"What Madness Is This?" Volume I: The Union Forever

[Napoleon53]

This chapter is absolutely brutal, and one of the most horrifying yet. Anyone who though they were rooting for a "good guy" ITTL will probably have their hopes and dreams dashed.​

CHAPTER 18
THE FIRST SLAVE INSURRECTION AND THE FALL OF HENRY CLAY

​

As the dust settled following the devastating Virginian-Carolinian War (sometimes called the Cuba War), a grand irony was recognized in Richmond. Though tens of thousands of Carolinians lay dead and Andrew Jackson's body was cold, the force needed to occupy the defeated Confederation made it impossible to support any attempt at maintaining dominance in Cuba. Instead, they were forced to pull out of even the Virgin Islands Confederacy, where Governor-General Bragg declared sovereignty as soon as the last Virginian ship sailed out. In the end, Virginia was left at square one, except it was now occupying a neighbor at cost, instead of profiting from the backs of an easy Cuban expedition. The Confederation was mostly intact, little damage sustained by the war itself--with the obvious omission of casualties and businesses going under with no young men to run them. On the other hand, Virginia was scorched all the way to Richmond and its chief city of industry and biggest port, Norfolk, lay in ruins. With all the troops of the Republican Army out occupying the Confederation, not enough men were present to rebuild. On February 1, 1828, the Treaty of Charlotte was signed, with the Confederation remaining independent under a new Chancellor and the loss of West Carolina to Virginia, who promptly renamed it the Province of Boone.

It was then that a shocking offer came down from the north. Charles Goodyear and his famous Enterprises were offering to send 30,000 workers to the coastal city of Newport News to build it up into a suitable replacement port for Norfolk. When Clay's government asked what Goodyear wanted in exchange, he said it was a Christian goodwill gesture from the Union to show they weren't the bad neighbor they were made out to be, or like Virginia was in 1812. Even though Clay realized that it was likely all a ruse to make Virginia look incompetent in the eyes of the rest of the world and like they couldn't manage their own rebuilding, they accepted. In reality, it was a carefully planned step toward slowly eroding Virginian culture and softening it to an eventual reunification with the Yankee states. Wherever Yankees went, they brought their culture and religion with them.

In the spring of 1828, tens of thousands of Yankee workers and Goodyear Enterprises Employees began arriving in ships in Newport News. Dozens of freighters loaded up with construction materials were coming in and out of the city every day. Soon, wagon trains were established, connecting Newport News through Maryland to the industrial heartland of the Union. Goodyear himself came down to inspect progress in mid-Summer, remarking to President Clay that "American might and ingenuity is surpassed by none. Only Americans can accomplish the feat in which we are currently invested in. However, Goodyear became incensed at the sight of black slaves being used in the construction process. He demanded that Virginia stop using slave labor in the building of Newport News or the Union would pull out. After a lengthy debate, the House of Burgesses agreed, and the slaves were declared unsuitable for use in the project.

This would prove to be a very big mistake on the part of Virginia's white aristocracy. Black people all across the South came to call Goodyear the "Great White Savior." Tensions rose very high when the fiery young AFC pastor, Reverend John Brown, began preaching to the Negroes. Virginia started to wonder if this whole construction project was nothing more than an elaborate trick to get the slaves to rebel against them. Reverend Brown became known as "Reverend Darkie," and he began circuit riding all over Virginia. Plantation masters reviled him and the House of Burgesses had had about as much of the Americans as they could stand. As unrest gripped war-torn Virginia, the aristocracy was on high alert for any sort of slave revolt and the House of Burgesses and President Clay were finally ready to expel all Union workers and religious personnel from their nation. Things were about to go very, very wrong.

On August 5, 1828, Reverend Brown, several of his deacons, and numerous black Union citizens began to foment unrest at a Free Black Church in Southampton County, VA, just across the border from the Confederation of the Carolinas and host of the Battle of Boykins less than a year earlier. The members of the church, under Brown's guidance, had acquired a cache of muskets and sword, which were stored in the church cellar. Upon hearing of rumors that a violent insurrection was being planned at the church, General Winfield Scott, the same from the Cuba War, looked to redeem his defeats by snipping this revolutionary rose before it came to blossom. He marshaled two companies of expatriate volunteers that happened to be nearby, mostly Irishmen and Spanish expatriates, each company consisting of 100 men, and marched them to the church. The night was cold and dark as the troops arrived in the pouring rain. There was silence from the inside as the Virginian general rode his horse around the run-down slip-shod building with his officers.

"To whom it may concern currently in this church: I am General Winfield Scott of the Republican Virginian Army, and I have received word that a revolt has been planned inside this very church by malicious and bloodthirsty so-called American Fundamentalist missionaries and his freenigger followers. Now, in the name of the Republic of Virginia and President Henry Clay, I hereby order that all inside this church exit with their hands over their heads and allow this policing force to remove all weapons from the premise. You shall be unharmed and be treated fairly. Any missionaries will receive immediate repatriation to the Republican Union. You have two minutes to respond, or my men will set fire to this building as it is harboring fugitives and inciting human chattel to take up arms against their masters, against Code 12 and 15 of the Virginian Constitution."

-General Winfield Scott


After those two minutes, exactly 120 seconds later, Scott said simply and finally, "All right, boys! Smoke them niggers and Yankees out!"

The soldiers were preparing their torches and oil when a shot rang out. One of the troopers, an Irishman, fell to the muddy earth, his brains blown out the back of his head. A smoking musket was poking outside the steeple window of the church. With a thunderous cacophony, more guns were fired, knocking several dozen more soldiers to the ground in agony. The Virginians took cover and returned fire, riddling the dilapidated church with bullet holes. Men inside were falling, but John Brown was holding them together. "Stand strong, you free men!" he roared, grabbing another musket from their stockpile. "We aren't down yet, and we'll make them pay for their abuse, by God!"

Fire was starting to spread, even in the rain, and more torches were being tossed at the moment. More bullets came ripping through the ancient walls of the church from every side. Shutters shattered and doors were blown to pieces. With it getting hotter by the second in the church and a veritable powder keg sitting below their feet in the cellar, the 20 remaining revolutionaries decided it was best to try to make a run for it. Firing their guns wildly in every direction, the blacks and missionaries tried to flee, but the soldiers charged, killing most of them and beating the others into the ground with the butts of their rifles.

Now it got even worse. Many of the soldiers had been drinking that night at a local tavern before Scott mustered them up. The drunken troops found themselves beating and kicking Brown into the mud, his ribs shattering after a well-placed boot kick. Scott tried to control his men, but the rum was king. They took Brown and two of his accomplices and, after nailing together some fence posts from an abandoned farm across the road, crucified them alive "to set an example to all other nigger-lovers."

This was a very serious event and atrocity, and the repercussions would be endless. General Winslow Hershel was notified several hours later and arrived on the scene with a regiment of fresh troops and was disgusted with the gristly display. But Hershel knew as well as any that it was too late to turn back now. Three days later, as news spread of the Church Massacre, incensed black slaves all over the region began to lay down their tools and began refusing to obey their masters. Many were calling Brown "Freedom's Martyr" and branded Scott as "Pontius Pilate." Scott was removed from command, a move which he bitterly resented. He instead blamed rowdy Irish and Spanish soldiers for the massacre, which played right into Union hands. The unrest was even beginning to seep into the Confederation, and fears were growing of an all-out insurrection. The military was panicking, with the bulk of their forces occupying the Confederation, stories spread that the slaves were just waiting until the opportune moment to strike and rape their wives and murder their children. Businesses closed, churches boarded up, and people huddled inside their homes as the taskmasters tried to force the Negroes to mind their "place."

One of the earliest known photographs, this portrait of AFC Reverend and Patriot-Saint John Brown giving an early version of the "All Hail" salute would help establish the salute as the standard greeting of the AFC Church and later of the Manifest Destiny Party​

Chief among these "Negroes on Strike" was Nat Turner, a 28 year-old slave in Southampton County who could read and write and was a recent AFC convert through smuggled propaganda literature. On August 20, he began chanting verses from the Three Books of Manifest Destiny in the cotton field with his loyal supporters even as the taskmasters circled them on donkeys, their whips cracking in the air, and nearby militia troopers prepared their guns. The whole situation was once again about to go completely out of anyone's control. One of the taskmasters whipped a slave woman and her husband grew enraged, grabbed a rock off the ground, and threw it at the plantation goon, knocking him off his donkey with a yelp. The slaves set upon him, grabbing his whip, pistol, and knife and beating him to death. As his death gurgles let out, the militia fired upon the crowd of slaves in anger, mowing down about ten of them. Now incensed beyond all reason, the slaves dashed forward, grabbing taskmasters and brutally killing them with rocks and their bare hands. The militia fired another ill-aimed volley in a panic, missing most of the advancing slaves. The horde of blacks stormed forward, assaulting and viciously killing many of the shattered militia. They grabbed their guns and swords and the First Slave Insurrection began.


Word was spreading fast, and as Nat Turner and his "Army of the Righteous" marched through Southampton County, whites were fleeing en masse. Many of the whites they did stumble on were brutally murdered. With a trail of swinging soldier corpses in the trees above the rough-cut roads of back-country Virginia, the barefooted unarmed slaves soon were sporting gray jackets, boots, and muskets. On September 1, the "Free Republic of Southampton" was declared by Turner. Turner had read a book about South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar, and he believed he had the power to unite the slaves of Virginia into a force that could in turn liberate the entire South. However, very unlike Bolivar, Turner immediately wanted to turn around and welcome the "Enlightened Saviors of the North."

