261,362 a decade later. Most of the discussions being taken regarding statehood during this time centred on this population growth, which is something that statehood could continue. Splitting the Dakota Territory was advanced by the time of the 1888 election, but it wasn't a done thing until well after Harrison entered office, so I think that the chances of another settlement being reached (in this case, fast-tracked admission for Idaho, Montana et. al.) could be achieved by the Democratic minority.

It's interesting how an event such as a revolution can be seen as either the actions of an entire nation wanting freedom or the work of a few extremists who the public hate more than the rulers of the time. It seems that Brazil instead had its OTL removal of the monarchy be done by all of the vested interests that are often seen as with the system. Brazil seems to have taken off in terms of being used in TLs compared to last year, you, 013771 and EdT have taken to different periods of its history and all of you are doing it well.

The German-Russian cooperation looks to be a thrill to read about, and how Bismark's phased retirement will be executed by Heinrich, though it appears that the Romanovs are still doomed from their positions as the rulers of Russia, whatever Big Europe War will be breaking out, it looks to be a very intriguing one.

All in all, great update on seeing how the world beyond Britain is developing and the case of Upper Dakota may be more linked in with the TL then I initially thought. Keep it up.

Bismarck's fall from grace will be rather less rapid than it was under our Wilhelm II, but I can't see Regent Heinrich being especially willing to keep the Chancellor on for much longer. That said, I'm delighted that you are enjoying it!

Most interesting indeed- glad to see the Empire of Brasil survive...

Glad you think so, I am looking forward to seeing how it develops differently. I doubt that Isabel will have an especially long or memorable reign. One of the main destabilising things for the old Empire was the lack of a strong male heir, so Prince-Imperial Pedro will probably be fast-tracked to the throne.

Very interesting to see how the world outside of Britain has been effected, particularly the section on Brazil. I know next to nothing about Brazilian history, but this was an intriguing take on a nation that even with my very limited knowledge I could tell is going to be very different.

I find it interesting to that despite closer relations between Russia and Germany the Romanovs are still doomed to fall from power. The intriguing question now becomes when and how they will fall and what the effect of the closer Russo-German ties will be on Europe.

I couldn't possibly say.

;)

The Romanovs were in a rather invidious position during this time, but I think that Nicky's earlier dalliances with Princess Helene may have scuppered his marriage to Alix of Hesse. I've identified some rather promising candidates for the new Imperial bride, but there's some far graver structural problems that will make the monarchy's position precarious in any eventuality.

Yet another TL I start reading that's been about for a while, and end up liking. :cool:

I have seen your lordship's DeviantArt page, and stroke my beard at some of the things implicated in it, particularly viz a poster of a certain nation in the middle of Europe... ;):cool::eek:

Nice to see the elder Chaimberlain have some time in the limelight. I didn't know much about Randolf Churchill until I read FabR!, and equally little about 'Brummie Joe'.

There was rather a big split amongst every party on the whole Home Rule thing. If I'm understanding your TL correctly (which I might not :eek:), Chaimberlain isn't opposed to home rule, per se, but would rather an imperial federation, with home rule to the component parts, rather than devolution to one particular bit.

I look forwards to this Federal Kingdom.

Also, I see that a lot of these posters you have made has "Action Party Archive" stamps. Going by that, I'm having a sneeking suspicion that perhaps the FK's politics takes something of an unsavoury turn during the 20th century... :(

I have done my best not to add too many flash-forwards to the world of the epilogue, mainly because I don't want to write myself into too much of corner, but most of your ideas are correct. Indeed, Chamberlain's position on Home Rule is rather unchanged from OTL. He was never opposed to the idea of decentralisation or devolution, he just felt that giving special treatment to the Irish would only cause problems further down the line. In addition, he felt that Gladstone's conversion to the cause was entirely opportunistic, but it will continue to be a major issue for the next few years.

Good stuff, Roem - I suspect non-militarised Brazil is going to have some interesting butterflies, in South America at least...

Glad you are enjoying it, it means a lot. Republicanism in Brazil remains fairly strong, even if it has been rather discredited by the coup.
 
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