https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/WhatMadnessIsThis
Reminding everyone a good ole TVTropes page exists for this.
Reminding everyone a good ole TVTropes page exists for this.
"What Madness Is This?" Volume I: The Union Forever
- Thread starter Napoleon53
- Start date
This was one of my favorite timelines back in the day. I'll be watching this one.
What Madness is this! was one of the first timelines I ever read on this site when I discovered it. I eagerly await to see how this goes in comparison to the original.
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4:
THE SHATTER OF 1801
Flag representing the Republican Union between Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania
THE SHATTER OF 1801
Flag representing the Republican Union between Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania
As secessionist movements rocked North America and as Federalist bodies rotted in unmarked ditches in New York City, gatherings of local and regional leaders were underway and reshaping the future of the continent forever. Willard Crawford marched his "Army of Free Soldiers" south to Philadelphia to announce a new American constitutional convention on August 5, 1801. The New England states all bonded together in the face of outright anarchy sweeping their lands. Rhode Island briefly declared itself an independent country, flying a simple horizontal blue and white two-colored banner, but food and supply shortages were crippling it just a month in, and its dysfunctional benevolent military dictatorship was worried about a plot between local merchants to bring back British soldiers to restore order. Thus, they begged for Crawford to march the Free Soldiers to their small nation and reinstate order. The old state banner went up once more and the merchants who had arranged the plot to restore British rule fled to Canada on a tea ship.
Crawford marched back to Philadelphia in time to reconvene the Convention and also in time to hear the depressing news that plans for Maryland to remain a part of the country had fallen apart. Maryland was suspicious of its neighbor Virginia for long-standing territorial disputes in the Ohio Country, but bore no real enmity toward the Republic Jefferson and Madison were creating. The Union hoped to keep Maryland in its fold because of its lucrative ports and businesses, but Samuel Chase (the recently elected Emergency President of the Free State of Maryland) had seen Crawford's invasion of Rhode Island as coercion (news of the merchant plot to restore the King had been lost in the chaos of the faltering USA). He had his delegation to Philadelphia turn back and on September 10, 1801, he proclaimed the Chesapeake Republic of Maryland in Baltimore. Maryland's well-trained minutemen and militias made their break clean and orderly, and the Kingdom of Naples and the Vatican States became the first to internationally recognize Maryland. France and Britain followed soon after.
Flag of the Chesapeake Republic of Maryland
Samuel Chase, First President of Maryland
The New Republic of Virginia was quick to elect Thomas Jefferson and James Madison as President and Vice President respectively. The two men didn't agree on everything, but believed in freedom and had hope that an enlightened and libertine state could still rise from the bloody ashes of the United States. They set out to make sure Virginia was as strong as the "Northern Aggressors" in the "Republican Union," a new name for the old United States agreed upon by its eight remaining states attending Crawford's Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on October 31, 1801. Thanks to Virginia's tremendous economy supported by slave labor and a relatively impressive amount of fairly unimposing but still useful naval vessels, it was the second largest economy in North America and was in a better debt situation than any of the others. Virginia also became the first of the seceded states to form a professional military. It was immediately used to try to chase out remaining natives from their lands and to monitor the north. The border with Maryland was extremely casual, and Maryland's Chase got along just splendidly with Jefferson. Virginia's military also formed an alliance with Maryland's militias, agreeing to come to each others' aid if need be. Virginia was home to several old US and British naval bases, and it rivaled the Republican Union in fleet strength.
Flag of the Republic of Virginia
Virginia's House of Burgesses was resurrected, which fit in nicely with the aristocratic attitudes of the land-owning gentry, and was essentially a congress. The constitution they adopted in 1803 was largely the work of Jefferson and Madison, and allowed a very large amount of freedom and limited government power. Many citizens claimed it was "what the USA should have been from the beginning." France, Britain, and Prussia all recognized Virginia quite quickly, and stability was derived from the citizen's respect for Jefferson and Madison. It's flag was merely its seal on a white banner.