John Brown's body is nailed upon the cross
John Brown's body is nailed upon the cross
John Brown's body is nailed upon the cross
His soul is marching on!

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah! his soul is marching on!

He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord!
He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord!
He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord!
His soul is marching on!
(Chorus)

They will hang Henry Clay on a sour apple tree!
They will hang Henry Clay on a sour apple tree!
They will hang Henry Clay on a sour apple tree!
As they march along!

(Chorus)

Now, three rousing cheers for the Union!
Three rousing cheers for the Union!
Three rousing cheers for the Union!
Where free men live in peace!

- John Brown's Body, popular song of the First Slave Insurrection and later modified and adopted as a hymn by the AFC Church (it would also later become one of the main military marches of the Union, under the name "Battle Hymn of the Union" ​

The Virginian government couldn't believe it. Not only had they lost Cuba and the Virgin Islands, which would have put them in the ranks of the Great Powers, now their slave population was revolting while their army was sprawled all over the Confederation. On August 27, Virginia had expelled all Union citizens from its borders and asked Maryland for assistance in quelling the rebellion. On September 10, a meager force of 200 troops was sent down from Baltimore in the face of growing fears of unrest in their own country. President Clay was facing growing calls for him to resign by the House of Burgesses, which wanted to install General Zachary Taylor as "Emergency Potentate" for the "duration of the crisis." Taylor had been the only general of the Cuba War to go undefeated and his rigid discipline and staunch conservatism in all things made him a great choice to restore law and order.

Drawing of slaves murdering their masters during the First Slave Insurrection ​

By mid-September, Turner and his band of slaves were holding not only Southampton County but additionally the counties of Brunswick and Isle of Wight. A blood red flag with a cross in the center was his symbol, and he now took to wearing an ornate bicorne scavenged from a dead colonel. Blacks all across Virginia were talking about Turner's Republic and how they could be free there. And AFC missionaries still in the country illegally were peddling propaganda to them the whole time. It was a masterstroke of manipulation by the Union, taking a victorious rival that was becoming much more powerful and actually making them crack under their own problems by just edging them along a little bit. The Virginian Army was having to leave North Carolina and rush home. When General Taylor, commander of the Virginian 5th Army that was sent to occupy North Carolina, crossed the border, he drove straight for Turner.

The Second Battle of Boykins occurred on September 19, 1828, almost a year to the day since the first one. Virginian troops under Taylor absolutely slaughtered Turner's slaves in an absolute massacre. The fierce but undisciplined rebelling slaves made for target practice for soldiers that had lived through the Sieges of Norfolk and Greensboro. As the retreating slaves were cut down by cavalry, Turner tried to make his escape. Unfortunately, a band of patrolling farmers 5 miles west of the battle spotted a "negro in a very fancy hat" hiding in their barn. They quickly realized they had Nat Turner, the "Devil of Southampton," and brutally beat and tarred and feathered him before hanging him from the loft of their barn. The First Slave Insurrection was over.

All was not well, however, as Taylor kept marching north, slaughtering any slaves who dare not get back to their places. He eventually made his way to Richmond on November 7, bringing with him 10,000 pissed-off and blood-soaked VMI Cadets. President Henry Clay, fearing a coup and ushering in a civil war he couldn't win, appeared before the House of Burgesses to announce his resignation as President.

"Distinguished gentlemen of the House of Burgesses, it is my duty to inform you that effective immediately I, Henry Clay, have renounced the elected title of President of the Republic of Virginia, our sacred land. I have had the great honor of serving this young Republic through a time of great turmoil, and though the enemy in our war may have been defeated and their Chancellor slain, the situation has grown untenable and a majority of the blame for our current unrest and generally miserable condition has been placed on me and me alone. I am proud to have served this nation, but ashamed of any damage I may have caused or not prevented. And so I ask you all, as my last act as President, to pray for the Republic. Thank you, and may God bless Old Virginia."

- President Henry Clay, November 8, 1828

Almost immediately, the House of Burgesses voted to install General Zachary Taylor as Emergency Potentate with absolute control to bring the slave revolt to heal and remove any AFC missionaries currently still scuttling in the shadows. Taylor's first act was to abandon North and South Carolina and focus all forces on Virginia itself and of course the newly conquered Province of Boone.

"...The ancient people of Virginia have seen governments come and go. We have seen wars and peace treaties. We have seen flood, hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, and snow. We have seen sunshine, bountiful harvests, and the first dewy mornings of every spring. In the 221 years since our forefathers stepped foot on this continent and created Jamestown, building it with their bare hands and a prayer, our people have clung to our faith, families, and our way of life. I promise to the wonderful people of my country, of Old Virginia, that General Zachary Taylor will do his right best to secure a safe and stable future for the Republic. No slave revolt or nascent Union cults will ever overthrow our society. Those who attempt to unseat our cherished institutions shall taste the edge of cold Virginian steel. Let the bodies of those who warred against, and those who rebelled against, the Republic of Virginia stand as a warning to any future enemy. You will be crushed utterly and your bones and memory grounded into the salty dirt of the South. May the cotton grow over your mouldering grave and the waters of the Potomac and the Shenandoah wipe away all traces you ever existed. Old Virginia shall march on, forever and ever, until the end of time. May God Bless the Republic, and may God grant strength to me as I accept this title of Potentate of the Republic."

- General Zachary Taylor, November 9, 1828

Virginian Emergency Potentate Zachary Taylor​

Taylor's first act was to redesign the national flag from its standard emblem on white banner to the "Star and Bars." This was due to ridicule by the Confederation during the Cuba War that the flag looked like a flag of surrender. The star of the new flag represented unity, the blue canton was a different shade from the Union and symbolized liberty and the waters of Virginia's many rivers and the Atlantic Coast, and the red and white striped symbolized all the bloodshed of the past two years and the purity of its people's morals. The flag proved a much-needed morale boost before Taylor set down to go about the more serious business of dragging Virginia out of the mire and restoring law and order. Peace wasn't immediate, but it eventually came. It would stay this way until the writings of Meinrad Beutel would sweep the next generation of black revolutionaries...

Second National Flag of the Republic of Virginia​

 

[Napoleon53]

This is actually horrifying. Some of the research I did for this was actually saddening and immensely creepy.

THE HENRY MARX STORY
THE FATHER OF MODERN PHRENOLOGY​

​

The entire time the Cuba War and the First Slave Insurrection was decimating the South, the Union was still building, slowly modernizing and building up an impressive infrastructure. New York City was experiencing a golden age of revival thanks in large part to the Erie Canal. Goodyear Enterprises was quickly taking over the country in many ways, beginning an era known as "The Gilded Age." This Gilded Age was also called the "Second Enlightenment," or "Rebirth of America." It signaled the end finally of thirty years of Yankee history being a complete and utter disaster on virtually every level conceivable. Almost 20 years after the War of 1812, the Republican Union was finally shaking off the dust and getting back to work.

Among the most influential figures of this period was a German Jewish immigrant named Herschel Levy, who fled persecution with his family after the Hep-Hep Riots in Bavaria in 1819. He was a scientist and "free thinker" who greatly admired all things Yankee. He saw the country as needing help after its allies completely abandoned it. Levy grew disgusted with the way Napoleon and the rest of Southern Europe was allowing anti-Jewish sentiment to go virtually unchecked in Bavaria. He came to "view Papism as a mental disorder or disease. For the weak-minded who live in huts." He also preached that "Papism is the opiate of the people." He saw the Catholic Church as just an excuse to keep "lowbrow Mogoloids and Iberians in check." When he arrived in the Union with thousands of other Jews, he wanted to blend in more as an American and so changed his name to Henry Marx. It was under this name he and his son would be famous, or rather infamous. His son Carl was born in 1818, just before the family moved. He would have no memory of Europe and he would be thoroughly American. His sister Louise would be born in 1821 in the Union. In 1823, the entire family converted to American Fundamentalism.

Henry Marx​

Henry Marx was 43 when he arrived off the boat in New Jersey in 1820. This, however, didn't stop the middle-aged man and father of two from joining Princeton University in 1821, joining their science department. There he began experiments on human brains with several other students, trying to understand why some people were criminals or ne'erdowells as well as attempting revolutionary studies on electricity. He attempted, in 1822, to revive dead corpses by means of electric-shock, even going so far as to stitch up different animal parts together to see if he could sew a dog's head on a cat's body and revive it, or even a snake's head on a mouse. These experiments, as he wrote in his diary in early 1823, were "inconclusive." Known as "Dr. Marx's Monsters," these stories would inspire Mary Shelley, a young Englishwoman, to pen the story The Modern Prometheus in 1824, which became the first horror novel of all time. One might think such experiments would render Marx a laughing stock, but instead he was lauded for his attempts at cheating death and for also accidentally creating the prototype of a little something called a "lightbulb" with the help of fellow scientist and inventor Samuel Morse, a professor at Benedict Arnold University of Boston.

Professor Samuel Morse​

In 1825, Henry Marx began more studies on electricity, publishing his first book Analysis of Electro-Shock on the Human Mind in that same year to much acclaim. In his book, which he dedicated to "All my Friends and Colleagues at Princeton University and Benedict Arnold University of Boston," Marx claimed he was able to cure many "mental deficiencies, problems, or impulses" through the administration of electricity directly through the brain of the "patient." He claimed electro-shock could "cure seizures, headaches, mind fog, memory loss, and homosexuality," and presented 300 pages of scientific drivel to prove such. This drivel was then completely ate up by American scientists who presented him many awards. From that point on, Yankee hospitals were always equipped with "electro-shock chambers" to "treat patients."