The Confederation of the Carolinas was the first to truly become independent (not including Virginia's half-hearted secessionist movements it experienced in 1800), with Andrew Jackson, its eager military dictator, having caught wind Crawford's plot to overthrow the government in New York. In fact, Jackson was offered a role in the new government by Crawford, in an attempt to keep north and south together and to pressure Virginia and Maryland back into the fold, but Jackson had said, "It is better or north and south, for free and slave-holding, to part ways and restart this grand American adventure under their own terms." Surprisingly, Jackson's hypnotic control over his loyal soldiers did not stop him from peacefully having the Confederation adopt a very similar constitution to that of Virginias in 1805, after several years of military rule and quelling a slave uprising. He also broke the spirit of the remaining tribes in West Carolina, sending them fleeing into the Ohio Country where they were then vanquished by Virginian and Union forces. Native power east of the Mississippi was finally gone forever. And while there was a Constitution, Jackson was so wildly popular he was essentially doing whatever he wanted.
The Carolinas adopted a unique flag bearing a blue cross over a red-above-white horizontal banner. In the upper corner was a crescent, an old symbol of the militias of the Revolutionary War, and in the center of the cross were three small white stars, symbolizing the union of North, South, and West Carolina around a central larger white star. A "noble heraldic vulture" was adopted as the country's official seal, with Jackson saying it symbolized the scavenging of the remnants of the former US states and how they would survive after its death. Also Jackson just really liked vultures and thought it would look sharp on a shako and a war drum; he wasn't wrong.
Flag of the Confederation of the Carolinas
Chancellor Andrew Jackson of the Confederation of the Carolinas
The Green Mountain Republic of Vermont was formed after the Treason Trials. Even though it considered itself quite New English, it had had enough of the central government failing and it still bore animosity against everyone else over its Green Mountain Boys' treatment during the invasion of Louisiana. So it decided to form its own libertarian paradise up in the mountains, with an army of all volunteers and a fairly elected "Green Mountain People's Congress of Liberty" (no executive position was established, as the people worried it might become a dictatorship like some said of Crawford or Jackson). There were minimal taxes, minimal government expenditure, minimal laws, and almost total anarchy. Hill clans took maximum power for themselves and invented "land rights" as a means with which to extort their neighbors. If one large family lived in a valley, and another family decided to homestead there, the first large family could essentially tax the newcomers to live there. If the new family was of equal size to the "owners," family feuds broke out. If the new family was bigger than the "owners," then, in all likelihood, the "owners" would be murdered. The people soon lived in fear and terror of lawless neighboring clans murdering them, but at least they didn't have to pay taxes!
Flag of the Green Mountain Republic of Vermont
Making matters worse was Britain's consistent violation of Vermont's borders. Redcoats ventured in on routine "scavenging tours" in Green Mountain territory, and several illegal logging camps were set up by Canadian citizens. Finally, Vermont's militias mustered and drove out the loggers. King George thought briefly about outright invasion and recapturing of the former colony, but with the Napoleonic Wars unfolding in Europe and their coup attempt thwarted in Rhode Island, abandoned it, leading to the Vermont citizens thinking they had broken the morale of the British Empire and gave them an insane amount of national prestige, something that would persist from that point on. The neighbors down the road might kill them over a cow, but the British Empire knew better than to fuss with the Green Mountain Republic!
On the Gulf Coast, the West Florida Republic was a puppet of the also-fresh faced Republic of Georgia and was much like Vermont in its outlook. It had been a part of Spain but was almost entirely white and American by 1800, and thus it threw off the Spanish yoke and proclaimed independence. Spain was quite busy in Europe and was forced to eat the loss. It was a libertarian wonderland controlled by local towns and villages that pushed the limits of freedom into "do as thou wilt" anarchy. Things got so bad in West Florida that they inadvertently gave birth to a North American icon: the Town Sheriff. Wyatt Masterson was a sheriff who fought off 20 bandits attempting to sack his village on the Gulf Coast. He became a hero, and Georgia, West Florida's puppet-master, started a huge system of sheriffs in its own country, which decreased crime by a large percentage. Aside from the occasional pirate attack, West Florida remained fairly safe as a nation, since Georgia deterred the Spanish from getting any bright ideas. It never elected a central leader, and instead opted for a National Parliament and town councils took care of absolute necessities. West Florida took up Georgia's entire Gulf coastline, but Georgians were allowed to come and go and trade as they pleased. Most everyone knew that one day soon, Georgia would annex West Florida, but until stability could be achieved in North America it was nominally independent.