In his next book, A Thorough Investigation of Behavioral and Mental Deficiencies, Marx taught that by severing connection's in the brain's prefrontal cortex, many behavioral and mental problems could be "cured," especially if done in coordination with electro-shock therapy (of course!). Marx tested his theory on his first human patient in 1826, a local Princeton homeless man deemed "unfit for living in society" in his current "condition." Marx and Dr. Calvin John Featherston performed the surgery on the unwilling and strapped-down man before a full audience at Benedict Arnold University of Boston's surgical arena, which resulted in:

"The patient, formerly a drunkard Irish retard opium addict of ill repute quit his screaming and protestations and manic actions immediately. His eyes dilated, his mouth shut, and his hands steadied. Instead of trying to assault us as before, the patient was cordial and cooperative, if a little speechless. Dr. Featherston and I have great hopes that this procedure could be used to remedy all manner of mental disorders or calm lunatics. Procedure has a definite chance of inducing a vegetative state, at which point patient could be cared for or simply put down, but this is preferable to filling up the asylums and hospitals of this great country with useless maniacs thrashing about, violent and out of control. We have not tested on a homosexual yet, but we have great faith that this procedure could cure that unfortunate disease among patients resistant to electro-shock. Of course, following up the lobotomy with a further course treatment of electro-shock could double effectiveness."

It should be noted that this brilliant procedure was, essentially, driving an ice pick through the top of a patient's eye-socket with a mallet with no anesthetic. Traveling medicine shows across the Union began to offer the procedure as well, charging 5 dollars to "banish depression and let you be happy to live life once more."

Dr. Marx, Dr. Featherston, and their staff perform a lobotomy in front of a captive audience in New York City​

Now, Marx knew how to control mental deficiencies and the like, he wanted to know what caused them. He now went to work on his master plan, something which had been an idea growing in his head--no pun intended--for years. He would see if the so-called "Inferiors of Society" were really inferior. The results of his studies would shape Union history forever.

In 1827, while Virginia and the Confederation of the Carolinas were going to war over Cuba, Dr. Henry Marx published On the Science of Phrenology, or A Study on the Inferiors of Society. In this absolutely revolutionary new book, some 500 pages long and fully illustrated, Marx laid out his doctrine of phrenology, usually called simply Marxism. He claimed his book and experiments proof that skull shape and size, as well as general composition, could be used to determine if someone was to be a criminal or drunkard or mentally defective. He claimed that several Irish skulls he happened to have in his possession showed that their brains, were slightly smaller than the average "Anglo-Saxon-Teutonic brain." Brains, in this book, were also sectioned out in a bizarre jigsaw puzzle fashion, each "brain organ" controlling a different aspect of personality or intelligence. The rather mad scientist also put forward that the Irish skulls were made of a different type of bone and material altogether than those skulls of Superiors which we have analyzed." Chapter 6 of On the Science of Phrenology stated black people's skulls, while slightly different, did not show direct signs of inferiority unless "racially mixed with other peoples. The mulatto brain truly is stunted by this abnormal mating routine." When he got around to studying Spanish and Italian skulls, Marx concluded that they shared very many similarities with Irish ones, and that they all shared similarities with monkey skulls.

"Upon analysis of these Spaniard skulls, which were taken from fallen soldiers in the ongoing war in Mexico, I found the material and specific features and shaping to be almost identical to that of the Papist Irishmen skulls in my earlier studies. This raises the excellent question of whether or not an Italian skull would also share these traits, as Spaniards and Italians share much in common. They did, in fact, match, confirming my theory that the Inferior Man is naturally an Iberian creature originating from the Slavic steppes of Asia, more beast than man, disposed to crime, retardation, homosexuality, drunkenness, immorality, and brute violence. He is a hairy, degenerate being, almost completely out of control in his purest state, who must be tamed and taught to mind his Betters. I also hope to confirm a further hypothesis, upon my acquisition of several skulls of great age from Europe, that the Roman and Latin peoples of antiquity, such as during the time of the Empire, were of different stock altogether from present day Italian people, their once-pure Anglo-Saxon precursor bloodline, which I shall call the Pinnacle Man, having been mongrelized and mongoloidized by the hordes of Slavic and Iberian subhuman steppe tribals. These Inferior peoples also share significant similarities with the skeletal and bone structures of chimpanzees and monkeys, something of which I am unsure of the exact meaning of. In conclusion, this Inferior Man, if left to mingle with the Betters of Society, will mix his degenerate blood with the Anglo-Saxons and dilute the purity of said Anglo-Saxons, mongrelizing this people. However, if proper steps are taken to safeguard the virtue of our civilization, the Pinnacle Man of antiquity could in turn be bred again into a super man, of great strength mentally and physically."

Charles Goodyear was among the first outspoken fans of On the Science of Phrenology, saying of it:

"It is as if Dr. Marx is writing science with lightning, illuminating us all on the sad plight of our race and the terrifying threat caused by mongoloid foreigners to our continued bloodline. I have worked with many Inferiors over the years, starting with my time on the Erie Canal, and it is as if all the thoughts I have had about these lazy, sinful, stupid peoples also were in the mind of Dr. Marx. Truly, a great American and Christian scientist!"

The idea of rebuilding the Anglo-Saxon people back into the "Pinnacle Man" was revolutionary and was extremely popular with AFC adherents. Aaron Burr, the aging Prophet Himself, said:

"I believe God has used Dr. Marx has a tool by which to show us the true path. Surely, this Pinnacle Man he described fits perfectly my visions of a future Grand Republic, united coast to coast, settled by brown haired men with hazel eyes and of magnificent strength. This Pinnacle Man is likely the race of which the Ancient Hebrews and Romans were a part of, including our Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth."

Aaron Burr's endorsement sealed the deal, and the AFC began to preach scientific racism from its pulpits. As Edward Everett said in 1830:

"The Inferior must be worked and shown the way of righteousness through the sweat of his brow. Idleness, as many have said, is the devil's plaything, and if left to their own devices the anarchist Iberian Slav will descend into murder, mayhem, and evil. These sinners are hellbound, one and all! Their anchor dragging them to the fiery lake is the pope himself, the King of the Sinners, Chief of the Inferiors. But! God has created these creatures for a reason. They are the Beast of the Field as described in Genesis, created to serve the first Pinnacle Man, Adam. Not to be fornicated with, but rather to tend the Garden of Eden and serve the Pinnacle Man. These people, beasts of the field, know no better, for they have thick skulls and small brains. However, if worked long and hard and shown the light of the Gospel, the Four Books of Manifest Destiny, and the American Christian Work Ethic, as well as if they respect their Betters, these Inferior subhumans can be brought into a greater level of personhood in death. By working the Inferior, we are saving their souls."

On the Science of Phrenology was, needless to say, incredibly unpopular in Europe, where it was burned in huge piles in front of book stores. However, an alarming number of Prussian and Scandinavian citizens began reading the book as a sort of psuedoscience, most not believing it while a certain amount actually did. Other branches of the same method of thought, not quite as radical as Marx, sprung up in Northern Europe, where more strange, yet usually more sane, medical experiments were attempted.

Dr. Marx, in 1830, was offered the position to be over Benedict Arnold University of Boston's Science Department, a position which he accepted, finally leaving his alma matter of Princeton. At BAUB, Marx would reunite with his old friend and now staunch Scientific Marxism supporter, Professor Samuel Morse. Together, they worked again on their old lightbulb idea, slowly perfecting it over the years. The project was slow at first, but eventually Charles Goodyear, patron of the sciences that he was, stepped in with an offer to work for Goodyear Enterprises, which the two men accepted and did on the side of their regular job as tenured professors.

In summary, Henry Marx, an amateur scientist and Jewish immigrant from Bavaria, came to the Union escaping anti-Jewish pogroms, attended Princeton University, and became the founder of Marxism, a scientific doctrine that would wind up fueling human rights abuses, atrocities, genocide and massacres for centuries. But his influence wasn't done. In New York City, a young English immigrant was working at the zoo, constantly studying the apes in his spare time. He was a big fan of On the Science of Phrenology and of Dr. Marx in general. Two decades later, the young man would publish his "absolute scientific proof for Marxism," which another young man named Custer would find "enlightening and life-changing." The young Englishman's name was Charles Darwin...

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 19
THE WORLD CONGRESS OF BERLIN

Emperor Napoleon I of Spain (Napoleon II of France), King of Rome, Duke of Reichstadt, Prince of Bombay, House of Bonaparte​

Napoleon II turned 16 in 1827, and he received a most splendorous birthday gift from his father: Spain. All of it. Ferdinand was dead, the Bourbons were fleeing the continent, the Inquisition was locked up in the Imperial dungeons, and the Spanish army was so malnourished and abandoned that many of the Bourbon troops were pledging loyalty to Napoleon II (newly arrived in Iberia from his visits to India that same year). It was finally over for feudalism forever in the West; the European Alliance and the Napoleonic Code had ended the ancient Spanish way of life. Only Russia remained as a reminder of the Middle Ages and its fiefdoms. The pre-1809 borders of Portugal were restored, Spanish colonies everywhere were confiscated for good, and the House of Bourbon was summarily outlawed from ever holding office or rank in Spain or France.

The consequences of this moment were great in number and power. With father and son on the throne of France and Spain, as well as their assorted principalities and titles, and their stepfather/grandfather on the Austrian throne, and their cousins, stepsons, daughters, stepdaughters, and extended family on the thrones of Italy and Ireland, Southern Europe became the playground of the Bonaparte family. Any questions over Austria's alliance with France were quieted when news leaked that the ailing Kaiser Franz, wracked with early-onset dementia, was supposedly considering skipping over his mentally incompetent and unstable son Ferdinand, Prince of Bengal, in favor of his grandson "L'Aiglon" (which, to differentiate Napoleon II from the the I, was Franz's nickname for the new Spanish monarch). French Empress Marie Louise was supposedly the real power behind her increasingly senile Kaiser-father, and was making a place for her son to be the greatest monarch and leader the world had ever seen, at the expense of her brother. Upon Napoleon I's death, Napoleon II would be Caesar of the French, Emperor of the Spanish, Kaiser of the Austrians, Emperor of India, King of Italy, Duke of Reichstadt, and the master of all the colonies and territories under the power thereof, while dear old water-on-the-brain gibbering Prince Ferdinand would get a far off disease-ridden spice colony, just to add insult to injury.

Kaiser Franz I, Age 60 (1828)​

Europe was rocked. Prussia flew into a panic. If Austria permanently fell under the Bonapartes, all bets were off. Russia's Czar Nicholas had formed a good friendship with Napoleon II, and treated him like a nephew. Above Prussia was Napoleon's godson, Oscar, sitting on the Swedish throne. Denmark-Norway, very close to Prussia, was also concerned that this future "Tripartite Superstate" would be unstoppable to weaker powers such as itself.

Friedrich Wilhelm III​

Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia wasn't a hateful or vengeful man. Caesar had treated him well to his face, but the stalwart Prussian just wanted to keep the balance of the Pax Napoleonica in place. Berlin was set to host the next World Congress. All the leaders would be together again. There, the Prussian monarch would offer a deal to Czar Nicholas. The Balance of Europe would be partially returned if Prussia and Russia drew closer together, possibly forming a friendship with the Turks or Danes. If they could do that, there would be a Eurasia divided in two, one side Franco-Spanish-Austrian, the other Prusso-Russo-Turkish. One side Catholic, the other Protestant, Orthodox, and Muslim. Friedrich did not desire war--he prayed against it--but he didn't want to be without oil for his lamp if the master came home to roost. Therefore, he drew up his plans in secret, waiting and hoping the day would never come when he would have to use them.

One set of plans he did very much want to put to good use was his plans for the 1832 World Congress of Berlin, which he had been working on since before the Congress of Vienna had even been ended. Berlin had been in a state of construction since the end of the Great Wars of the Empire, with all gears moving toward making Berlin an industrial and economic powerhouse. "Berlin is not going to be upstaged by any foreign city," Friedrich Wilhelm was known to have said with distaste. Factories shot up everywhere, forming giant black pillars of industry, looming over the city like the castle turrets of the Hohenzollerns. All the roads were paved, specialized cleaning crews trimmed hedges and trees and raked parks, cleaned the streets, and repainted all the public buildings. Huge hotels were erected for the future arrival of the world leaders, staffed by thousands of butlers and servants and cooks. Specialty regiments were formed to guard the buildings and give an air of Prussian ironfistedness and security.

It was with nothing short of absolute joy that the Prussian king received news that one of his least favorite people had died six months before the start of the Congress. The gluttonous and ancient Frederick Augustus of Saxony, Warsaw, and Finland had passed away of massive heart failure in Dresden. Now, his daughter, Maria Augusta, would be Queen of Saxony, Grand Duchess of Warsaw and Grand Princess of Finland. She was 50 years old, unmarried, and without heir, supposedly because she was considered "monstrously ugly." Things were looking grim for the House of Wettin, and the imminent extinction of Saxony's ruling family would likely be brought up at the Congress.

The Prussian ruler had a plan. He would marry Maria. He had been unmarried since the passing of his beloved wife Luise in 1810. Now, he would make sure his son Friedrich Wilhelm IV would be the master of a new Prussian Empire, encompassing Prussia, Saxony, Warsaw, Finland, and their respective colonies. His advisors told him to possibly consider not naming such a prospective nation the "Prussian Empire," for fear of offending Caesar, the Kaiser, or the Tsar. He grew enraged at this, declaring "Prussia will not be the only great power in Europe that is not an Empire!" After some degree of cooling down, however, he settled instead upon the name Nordreich, Empire of the North, of which his son would one day be Kaiser.

Maria Augusta I of Saxony, Warsaw, and Finland​

That was the next step in watering the Prussian victory garden: the colonies. Prussia, starting at the World Congress of 1832, would begin a rapid expansion of colonial might. Africa was ripe for the taking. Only a few countries had any holdings there, and they were almost all mere coastal ports and glorified red tape no one actually lived in besides native tribes. The most substantial claims were in South Africa, by Holland, and in the Gold Coast, by the Danes, as well as several Portuguese holdings that had been returned to Restored Portugal following the collapse of Spain. Friedrich already had plans drawn up for the new colonies. He would dive in below the equator, avoiding the merciless endless expanse of the sands of the Sahara, and cut right into the jungle areas where many valuable spices, woods, metals, and workers could be found. His rigid Germanic scheduling system to have the Congo fully annexed and in "maximum profit output" by 1870.

Finally, in a massive show of Prussian might, the King would unveil a new "miracle invention" and a "miracle building" at the Congress. The invention was the Eisenbahn; the railroad. Truthfully, it wasn't really his country's invention. It was actually the product of a theft from Charles Goodyear's personal design sketchbooks in 1826, which in turn were stolen from early railroad-type devices from turn-of-the-century Britain. Goodyear had come up with the idea for a railroad way back in his childhood, upon hearing of specialty carts used by Virginian miners, and had much improved on the original British blueprints. Since then, he had advanced the idea quite some ways. However, since 1826, Prussia's best scientists and mechanics had been on the job around the clock perfecting it, and they were satisfied it was in working order when they rolled out the Eisenbahn Prinz Wilhelm, named in honor of the younger Prince of Prussia, from a factory on the Baltic. It was a mammoth feat laying the rail from Berlin to Potsdam in time for the Congress and making sure it was safe.

The miracle building would be the Königin Louise Hall of Glass, an absolutely amazing mansion-museum that would be the center of organized national exhibitions, giving each attending nation a chance to hang up their flag, sell souvenirs, food, and the like, showcase their inventions and products and promote their nation in general. Much of the building was made of solid glass, including the entire ceiling. After the Congress was over, the Hall would be turned into the Royal History Museum and Library. It was definitely going to pay for itself.

And thus, Prussia prepared to open its doors to the world, and the King prepared to unify the houses of Hohenzollern and Wettin.

THE WORLD CONGRESS OF BERLIN: THE ARRIVAL

Arrival of the World Leaders in Berlin​

The arrival of the sovereigns in Berlin was a huge affair. The Russians had come first, followed by France, Holland, and then all the others. At the Hall of Glass, the nations set up their booths and stalls and put on display there most prized inventions and items.

The Republican Union, which was still riding high after Goodyear Treaty and the self-destruction of two of their Southron enemies, was intending to further impress the world with American "superiority." This time around they were sending a tag-team of Goodyear and and yet another Massachusetts man, Professor Samuel F. B. Morse of the Benedict Arnold University of Boston, as their representatives. Morse was a very well-known inventor, like Goodyear, who was also extreme in his anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant views and had worked closely with and supported Dr. Henry Marx, the Father of Phrenology. Morse and Marx had been working for Goodyear Enterprises since 1830, and they had been working on the lightbulb, telegram, and the railroad. When Goodyear had returned home after the World Congress of Vienna, he was met as if he was a Roman deity. They carried him through the streets of Boston on their shoulders and bestowed him the National Medallion of Service. The Union had high hopes for Goodyear and Morse in 1832.

Samuel F. B. Morse

Charles Goodyear​

Napoleon I was attending in person again, age 63. He had a receding hairline and was suffering from chronic hemorrhoids, stomach pains, and heart palpitations. The stress of pulling himself up by the bootstraps to be the most powerful man since the era of Julius Caesar and Jesus Christ was very evident in his health and appearance, and holding that far-flung empire together and revolutionizing international law with his own force of will didn't help the dark circles under his eyes. His 21 year old son Napoleon II was coming, both as the Prince Imperial of France and as Emperor of Spain. French Prime Minister Jean Soult, retired Marshal General of France, was accompanying Napoleon I, and Spanish Prime Minister Jacques MacDonald (former iron-fisted emergency dictator of Spain before the rule of Napoleon II) was there to advise young Napoleon II.

Prime Minister Soult

Spanish Prime Minister Jacques MacDonald​

The following is a list of most (though not all) leaders and ambassadors present. Red lettering indicates countries not present or in existence at the time of the last World Congress. Vermont refused to send a representative after their Chancellor, Jay Thomas Powell, was ridiculed in 1826 at Vienna, though an official observer was present.