Flag of the West Florida Republic
Flag of the Republic of Georgia, the red stripe symbolizing sacrifice, the white stripes purity, the blue the waters of its eastern and western borders, and the green the fertile plantations
Like Virginia, the Republic of Georgia was run by aristocratic, land-owning, slave-owning, Southern gentry, and would have probably joined Virginia in a union if the Confederation of the Carolinas hadn't been in between. It's borders stretched from the coast of the Atlantic to the might Mississippi, the heart of cotton country. They weren't quite as radically republican as Virginia, but they were decent as far as adherents to that philosophy were concerned. The Republican Constitution was based on Maryland's model, but it had to make adjustments to make it work with their more aristocratic agriculture-based society. A standing national army was to be kept at all times to deter Spain or other enemies from trying anything, and those soldiers often patrolled West Florida, too. The Georgian Navy wasn't huge, but it did well enough to protect what they needed protected.
Militarist Archibald Bulloch was elected Prime Minister. He was not known as a "bad" man or disrespected, but his militarism signaled a new political force in politics: Ultra-Right-Wing Expansionism supported by the citizens themselves. No cheating occurred. No bribery. No blackmail. The Republic had elected a militarist free and fairly. He believed in individual freedom, but he also believed in expansion and the destruction of neighbors. He was the one who made West Florida a satellite nation. His territorial politics brought him into conflict with Andrew Jackson as they both squabbled over who had rights to areas in West Carolina along the Mississippi River.
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SuperZtar64
Banned
Ah yes, i remember this country well
But in all seriousness I am sort of rocking up and down in my seat right now, I'm so excited you can't believe it.
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Ah yes, i remember this country well
But in all seriousness I am sort off rocking up and down in my seat right now, I'm so excited you can't believe it.
D'oh! I feel dumb! Fixed!
Thank you so much!
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 5
THE MADNESS OF THE GEORGES
"The Mad King" George IV
THE MADNESS OF THE GEORGES
"The Mad King" George IV
Things had changed across the world since the Fall of the Old United States. Spain, in its war with Britain, had invaded Canadian territory, distracting King George and making him drop plans for possibly reclaiming any old American territories, and giving Napoleon's France a loophole to go on an absolute rampage in Europe.
Napoleon had become the César de la France, the "Caesar of France," in 1804, restoring France to absolute monarchy, and George III finally cracked shortly thereafter. George, overwhelmed with the stress of (as he saw it) increasing losses of the Empire, collapsed in his palace, died, and was replaced with his son George IV. George IV was, unfortunately, completely and utterly bonkers. Not just crazy like his father, but absolutely stark raving, mouth-foaming mad. This was terrible for Britain's wartime morale and the overall leadership of the country. Britain's royal family became a joke internationally, with its own allies mocking it. The Bonaparte family, meanwhile, was doing just fine. Even Prussia came to respect Napoleon more than they did any English royal, even if they hated his Corsican guts for his never-ending territorial ambition.
Napoleon constructed embassies in all the North American countries except West Florida and Vermont. Virginia and Maryland were quite friendly, but it was Georgia that fell in love with the French emperor. The tightening relationship between the two countries improved Georgia's relationship with Spain, since the Spanish were an ally of France. Georgia began to realize that by playing its cards right and by joining Napoleon's alliance, if even unofficially, it could possibly become the dominant independent country in North America. Prime Minister Bulloch thought that sounded great. In the few years since the destruction of the US, the various new countries had started to disdain each other far more, and if he could stick it to "the Northern buzzards" (which now included the Confederation of the Carolinas and Virginia to a lesser extent since further territorial disputes had unfolded in 1802), then it would be a great day in his book. So, in 1806, Georgia began patterning itself after France. French-style uniforms, French music, French food, French everything. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship that suited Georgia's right-wing militarists just fine.