French and Spanish Empires:

• Napoleon I, Caesar of France, Emperor of India, King of Andorra, King of Italy, Lord of Mann and the Channel Isles, Mediator of the Helvetic Confederation, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, and Protector of the Free City of Lisbon.
• Napoleon II, Prince Imperial of France, Emperor of Spain, Duke of Reichstadt, Prince of Bombay
• Jean Soult, Prime Minister of France
• Jacques MacDonald, Prime Minister of Spain

Austrian Empire:

• Franz I, Kaiser of Austria, King of Hungary, and King of Bohemia
• Prinz Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Chancellor of Austria

Bavaria (officially part of the Confederation of the Rhine but always with an independent streak):

• Ludwig I, King of Bavaria
• Baron Georg von Zentner

England:

• Edward VII, King of England
• Hector Baldwin II, Prime Minister

Denmark-Norway:

• Frederick VI, King of Denmark-Norway and Sovereign of the Gold Coast
• Otto Joachim Moltke, Prime Minister of Denmark-Norway

Kingdom of Saxony, Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and Grand Principality of Finland:

• Maria Augusta I, Queen of Saxony, Grand Duchess of Warsaw, Grand Princess of Finland

Württemberg:

• Wilhelm, King of Württemberg

Baden (also part of the Confederation of the Rhine):

• Karl, Grand Duke of Baden
• Stéphanie, Consort, Daughter of Napoleon I of France

Portuguese Confederation:

• Louis I, King of the Portuguese Confederation (Powerless; ordered directly by Napoleon I of France)

Principality of Lucca and Piombino:

• Elisa Napoleona, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, daughter of Caesar Napoleon I's sister Elisa

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies:

• Zénaïde I, Queen of the Two Sicilies, Daughter of Joseph Bonaparte (Joseph I of Ireland)

Kingdom of Ireland:

• Joseph I, King of Ireland
• Dominic I, Prince of Ireland

Kingdom of Holland:

• Louis I, King of Holland, Brother of Napoleon I of France

Kingdom of Sweden:

• Oscar I, King of Sweden, Godson of Napoleon I of France

Ottoman Empire:

• Resid Mehmed Pasha, Ottoman Grand Vizier

Russia:

• Nicholas I, Czar and Autocrat of all the Russias

Liechtenstein:

• Johann Josef I, Prince of Liechtenstein

Republican Union:

• Charles Goodyear, Representative
• Samuel F. B. Morse, Representative

Virgin Islands Confederacy:

• Thomas Bragg, President (Bragg's son Braxton, now 15, accompanied him)

Republic of Peru:

• Urbano Pepito Ale Rivera, Chief Minister of Peru

Green Mountain Republic of Vermont:

• John Winslow, Official Observer

Confederated Empire of Mexico:

• Tancredo Heraclio Solos, General of Chihuahua
• Modesto Chucho Ramos, Chief of Staff of Emperor Agustín Cosme I

Republic of Virginia:

• General Rumford Pickens (also representing the Chesapeake Republic of Maryland)

Republic of Georgia:

• John Hardee, Representative (also representing the Republic of Jamaica)

Republic of Gran Colombia:

• Teobaldo Martín Pavia, Representative

Democratic-Republic of Texas:

• Diego Martinez, Representative, Speaker of the Texan House

Prussia and Hanover:

• Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia and Hanover
• Count von Wylich, Chief Minister

Mexico shocked everyone with their uninvited and universally despised arrival. Almost every other country considered Mexico a nation under a dangerous cult of personality and unworthy of real recognition (over half the countries present refused to recognize the Mexican Empire as a state, and only one--Russia, with great reluctance--recognized Iturbide as a legitimate ruler). Two very high-ranking Mexican military officers practically kicked their way into the Hall of Glass with the company of twenty Mexican Imperial Revolutionary Guards, sparking a minor international incident.

The King of Prussia was immediate in his proposal of marriage and dynastic union to Maria Augusta of Saxony. She probably knew it was pure politics, but since she was at the end of her line, she likely thought it better that her new stepson Friedrich Wilhelm IV inherit a stable Saxony, Warsaw, and Finland than plunge her realms into a succession crisis for want of a Wettin. Maria Augusta was in poor health when the ceremony occurred on July 1st, 1832, in front of the entire Congress. Napoleon I of France saw through it immediately as a power ploy, and almost admired Friedrich Wilhelm III's doggedness on making Prussia great, even to the point of marrying an old hag. Napoleon was determined to not be outdone in Berlin, and he had a few tricks up his sleeve yet to play.

Many of the countries at the Congress were very unhappy about Prussia's power-grab. Maria's countries were still hers, but the moment she would drop dead, everyone knew the Hohenzollerns would snatch them up. However, the protests against the Hohenzollern-Wettin unification dulled when the Republican Unio unveiled the world's first functioning light bulbs. It was a spectacle for the ages as all the representatives entered a very dim palace ballroom, only to have the entire place light up in a flick of a switch.

Some were scared to death, and immediately left. Their fear was justified, though no one knew it; the bulbs were still horrendously unstable and could have easily torched the entire group of world leaders in an instant. Fate alone prevented a tragedy. After Morse flicked the switch, Charles Goodyear spread his arms out to his sides, did a slow spin, and famously stated, "Welcome, one and all, to the Era of Electricity."

Prussian scientist Ludwig Klink was by far the most electrically-knowledgeable men present besides the Yankees. He took the Union men aside and asked them a long series of questions, forever instilling in him a love of the light bulb. Klink would go back with one bulb, a gift, and would become obsessed with trying to make it last longer than just a couple minutes.

The next event, however, was much less welcomed to the Republican Union representatives. The Eisenbahn Prinz Wilhelm was recognized by Goodyear instantly as his own design from the long-lost pages of his sketchbook. As the train, loaded with civilian passengers, chugged off to Potsdam, the Prussian anthem blaring all along the tracks, Goodyear went off, racing down the side of the rails on foot, screaming at Friedrich-Wilhelm with berserk rage. He went on and on about how the Prussian king had stolen one of the most monumental designs in history from him. Friedrich-Wilhelm's only reply was, "I did not. But even if I did, there is no way it could ever be proven."

World history started on a radically different course with those words. Goodyear declared he would develop his own train, and that it would be the best train in the world. He announced he was forming his own company with Morse. Goodyear Rail then became the first private train company in the world (Prussia's was a state project). He also claimed that from then on out, America would outdo every other country's technology. His words would prove prophetic.

THE WORLD CONGRESS OF BERLIN: STRATEGIZING

"Politics are a necessity; this is true. Politics are unavoidable; this is also true. But I wish politics would go to Hell and leave me alone. This is the greatest truth."
-Napoleon I to Napoleon II, July 5th, 1832
​

Those words were uttered behind closed doors after Goodyear's rampage hours before. The French Imperial extended family was staying in the Schloss Steinadler, a new palatial complex built explicitly for the Congress. Napoleon I, Napoleon II, Soult, and MacDonald drew up their strategy for the upcoming politicking.

Their strategy was as follows:

• Prevent Russia from drifting into the Prussian Camp
• Reaffirm French sovereignty over Canada and the South American holdings
• Discuss England's current situation
• Establish new trade routes with the expanding Dutch Malaysian regions and assist in the crushing of piracy, which had become a blight on the high seas once again since the collapse of the British Royal Navy and the East India Company
  
• Bring up the topic of the Orient for the first time in detail
  
• Push for rights to new African colonies

Preventing Russia from joining the Prussian camp was Napoleon I's primary concern. Friedrich-Wilhelm's own daughter, Charlotte, had become Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress Consort of Nicholas, in 1819. That fact was a huge problem. Charlotte already hated Napoleon I because of horrid memories from her childhood, when French troops came in and forced her family to flee as Caesar marched through the Brandenburg Gate. If she influenced Nicholas, very, very unfortunate things would possibly follow. Nicholas acted like an uncle to Napoleon II, but if the Second Caesar showed himself a threat, he might consider action. This would not be allowed if Napoleon I could help it.

With the North American colonies, France was determined to make sure the Republican Union kept its paws off any more of Canada and Louisiana. Caesar had also been growing suspicious of rumors about how the R.U. had considered invading the Green Mountain Republic of Vermont, which was an immensely useful buffer state. The possibility of a preemptive strike and invasion by France was on the table if Vermont didn't accept a future offer of military support and monitoring. Also, American "cowboys" had been continuing to seep across the border into Louisiana, bringing with them their guns and fanatical religion.

With the South American colonies, France was becoming wary of the growing alliance between the Republic of Gran Colombia and the massive Republic of Peru. Brazil and Argentina were stable, but if a conflict ever occurred on the other continents, Colombia and Peru might act and seize large chunks of the two colonies. To remedy this, Napoleon II suggested playing the South Americans off of Mexico, a hated usurper to all its neighbors.

In the Kingdom of England, resentment boiled. Edward was a moderately successful but immensely unpopular leader and, though had managed to salvage what was left of the economy, having French troops in Cornwall, Scotland, and Mann, as well as in the Welsh dictatorship, on formerly sovereign soil made many English discontent. Violently discontent. Riots had broken out from London all the way up to Scotland. Edward was fearing for his life, and refused to leave the palace for fear of assassination. If terrorized enough for his own well-being, chances were high he would let France do anything it wanted to keep him in power. If it took having members of the French Old Guard patrolling Buckingham Palace, Edward would do it.

Edward's daughter was also growing into a pretty young woman of great intelligence. She was almost 14, the age when many European royals were prepared for marriage, and she showed no signs of hereditary mental illness or gibbering insanity. Napoleon I had considered her likely to marry a duke of some sort and live quietly, but he was thoroughly discouraged by her apparent interest in young Alexander II of Russia. If they were married, their child would be one quarter Prussian, two quarters Russian, and one quarter English, which spelled nothing but the true meaning of the word "holy terror" to the Bonapartes. The very idea that a Russian Czar might, in the future, hold claim to the English throne, was a nightmare for France.
​

Princess Victoria of England

Alexander II of Russia​

Louis, King of Holland and Napoleon I's brother, had attained exclusive rights to the Malay Archipelago during the World Congress of Vienna. In the years since, it had proved a very profitable prize indeed. The islands had a growing Christian population, and the money from all the spices, herbs, and animals was making tiny Holland a force to be reckoned with. Clearly, more trade routes with France would be mutually profitable. The Java War had also just been completed, bringing the native warlords to heel once and for all. Following the collapse of Spain, the Dutch had seized the Philippines, and were now engaging in a lengthy guerrilla war against the native Filipinos and the last remnants of the Spanish Army.

Native warlords surrender to the Dutch colonial government in Java (1830)​

The Orient had been a mysterious place for centuries. Past the Himalayas and the Hindukush was the massive Chinese Qing Empire, a hugely outdated backwater of almost half a billion people. Further to the north-east was Japan. Napoleon's personal explorers had reported back claiming that Japan was "far too complex, entrenched and stable to ever be toppled or colonized." They said that there was little to be gained by trying to open them up. The only fruits of the voyages to Japan were the "katana" swords brought back, which were put on display in the Hall of Glass and one that hung from Napoleon II's hip. China, meanwhile, was considered ripe for the taking. Trade between the Qings and Europeans had been going on since 1793, but the current Emperor, Tao-Kuang, was struggling miserably with the onslaught of opium coming into the country. The Chinese army was a relic of the Renaissance, and the South-East Asian Chinese vassal states were starting to fall under influence from the encroaching Dutch, French, and Austrians. It was an interesting set of circumstances to Napoleon I.

Finally, the newly-announced Prussian expansion in Africa was a huge blow against France. The more colonies owned by rival countries there were, the more non-French items there were on the international market, jeopardizing Napoleon's dream of world-wide monopoly. Prussia had made it known they had little desire for anything north of the Sahara Desert. Thus, Napoleon II suggested a Spanish invasion of North Africa, through Morocco. Then, Spain would just claim everything down to the South Sahara that wasn't already claimed. This move had the potential to anger the Ottoman Empire, but the Bonapartes considered it worth the risk and the Ottoman Empire to not be taken very seriously anymore.

Friedrich-Wilhelm IV of Prussia and Hanover​

As the Congress officially convened to discuss business, Friedrich-Wilhelm III brought the Crown Prince to take over most matters. The prince was 37 years old and hardly handsome, but he knew how to get things done and he was determined to poke his counterpart Napoleon II to test the waters of the future. The Prussian prince had already met with Czar Nicholas, offering an alliance at a meeting in Nicholas' hotel. Nicholas was luke-warm to the idea. For one thing, he did not know Friedrich-Wilhelm II enough to know if he was a competent future ally. Though the Crown Prince was 37, he was but a boy during the Great Wars of the Empire, and had been fairly removed from politics since, concentrating on a military career. When the Prince sauntered out and began brutally laying down the law to the Bonapartes, Nicholas's ears perked up. Everything was a fight from July 6th onward.

Concerning the Americas, July 6-8, 1832:​

The Republican Union representatives, still absolutely boiling with rage over the Eisenbahn Affair, were now under fire themselves, with France complaining of continued encroachment by Union cowboys and settlers on their lands. The town of Praise in the Dakota region, for instance, was called a plot by the Union government to achieve Manifest Destiny by stealing land from France right out from under them. Goodyear flew into another rage, accusing the French of harassment of innocent American settlers who, without any government endorsement on the Union's behalf, went out west to explore and make a living in land France wasn't even really using anyway. France argued back that ongoing rumors had it that the Union was in the midst of a build-up to invade the Green Mountain Republic of Vermont. Goodyear was enraged, barking insults back at the French. He left the building for some minutes, then returned with a look of total calm on his face. Once more, he denied any build-up on the Vermont border. Little did anyone know he had just signaled a Union officer outside to send word to Philadelphia to annex Vermont. That done, Goodyear ceased to argue the matter and sat there "with that frightening grin on his face."

One positive aspect of this discussion was the Alyaska Treaty of 1832, which marked the end of Russian expansion into North America at the Columbia River up to the 50th parallel. This resolved and pressures that were felt by France and the North American powers that Russia would attempt to claim the entire Pacific seaboard north of Mexican California. The Czar stated that Russia had an endless frontier and not enough people to settle all of it. France in turn gave thirty million francs to Russia to reward them for their peaceful attitude in the matter.
When the time came to discuss South and Central America, Napoleon II rose to speak. He immediately cited abuses of the Peruvians and Colombians at the hands of the Mexicans, and brought up the possibility of alliance. The Mexican representatives, seeing full well what was happening, immediately left in rage. After some hours of discussion, the South American nations formerly allied with Mexico during the Fall of Spain agreed to remain neutral internationally, but would cease trading with Iturbide immediately.

Lastly, in the American discussions, Virginia announced it would be separating its nation into four more-easily manageable provinces. West Carolina, of course, was known now as the Province of Boone, then there was the Province of Kentucky, the Province of Westsylvania (formerly sometimes referred to as West Virginia), and Virginia proper became the Province of Columbiana. Potentate Zachary Taylor had drawn these up originally as zones of control for his martial law, but realized breaking the country up into provinces made everything else easier as well. Virginia's General Pickens, its representative at the Congress, also lambasted the Union and the AFC Church for sending down missionaries to the South to preach AFC and abolition to the slaves. France and Spain were currently the only major countries where slavery was still technically legal, and thus Virginia just looked backwater for claiming such a thing to most people present.

Concerning England, July 8-10, 1832:​

England was a whole other can of worms. A can of worms full of holes and rusting out the bottom. Immediately upon hearing of the possibility of French troops stationed in London, many other national leaders called it an invasion. In particular, Prussia and Denmark-Norway thought it yet more French tyranny. They were shocked when the bald, fat Edward VII rose from his seat and backed up the Bonapartes. After days of intense quarrels and arguments, Napoleon decided to do what he wanted and announced French troops would be sent in to support and protect the English royals. From that point on, France's rivals were secretly supporting the idea of a Second English Civil War to depose "Edward the Puppet."

Edward VII, "The Puppet"

Concerning Malaysia, Indochina, and China, July 12-September 20, 1832:​

Holland immediately accepted France's offer of new trade routes, and several other countries also got in on the deal, providing a good boost to Europe's economy. Afterward, France and most of the nations present approved of a future Dutch invasion of Indochina to take it from the Qing vassals. All of Europe was growing tired of paying China's high prices, and a unified effort was agreed to be made to take down the Qing Dynasty and replace it with a pro-Western colonized government. It was guaranteed by the major powers that no one would attempt to force their own crowns over the Chinese, like the French had done in South America.

Concerning Africa, September 20-October 8, 1832:​

After the Asian topic, the Congress dragged on. Hundreds of small affairs were settled and discussed. Over all the noise, though, was the looming titanic battle for Africa. Prussia made the first move, finalizing their plans and making them official. France and Spain countered, claiming the Sahara and much of the north-western coast. Friedrich-Wilhelm IV was not surprised by this and tried to get Sweden, Russia, and Austria to assist him. Russia spoke up now and then, but the others did not. In the end, a stalemate was reached, but many agreed that for the first time, France had not gotten what it wanted. It's borders in its African claims were mostly deserts and useless land. Prussia had gotten the jungles and farmlands. However, everything was still on paper only, and the actual colonization wouldn't start up for real until several years down the road.

Surprise Announcement, October 20, 1832:​

The Bonapartes were glowering over their defeat in the Africa Matters, and were longing to make it up somehow. Napoleon I pulled out a wild card and announced that not only would his son be Caesar of the French and Emperor of the Spanish, but also Emperor of Brazil and Rio de la Plata. The effect of this, as it was, was not much physically. All it basically was was a change in name from colony to empire. However, it meant that upon Napoleon I's death, Napoleon II would be emperor of four empires (if he indeed inherited the Austrian crown). Napoleon II was getting set up with a massive superiority complex and an insanely complex and bloated logistical nightmare of a government, and everyone knew it.

The economic effect of the Congress on Prussia was huge. Thousands had converged on the nation to see and attend the event, making up well over the amount of the cost of hosting. As the clean-up commenced as the representatives went home, bankers, builders, carpenters, blacksmiths, and especially prostitutes started to count their fat profits with glee. The Prussian King was pleased with the latest events.

After those events, the world powers agreed that the next World Congress would be held in Paris, in 1838. Many were suspicious that Caesar thought he himself would be dead by then and it would help shine a spotlight on his successor and keep the world's fear of the Bonaparte family solidly in place. Also agreed upon for 1838 was that the Rheinbund (Confederation of the Rhine) would be represented for the first time (the French had done this in 1826 and 1832). This would later be a big event in European politics.

Months later, in 1833, debate swirled on if the Congresses really accomplished much. At the end of the Congress of Vienna, the Dissolution of Spain occurred. During the final the weeks of the Congress of Berlin, the Republican Union was already working against Vermont, and soon actually invaded after the Congress ended. Both times, war immediately followed a Congress. The world would worry just what might happen in 1838...

 

[Napoleon53]

THE OLD TIME WAY

Reverend Milo Miles​

Elroy Jenkins wasn't much on religion. He wasn't much on reading either. He was pretty much satisfied to live out his days working on his dad Nehemiah's farm here in Michigania. Oshkosh, the capital of the state, was 10 miles away, but it was still a frontier. Elroy was 22 but he had barely ever met people from outside of his tiny town of Washingtonburg. He spent most of his days splitting logs and minding the animals. During planting time he'd hitch up Shirley and Betsy, Jenkins' family's two mules, and plow the fields. During harvest his hands would callous from all the hard work harvesting their meager crops. All in all, Elroy was a very unremarkable man, and he longed for an adventure or something more interesting to do. But, alas, he settled himself into complacency and didn't try to improve his lot, knowing one day he would inherit the farm, marry a local girl, and start the cycle all over again.