Meanwhile, in the Republican Union, a new form of government took power: the Consulate, which patterned itself somewhat after Napoleon's France (before he had been crowned Caesar, of course). Instead of just three consuls, like in France, however, there were two for each state elected every four years (titled Consuls of the Republic). There was no president, but two consuls each year were elected as Chief Consuls of the Republic. State or Territorial Consuls (one per state) fulfilled the role of governors. At the capital city, the Republican Consuls would meet and discuss national policy in fair and open debates, debates which often turned ugly or hostile. Willard Crawford had made it clear he would not be a dictator and was surprisingly happy to give up his emergency powers and his Philadelphia Constitutional Convention had been a nominal success, even if the grueling "convention" in Philadelphia lasted three whole years. Three years of the economy being in shambles and the military being non-existent, leaving only the Army of Free Soldiers to keep the nation from anarchy. Democratic-Republicans insisted that freedom be absolutely guaranteed by the government and pushed for the abolition of slavery in all the states of the Republican Union. The new party, the Centrist Party, largely made up of politicians from the smaller or less-populous states, demanded a moderate, populist government. They also pushed for a large army to be raised to defend the country from Britain, Spain, and its southern neighbors.
The long-lasting raging hatred that the North would eventually have for the South was not quite in full swing. The Southerners disdained the north and blamed the horrific failure of the United States on them. The North was more concerned in its own problems and was content for the moment to push their "hillbilly cousins" onto the back burner for now. Slavery was a rather touchy subject, though, and any suggestions by consuls for closer relationships with the "Southron" republics were usually shot down by fire-and-brimstone New England abolitionists (or those pretending abolitionists to score political points). Many present historians now claim that without slavery-or if the North had had many themselves-the USA might have recovered after the Treason Trials, but the increasingly foreign cultures developing between the former British colonies was largely unavoidable, and it was a miracle they hadn't had a seaboard-spanning civil war under the shaky Articles of Confederation. Given a few decades at most, and the USA would have likely sank into some sort of civil war. The withdrawal of the South had come at just the right time to avoid entering that likely self-destructive conflict.
Back in the North, there were some Union citizens, though, that began thinking of the Southern republics as "rightful Union land." The captain of this philosophical ship was Aaron Burr, the middle-aged Consul of New York. He served with Willard Crawford as the first two Chief Consuls, and during that time made his revanchist feelings known. While military force was not taken seriously at this point to force the Southerners back under the North's wing, Burr's way of thinking set the stage for further problems.
Aaron Burr
List of Consuls of the Republic (1801-1805):
- Willard Crawford - New Hampshire
- William Whipple - New Hampshire
- Aaron Burr - New York
- George Clinton - New York
- George Clymer - Pennsylvania
- William Jackson - Pennsylvania
- Joseph Bloomfield - New Jersey
- William Livingstone - New Jersey
- Gunning Bedford, Jr. - Delaware
- Richard Basset - Delaware
- John Samuel Peters - Connecticut
- Oliver Wolcott, Jr. - Connecticut
- James Fenner - Rhode Island
- Nehemiah Knight - Rhode Island
This, of course, did not bode well with Georgy. Not at all. He went into a deep, dark depression, where he locked himself in his room for hours, weeping bitterly and talking to imaginary friends. When servants would unlock the door, he'd beat them off with a fireplace poker and scream seemingly random verses from the Bible. He finally lost every trace of sanity on December 21, 1807. The madness was about to consume Britain.
It started like every other terrible day in wartime London, and George had locked himself away again. The servants were told to ignore him, for something big was supposed to happen later in the afternoon. That big thing was Frederick was to become Regent. Stability would be returned. The Corsican Ogre would be beaten back and his empire would be destroyed. The Americans would be kept in check. "The British Empire will return to glory and march onward to future triumphs, the likes of which the world has never seen," said William.
On that day, at 10 AM, ten palace guards, a group of servants, Frederick, and William marched to George's room to evict him and put him in a "safe room," much like the one that had held his father during his manic final days. When they opened the door and delivered the news, George was uncommonly quiet and at peace. He said there would be "no need for a guarded escort."
Frederick smiled sadly and asked, "You'll cooperate, then? That is most admirable of you, my brother. Father would be proud of you. This is not something we wish to have happened, but it's necessary for the Empire. We know you do your best but we need a firm hand to deal with those frogs, eh? We love you, George."
To which George responded: "No. There will be no need for an escort, because it ends now." Everyone's smiles vanished instantly. "This is my castle! My donjon! My château! My citadel of Merlin! And you shall not take it from me, damn you! You're all going to die for plotting against your God-given monarch!" What followed was one of the most gruesome setbacks in English history. George pulled out two flintlock pistols from his large red coat. He then shot Frederick directly in the chest, killing him almost instantly. He fired the other and struck William in the side as William attempted to catch Frederick as he fell, sending blood spurting everywhere and both princes crashing backward over a coffee table. George then pulled a decorative sword off the wall of the room, raised it to his own neck, and then slit his own throat. The blade almost severed his head as he fell forward. He let out a few final gurgles and breathed his last.
The guards and servants stood in horror at the bloodbath for a few seconds, in a state of shock, before going to work trying to revive Frederick. It was no use. He was as dead as George, and the prince's body lay in a pool of his own blood. William, meanwhile, was put on a stretcher and raced to another room where a veritable army of doctors raced to remove the bullet from his lower ribcage. He was losing a lot of blood, and for several hours the entire palace stood on edge, waiting to see if three rightful monarchs would die in one day. Fortunately, William stabilized and survived. The British propaganda industry had its work cut out for itself. There was simply no way of getting around what had happened. George IV, King of Great Britain, had murdered one of his own brothers and gravely wounded the other before taking his own life. What was there to lie about? What was there to fictionalize for the sake of national morale? The answer was nothing at all.
Portrait of King George IV done shortly before his suicide
Britain's stock market crumbled and the nation was rocked by a devastating combination of mourning and economic depression. As if that wasn't bad enough, Russia and France signed a formal alliance against Great Britain and launched a worldwide propaganda campaign ridiculing the English aristocracy with zingers like "King George was ill-bred and he was touched in the head. King George filled his brothers with lead, before he cut off his own head. His head! His head! His head!" This rhyme grew so popular that the French Grand Army sang it to the tun of "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre." It later became even more widespread among the Russians, who sang it to various folk tunes. It eventually made its way to North America, where the southern countries adapted it to the tune of We are a Band of Brothers.
This is widely considered the turning point in the Napoleonic Wars that sealed France's fate as a world power.
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So many delicious PODs. So much insanity. This TL basically is just insanity and mental illness being kicked up a few notches from how things were OTL. Then they fly away on the wings of the beautiful butterflies (secret robot spy butterflies equipped with O.R.R.A. listening devices; you say something wrong and boom orbital RU space force death ray).
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 6
Ruler of All He Surveys
"Power is my Mistress."
-Caesar Napoleon I
Ruler of All He Surveys
"Power is my Mistress."
-Caesar Napoleon I
Caesar Napoleon I was having a delightful time in 1808 and 1809. With Britain in self-inflicted tatters, and his own cult of personality growing daily, nothing seemed to dampen his plans. It was as if the Gods of Ancient Rome had descended and handed him the fate of Europe, like something from an old legend. With its main ally Britain on ice and dealing with the disgrace of the monarchy, Portugal knelt to the Imperial Throne of France under force of arms, a huge defeat for those resisting the Continental System and also a main source of Britain's ongoing economic collapse. The Portuguese Confederation was formed. The Corsican's growing empire was becoming a colossus, brow-beating neighbors such as Prussia into submission with the threat of brute force, also known as the Grand Army. Austria was crushed at the Battle of Wagram in the summer of 1809, and the Continental System was imposed on the former Holy Roman Empire. In the fall, Austria was finally defeated and a treaty was signed at Schönbrunn Palace, in Vienna. In order to understand the expansion of the French Empire during this period, and the later events in the centuries following, we must look at, in more depth, the powers Napoleon wielded at this point.
On the 21st of November, 1806, Napoleon signed the Berlin Decree in response to the British Royal Navy blockading his coast. While at first the strategy did not seem to be working, it really kicked in during the following year, after the George IV Regicide-Suicide. The other countries started to regard Britain as something of a stale old joke that was quickly ceasing to amuse. Stories, sometimes utterly false, were released by France's propaganda industry that told of the drunken debauchery of the British nobility. Still others claimed King William was illegitimate, or perhaps a homosexual, or even both! Catholic Austria, France's main rival, had never had a good relationship with the British Isles, going back several hundred years. They, too, now looked upon the British government as incapable. The British Royal Navy still ruled the Atlantic, but the Mediterranean was nothing short of a French pond. Royal Navy sloops and some other smaller ships patrolled North Africa to some degree, but it was only a token force protecting land the French Emperor was not interested in (at the moment).