But it was on July 9, 1829, that his life would change forever. Milo Miles, the renown American Fundamentalist Reverend, was coming to the tiny town of Washingtonburg, something which stunned the locals. For such a mighty man of God to come visit their insignificant village, Miles must indeed be a kind and caring reverend. Elroy was skeptical of most all religions, and he thought the local pastor of their Calvinist church was extremely bland and did nothing to help win him over. But, Elroy thought, he had heard this Miles and his American Fundamentalist Church were sweeping the land. It had been around since the turn-of-the-century, but out here in the sticks, Elroy had scarcely heard of it. He figured he might go check it out tonight and see what the fuss was about.

Elroy put on his Sunday threads, with his old stovepipe hat and his worn black jacket, and set out on his horse to go to the revival. It was being hosted down at the banks of the mighty Fox River. It was a splendid day, all-in-all, only slightly chilly for such an early spring day and the sun shown down brightly on the waters as Elroy approached. There were already over a hundred people present, some of whom had come 50 miles just to hear Milo Miles preach. There was a wooden platform with a pulpit that had been set up for Miles, and his men were scurrying about making sure everything was just right. A giant cross with a bursting star in its center, the symbol of the AFC Church, was erected behind the pulpit just as Elroy got there. Truly, for such a small event in a small hamlet, the AFC was going all out.

Elroy situated himself on a stump nearby, taking off his hat and placing it on the ground beside it. He waited and waited for the service to begin, but Miles was still in his personal carriage. After what seemed like forever, the carriage door creaked open and a handsome man in a Eastcoast style suit, immaculate in every way, stepped out. The crowd applauded as Miles made his way to the pulpit, smiling all the way. Elroy had never seen a more dapper man in his life, and he couldn't help but be impressed. His own suit was barely held together at the seams and here this man was, smiling and perfectly groomed. Miles was doing something right with his life.

Miles situated himself behind the pulpit and bowed his head to all the people in the riverside audience. He then clasped his two hands together and said, "Let us pray." All present, including Elroy out of respect, bowed their own heads. Miles began, saying, "Oh Lord Jehovah, we beseech thee to pour thy blessings out upon all those gathered here today, and to keep them safe on the long roads back home some of them must travel. Oh Lord God of the Chosen People, bring me strength to convert and bring your everlasting peace to the men, women, and children gathered here today. May I bring even more souls into your fold, and may they take their new knowledge and preach the miracle and truth of Manifest Destiny to the far corners of the globe. In the name of Jehovah and Manifest Destiny, Amen."

"Amen," agreed everyone. Elroy wasn't sure about this man, but he seemed to be very dedicated, so he at least appreciated that much.

Miles picked up his Bible from the pulpit and held it high, saying, "This! This book! This is the Way, the Truth, and the Light! Via, Veritas, Vita! This, my countrymen, is not just a promise of everlasting peace and love and fellowship, but as the words of the Angel of Destiny said through the pen of the Prophet Burr, God Help and Keep him, 'Manifest Destiny shall heal our wounds and sorrow! For God our Lord has lifted us above all other nations!' Verses 1 and 2 of the book of Manifestum proclaim, 'A shining city upon a hill, we shall worship Jehovah and build for him an altar in the evening dews and damps. Yea, whoever shall stand against us shall be struck down with thunderous fury, for the Angel of Destiny has told us to march on. We shall build a watchfire, and prepare the New Jerusalem to receive our Savior and his cohort of past patriot-saints upon his Second Coming. Amen.'"

Miles adjusted himself and stared down each and every single person present with his piercing blue eyes. He continued, lowering the book and asking, "Now, what does that have to do with you folks? I'll tell you. Each and every single man, woman, and child here is needed to help build that altar in the evening dews and damps. Why evening? Why that time of day, you ask? Because we are in the evening and setting sun of this fallen world. This Luciferian pit of abyss we call Earth is in the final stages of rot before the New Jerusalem shall come and right the ship before the Master comes home again. Don't throw away the lessons of First Thessalonians, 'But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.' The foreign hordes in Europe! Those Papist dogs, they think they have safety under the bloody boot-heel of Napoleon? Wrong! Woe unto them! For the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night, my brothers and sisters! We are entering the End of Days. But this is a good thing! We, my countrymen, are the Chosen People of God. We are the New Jerusalem, a rock upon which the Prophet will build his foundation upon. We have been through so much pain and so much agony as a country these many years, wandering through the wilderness, not knowing why we were seemingly cursed, our fathers slain in their masses in 1812, our mothers and sisters raped, our homesteads and property set to light by the Canadian hordes, our so-called allies leaving us to destruction. But the day of holy vengeance is upon us! The day of the Sanctification!"

"Amen!" rippled through the audience.

"The day of the Purification!"

"Amen!"

"The day of the Salvation!"

"Amen!"

"The day of the Transmogrification!"

"Amen!"

"The day of the Restoration!"

"AMEN!"

"THE DAY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, WHICH SHALL GUIDE OUR PEOPLE THROUGH ADVERSITY AND INTO LIGHT!"

The crowd was quickly coming over to Miles side. Next, he would pull out all the stops. He raised his fist in the air, proclaiming, "Holy fire and damnation shall be poured forth onto those that deny us our Manifest Destiny, and they shall be turned like unto salt and glass! We, my fellow countrymen, are the future of this planet. We shall build a New Jerusalem, a New Zion, here in North America. We shall overrun, overtake, and overcome all enemies who seek our destruction. Never again will we face uncertainty, murder, or poverty. The White Anglo-Saxon American Man shall liberate the oppressed Southron Negro, and together they shall beat back the tidal wave of anarchist foreigners and imperialists and unite this continent under a single holy banner, waving in the fresh, clean air the from Atlantic to the Pacific, and yes, right here in Washingtonburg as well. In Canada! Our rightful soil! In Mexico! Where bloodthirsty madmen butcher their own. We shall show the papist and imperialist aggressor-pigs that those who stand against the Kingdom of God shall not stand for long. We should almost feel sorry for them, for the transmogrifying hellfire and judgement God shall pour forth upon our enemies will decimate the earth. But this judgement need not await you or your family! For if you accept the Word of God, Angel, and Prophet into your heart, you too can be prepared! You too shall help build God's Eternal Kingdom on this Earth and receive everlasting salvation!"

The people were loving every second at this point. Some were crying, remembering the horrors of 1812, losing entire families. Losing everything they ever had. Where had the Lutherans or Baptists or Methodists been when that was happening? And here was this young man, promising everlasting life and the power to rebuild America into a nation that could absolutely destroy its enemies in the blink of an eye. To Elroy, it sounded a little too good to be true, but Miles had his attention.

Miles strutted back and forth on the platform, sweating under the noon day sun from being so worked up. He ripped off his suit jacket and raised his arms to the sky, rambling in some nonsensical language Elroy had never heard. Then Elroy realized the pastor was speaking in tongues, so full of the Holy Spirit that the Lord had completely overtaken him. The man thrashed about, his eyes shining like glowing lamps, and then he came down into the audience. He started tapping people on the foreheads. The Smiting of the Spirits. Awe overcame Elroy as Miles proceeded to literally exorcise the devil out of a dozen people, sending them flying backwards. The whole thing was made even more dramatic by a small band on the right side of the platform, who were playing Onward Christian Soldier loud and clear.

Before long, the whole crowd was shaking and gyrating, almost like a fever had come over them all. They were shouting and convulsing, writhing on the soil, spinning in circles. A choir, all dressed in blue robes, which had been standing silently behind Miles this entire time, had now brought four small wooden crates to the platform. Then, they all lined up and began to belt out the sweetest version of Amazing Grace that Elroy had ever heard. The band stopped.It was like living in slow motion as they sang and the Reverend Miles jumped up and down, filled with fire and the Holy Spirit. Elroy's shock was still great, however, when out of one of the crates Miles produced a rattlesnake, deadly as could be, and proceeded to chant in tongues as he held the serpent aloft.

"Ye shall pick up deadly serpents and they shall not hurt thee!" cried Miles, jumping up and down ritually, sweat pouring off his brow, his shirt's underarms now sporting massive dark circles. His boots hit the wood of the platform with every hop, rhythmically setting the beat for the band to begin playing again. This time they played Old Time Religion, a hit that was sweeping the nation. Even Elroy had heard. As the choir sang and the band played and the preacher hopped up and down with a venomous animal, Elroy found himself joining in the song, almost without thinking.

Give me that old-time religion,
Give me that old-time religion
Give me that old-time religion
It's good enough for me!

It was good for the Hebrew Children,
It was good for the Hebrew Children
It was good for the Hebrew Children
It's good enough for me!

It will do when I am dying,
It will do when I am dying
It will do when I am dying
It's good enough for me!​

Elroy and the rest of the crowd were now worked up into a fever. It was almost like an out of body experience to Elroy. Here he was, someone with no interest in religion or gods, getting swept up in the whole thing. It was magnificent theatre, and though Elroy tried to snap himself out of it, he decided to just let Miles take control.

Miles threw the serpent into the crowd, where believers caught it. He then did the same with snakes he pulled out of the other crates. Then, the sweaty minister made his way through the crowd, smiting more spirits and laying hands as he went. Suddenly, he was right before Elroy. They locked eyes and Miles outstretched his arms.

"Believers!" shouted Miles in a voice even more powerful close up, putting Elroy in further awe. "We are here to save souls! Brother, what is your name, my boy?"

Elroy felt his heart about to explode. Here was this famous man, talking directly to him. "Uhm... Elr--Elroy Jenkins, sir," he stammered awkwardly.

Miles put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Brother Elroy! Will ye come to the riverside and be washed and sanctified of your sins in the everlasting Waters of Manifest Destiny?"

Elroy froze for a second and then just decided to go with it. "I... I will! I wish to sanctified, good reverend!"