In 1808, British citizens' own growing reluctance to rally around their throne hugely aided the Continental System. Some historians say that the entire collapse of the British economy was caused by these seeds of doubt in their goverment, with Napoleon jumping to take credit. Russia, a reluctant friend of France, was satisfied that Britain was falling, and thus strengthened their alliance to bring about the "Final Defeat of the Lobsterbacks."
While Britain was still singing the praises of its own Indian cotton, Georgia doubled production in North America. It was protected from Britain by being locked in an area with allied European and neutral American regions. The sale of Napoleon-approved Georgian cotton to Europe was a devastating blow to Britain during a time when it needed more cash to continue the war effort.
This, however, led to another problem. The Confederation of the Carolinas, still under Andrew Jackson's benevolent fist, asked to be a trading partner with France, with cotton and tobacco as the major products. Carolina was the largest non-British tobacco provider in the world, and Europeans were willing to pay Carolina's prices rather than smuggle in British tobacco. In fact, Jackson was asked by Napoleon to deliberately lower his tobacco prices to undercut Britain, even if only for a while, with promises of losses being paid in full by France at a later date, upon the ruination of Britain. What was the problem then?
Carolinian ships being boarded by the Royal Navy
Britain did not like the "colonists" hacking into their payday. King William finally had had enough and ordered the Royal Navy to start confiscating American goods. In late 1808, one Georgian and two Virginian trade ships loaded from stem to stern with supplies were sunk by the Brits after attempting to run a blockade off northern Spain. In the first show of collective support since before the Treason Trials, the American countries, with the exception of the Republican Union, pulled together to issue a unanimous declaration of war against Britain for violating their "wartime neutrality." Though the Union refused to go to war for fear of Canada invading (as well as the general dislike of the Southrons), it agreed to build ships for Napoleon's American allies in its New England shipyards. The Union struggled along economically while the South prepared to set up a "new era of industry" for itself. This is a pivotal moment in the North-South rivalry that would continue for generations.
The exact date of Britain's total economic ruin cannot be pinpointed, but it certainly began around the time of the Berlin Decree, and was close to the end by the time William took the throne. The Napoleonic Wars were not over, and neither was Britain, but the Pound might as well have been minted out of feces by 1810.
Never, since the days of the Roman Empire, had such a massive, energized, multi-ethnic army won so many victories. Napoleon's personal obsession with all things military led him to christen his forces the Grand Army in 1805. A Roman-style eagle became the symbol which men from over a dozen different major countries and regions would carry to "Glory Eternal" on the battlefields of Europe. Prussians, Russians, Bavarians, Austrians, Americans, Saxons, and even some English were all common sights in the ranks during the height of French power. The Grand Army brought utter destruction to all who opposed it, from Austria to Prussia. Any time a French "ally" got ideas to violate agreements or go to war again, it was the fighting men of the Grand Army that went in to put them down like dogs.
This tactic, though, was not wildly popular with the citizens of other nations. Rebellions were common, such as those in Prussia in 1809. These revolts were to be crushed on the Emperor's order by the home country. If they failed, the Grand Army would invade. One means the genius Corsican came up with to keep the populace in check was to conscript or hire as many foreigners as possible, for, as he put it, "A man is much less likely to raise arms against an occupying force when his own brothers and fathers wear the occupiers' uniforms and carry their Imperial Eagles." After a while, sometimes those brothers and fathers even started to like wearing them.
Needless to say, essentially all of Europe was allied to or conquered by Napoleon at this point. 1810 was what the Emperor declared "A new dawn. The beginning of an era of peace." Peace after "Britain's total destruction," that is.
Empire of France (areas bowing directly to the French throne):
- Duchy of Warsaw
- Kingdom of Italy
- Kingdom of Holland
- Kingdom of Etruria
- Principality of Lucca and Piombino
- Kingdom of Naples
- Swiss Confederation
- Confederation of the Rhine
- Portuguese Confederation
- Spain
- Kingdom of Denmark
- Kingdom of Sweden
- Chesapeake Republic of Maryland
- Ottoman Empire
- Austrian Empire
- Republic of Virginia
- Empire of Russia
- Confederation of the Carolinas
- Kingdom of Prussia
- Qajar Persia
- West Florida Republic
- Republic of Georgia
- The Republican Union
- Green Mountain Republic of Vermont
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Md139115
Banned
Alright, two nitpicks. In the English legal system the colonies inherited, a marshal is an officer of a court, and a sheriff is a county law enforcement officer. The two positions are not interchangeable and the OTL system of the sheriff becoming the famous icon of representing the law in an isolated community is far more likely than a network of courts taking it upon themselves.
Also, if King George IV was already alive for many years prior to your POD, how does he also go mad?
This is still a great work though!
YESSS. LET THE DARKNESS FLOW THROUGH YOU, MY APPRENTICE.
That is honestly a good point. Easy fix! I just liked the sound of marshal and didn't really consider it.
That's the beauty of WMiT: There is no known POD. Everything is a POD. This is a true parallel universe, just one that until the 1700s cut a razor edge separating it from ours. If I recall correctly, there's a scene in WMiT where something minor from the renaissance is mentioned in passing that is just completely factually wrong and everyone is just like "yeah, that's what happened." Who knows how far back the changes go. I feel like not many TLs do this and this enables me to play god more with the circumstances. Instead of "Nazis win" or "Confederates win at Gettysburg," I make it more interesting and obscure. Just try summing up the beginning and you'll realize how many interesting things are going on all at once.
Thank you! I always intended to cover the colonies more, it's just tough when you literally have to fabricate the entire history of things that never happened, like French Australia, when you're also managing the main dystopian plotline. I'll definitely be asking for help!
Alright, two nitpicks. In the English legal system the colonies inherited, a marshal is an officer of a court, and a sheriff is a county law enforcement officer. The two positions are not interchangeable and the OTL system of the sheriff becoming the famous icon of representing the law in an isolated community is far more likely than a network of courts taking it upon themselves.
Also, if King George IV was already alive for many years prior to your POD, how does he also go mad?
This is still a great work though!
That is honestly a good point. Easy fix! I just liked the sound of marshal and didn't really consider it.
That's the beauty of WMiT: There is no known POD. Everything is a POD. This is a true parallel universe, just one that until the 1700s cut a razor edge separating it from ours. If I recall correctly, there's a scene in WMiT where something minor from the renaissance is mentioned in passing that is just completely factually wrong and everyone is just like "yeah, that's what happened." Who knows how far back the changes go. I feel like not many TLs do this and this enables me to play god more with the circumstances. Instead of "Nazis win" or "Confederates win at Gettysburg," I make it more interesting and obscure. Just try summing up the beginning and you'll realize how many interesting things are going on all at once.
Thank you! I always intended to cover the colonies more, it's just tough when you literally have to fabricate the entire history of things that never happened, like French Australia, when you're also managing the main dystopian plotline. I'll definitely be asking for help!
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 7
"God must be--no, God is--a Frenchman."
-Marshal Louis-Gabriel Suchet
"God must be--no, God is--a Frenchman."
-Marshal Louis-Gabriel Suchet
Spain, thanks to the prolonged effort against Britain, was desperately clinging to its colonies by 1810, trying to suck every bit of cash out of them it could. Finally, as per Napoleon's suggestion, they sold Florida to Georgia (which finally eased any tension on the borders between Florida, Georgia, and West Florida) for eight million Georgian Pounds plus a good amount of cotton, ammunition, firearms, and boots. It was a fair deal, but Spain needed more money to carry on. Thus, it began talks with France for the sale of the (already formerly French) Louisiana Territory.
This scared the living daylights out of the American countries, especially the Republican Union. Those countries might have been fine with Napoleon raising Hell in Europe, but the thought of Napoleon the Great in their own backyards was enough to cause insomnia. When France acquired Louisiana for 7,000,000 Francs, the Republican Union immediately raised an army and sent it to the Mississippi River to make sure Napoleon didn't get any big ideas about invading.
Napoleon, though, was not actually interested in invading the American republics. In fact, he liked most of them and saw no need to invade them whatsoever. Disunited, they weren't a threat. No, instead, he was eying British Canada, the ultimate prize over which the Seven Years' War was bloodily fought so many decades before. If he could take that back and end the humiliation which led ultimately led to the French Revolution, he would be a great leader indeed. He immediately drew up plans for a Kingdom of Quebec ruled by one of his officers or siblings, and the rest would likely become part of the French Empire proper. It was an impressive plan, but still would be extremely tough, if not outright impossible, to pull off with the Royal Navy causing problems.
That, concluded Napoleon, was the moment his greatest brainchild was born. He suddenly realized that if he announced a total partition of the faltering British Empire, from India to Jamaica, other countries would likely love to get in on the profitable venture regardless of how much they hated his guts. Napoleon was top dog in the European neighborhood, and Britain was now the scrawny, malnourished whelp getting the snot beaten out of it on the regular. It was always better to be on the top dog's side than the scrawny whelp's regardless if the scrawny whelp was formerly your best friend.
So, Russia was told that if the Imperial Russian Fleet helped rip through the Royal Navy, it would get to keep not only Alaska and the surrounding area, but would have part of the North American west coast blocked off for its exclusive ownership. The Czar, Alexander, without having any idea what the offered territory was like, thought this was great, of course, and an English historian later claimed that "Alexander was willing to sell his soul to the devil for a bit of beachfront property in Eskimoland." He was also plied with very lucrative trade deals which helped soften the blow when he realized later most of the land in America was useless.
When the offer was sent to King Friedrich Wilhelm III promising African and South American territory in exchange for providing infantry and supplies for the invasion of Canada, the Prussian monarch reluctantly accepted, mostly because the French Imperial Army had several of its German regiments in his capital to enforce the Continental System and depose him if he tried anything.
King Friedrich Wilhelm III
Prussian troops serving under Napoleon circa 1810
Thus, the plans for the Canadian Invasion were completed by early 1811. In the spring of 1812, the fleets were to do battle with the Royal Navy in a sea battle for the ages.
Or at least, that was what was supposed to happen.
King William IV
British spies knew had found out about the Canadian Plot as early as just several weeks after the proposal was sent to Czar Alexander. William had to do something. Anything. He would not allow Britain to lose Canada.
Wills raised a massive army, pushing the Royal economy even deeper into the darkest pits of the metaphorical outhouse. Thousands of men were shipped to Canada. Thousands of men in Canada itself were formed into militias. William had no way of paying for all this, so he had to believe he would win and keep Canada, and then use the momentum to possibly raid the French coast and perhaps invade Denmark or Greece or some other such place, and then slowly strike back against the Empire. If he did that, chances were Austria would side with him again, and then Prussia. With any luck, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and perhaps one or two other former allies would return to his side and defeat the Franco-Spanish-Russian menace in a possible War of the Sixth Coalition.
The truth is that it probably would have happened. Invading Canada would be like invading Russia. The freezing temperatures, vast open plains, rugged mountains, and relatively low population made it desirable in the past for sake of furs and colonial bragging rights, but it was not a good target for Napoleon. Russia would probably "claim" western Canada anyway, and Britain would likely do nothing in response. It was vast emptiness.
Up-and-coming Arthur Wellesley, thought the plan smelled of "French froggery," and was the only one to voice this opinion to the King, but William was too panicked to listen. The stress was starting to get to him, and he was showing signs of mental illness just like the two Georges before him. He became obsessive over protecting Canada, and it was the biggest mistake he ever made.
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“Good! Your Madness has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your manifest destiny and take your place at my side!”
One thing that always bugged me about the original WMIT was how far and how fast the RU expanded without any real opposition from anybody and how the south largely remained inside their original succession borders, especially when the RU was encircling them. Always thought it odd that the old slaver class wouldn’t be chompin at the bit to push west or into Africa to find and exploit more land. Maybe have the Southerners more involved and complacent in their own inevitable betrayal and destruction?
Also, give Ireland a colony or two. They don’t have to be good ones either. I just like the irony that my people, a historical colonised people, get to be the colonial asses for once. And have somewhere to flee should you poison the country again.