"Hallelujah!" screamed Miles, followed by the crowd doing the same. Again, a feeling of moving almost in slow motion came over Elroy as he walked behind Miles to the riverside, the crowd parting like the Red Sea before Moses. When Miles and Elroy got knee-deep in the water, Miles started performing the ceremony. Elroy dropped to his knees. "Brother, do you accept the Word of God and the Books of Manifest Destiny to be the Way, the Truth, and Light?"

"I do," said Elroy.

Miles pushed him under the water and then pulled him back out. "Do you accept Jesus Christ as your savior?"

"I do." said Elroy again, spluttering from the water.

Miles again dunked him underwater and then pulled him back to ask, "Do you accept the Angel of Destiny as the guardian of your country, this New Jerusalem?"

"I do!"

Dunk.

"Do you accept Aaron Burr as the Prophet of the Lord God of the New Israel?"

"Yes I do!"

Splash.

"And lastly, brother, would you give your life in defense of your God, Country, and People?"

Elroy smiled and said, "Gladly. For the first time I know peace."

"Hallelujah!"

More people came splashing down into the water, ready to be baptized as well. The entire town of Washingtonburg would eventually become card-carrying members of the American Fundamentalist Christian Church.

Elroy Jenkins would join the Oshkosh Fundamentalist Volunteer Brigade in 1832. He would be the first soldier killed in combat during the Subjugation of Vermont, on October 1st, 1832, just three days after his 23rd birthday. His body was returned to his family and buried underneath the trees of his Washingtonburg, Michiganian home, with an AFC cross above his grave. Private Elroy Jenkins, Oshkosh Fundamentalist Volunteer Brigade, was the first man to have given his life in the First Union War of Aggression. He wouldn't be the last...

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 20
THE GREEN MOUNTAIN WAR

Vermont troops defend against the Yankee invaders​

When Goodyear signaled for the attack on Vermont, it was more of a finalization than an order. For months, Union spies had been scoping out the backwoods buffer state, readying for when the Chief Consulate signaled for an invasion. The annoying land-locked libertarian nation-state had a painfully small military and its independence this long had only been because of French assistance. Goodyear and the Union government knew, unless they wanted a war against the mightiest empire on earth, that a quick, decisive and overwhelming invasion of Vermont would be the best strategy.

Thus, the Republican Union flexed its military muscles for the first time. The Southron republics had done it in the Dissolution of Spain, so now the Union would do it in the Subjugation of Vermont. The Union government had prepared absolutely everything in advance, and even had men ready to be "military mayors" of all the important Vermont towns. The Yankees had a well-oiled military machine for the first time in their history.

On October 1st, 1832, 30,000 Union soldiers crossed the border under the command of General Franklin Pierce and trampled the enemy. The Vermonter troops fought bravely, but they were outnumbered thirty-to-one and stood no chance. By the passing of one month, the entire Green Mountain Republican Army had been defeated, but militias still were holding out and fighting back. The militias adopted a skull-and-crossed-bones flag as the symbol of the resistance and practiced brutal torture and murder against all captured Union soldiers, usually leaving their bodies hanging on trees upside-down or impaled on sharpened logs. Pierce reported back to Philadelphia in a message that, "The hillwillies here practice the Black Flag Doctrine very well. They know--despite their ignorance on all other matters--that injecting fear and terror into their enemies is the best way to win a conflict. I dare say that I may instruct my own men to do the same if we aim to finish this affair before the Corsican Ogre pushes his meddling nose into this."

Pierce did indeed counter their heinous acts with his own, and the Union soldiers started arresting "hillwillies" (as they had begun to call any people of North America north of the R.U. border) at random and then, equally at random, massacring them upon the deaths or tortures of Union troops. Finally, though, the main resistance leaders were captured and shot and the Green Mountain Republic of Vermont was officially proclaimed an R.U. Military Territory. Any and all groups or organizations pushing for Vermont independence were proclaimed outlaws. The flying of the old green-white-and-blue flag was forbidden, and anyone flying or possessing the skull-and-bones banner in any form was to be executed immediately as an enemy of the Union and a terrorist.

By the time news reached Europe of the Subjugation, it was too late to do anything. Aside from France invading the Union, and most everyone knew that that would be preposterous, the chance of pushing the Union back was now gone. Caesar did, however, repeatedly warn the Union that France would immediately retaliate against any violation of Canadian sovereignty.

It was not long before the remnants of the militias ran to cover to reestablish themselves. "Skull-and-Bones" became a huge organization dedicated to fighting the occupation with everything they had. The Yankees had no idea that the group would prove to be a major headache for decades to come. Whenever the questions of statehood were brought up, the region always blew up again, making Vermont technically a dictatorship within the Union itself. It wouldn't be until the rise of the Manifest Destiny Party in the waning years of the 19th century that true and total assimilation would be forced on the Vermont people and the age of separatism would be over.

All in all, historians have rated the Union's performance in the invasion fairly well, saying that they had clearly outlined objectives and were determined to fulfill them. However, the loss of life during and even after the conquest was horrible, with some 9,000 Union and 29,000 Vermont casualties. Many have said that the Union deliberately fudged the numbers of the dead Vermonters and that backwoods massacres might make the number closer to 40,000. If this is true, than almost 20 percent of Vermont's 1832 population was killed in the Subjugation. The dark days of the Union had truly begun. The monster had been sated with a small snack. But it would soon start ravenously eyeing every remaining country in North America....

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 21
THE RISE OF GOODYEAR ECONOMICS AND "THE NEW SLAVERY"

Charles Goodyear (circa 1835)​

Needless to say, Charles Goodyear was incredibly popular in the Union and was held up as the "Ideal American" by the Union government. His racist, revanchist, xenophobic rantings made sure the scientific genius's portrait was hanging up in public schools around the country, right next to those of Henry Marx, Jesus Christ, Julius Caesar, and Queen Elizabeth I (who had recently experienced a new wave of popularity as an "anti-Spaniard Christian leader"). He was for all basic purposes a lunatic--a lunatic idolized by the masses and carried on shoulders into Boston upon his arrival from Berlin. His face was everywhere, and so too was his promise to Friedrich-Wilhelm III that America's industry would never be outdone.

Ever since its formation, the Republican Union had long been falling behind its neighbors in industrial matters. In 1820, the Union had ended slavery forever, largely to just annoy the Southrons and to show how "enlightened" they were. Most states of the Union had long voted to end slavery individually, but the Philadelphia Decree made it official. The Southron republics, meanwhile, still used black slaves in every facet of their economy and slave revolts were a terrifying reality, such as the 1828 First Slave Insurrection that was so brutally crushed by Zachary Taylor in Virginia.

In the Union in late 1833, Goodyear came to Philadelphia touting his new book, Plans for Rapid and Stable Industrial Growth and the Maximization of Profit. The long-winded treatise called for harsh immigrant labor and was read widely by government officials, who proclaimed it a masterpiece of economic He was brought before an Inter-State Committee to discuss how best to institute these ideas. With his pockets loaded with government money, Goodyear turned to Shicagwa, the growing Iowai port city on Lake Michigan, as his main target.

The way Goodyear abused the workers he hired was, in many ways, much worse than the treatment of those in actual slavery. In every company he owned, such as the Goodyear Shirt and Blouse Company factories, if a worker was a minute late, he or she could be beaten by company thugs armed with bludgeons. Any attempts to protest poor working conditions were promptly crushed. Goodyear became the "Caesar of Shicagwa" by 1835. True to the teachings of the Fourth Book of Manifest Destiny, he was determined to "work the devil out of the Inferiors."

The crazed industrialist was determined to crush the spirits of his foreign employees utterly. Starting in 1835, he launched wave after wave of new companies, many bearing his name, and moved into a palatial mansion in the Iowai countryside. To protect these new interests, he hired a mercenary army of "private eyes" to keep "law and order" at the disparate locations. Soon, simple company thugs at places like the Goodyear Shirt and Blouse Company and the Goodyear Tools Company were replaced by black-uniformed, baton-wielding corporate soldiers. Any attempt at forming any sort of labor unions were snuffed out by the mercenaries, and thus was born the "New Slavery" in the Union.

The New Slavery movement, its name christened by European opponents to the widespread rise of corporatism in the Union, arose from the bizarre mentality and outlook of Union citizens on foreigners, especially Catholics or Eastern Europeans, fueled by confirmation biases from the Fundamentalist Church and Scientific Marxism. Since the early 1820s, the government had been actively tricking impoverished Europeans into coming to the "Land of Opportunity." The way it worked was that Union agents would sail to Europe and outright lie to the poor people, and instruct them on how to cheaply travel to America. Many of these people, such as the young Serbian Dragomir Crncevic, spent all they had on the trip. Crncevic's story was later turned into a novel in Virginia and became a best-seller under the title Dragomir's Cabin.

The first portion of the book tells how Crncevic's parents and only brother were killed in the Great Wars of the Empire. Then, starving in the midst of the Serbian Famine of 1835, the young man meets an American named Theodore Jones, a traveling medicine and sideshow man and secret recruiting agent working for the Union, who promises him wealth and abundance in "Dear Old America." Fooled completely and with just enough money to make the trip as a crewman on a Union vessel in the Mediterranean, Dragomir sails to Boston.

Upon his arrival, though, he is met with hatred and slurs, and within two days of being a Union citizen has been mugged twice. Understanding little English, he is hired for menial labor by the new Boston-Shicagwa Rail Company, a new competitor of Goodyear Rail that is attempting to unite the eastern and western parts of the country with railroads. He is routinely beaten by Goodyear's mercenaries for sometimes no apparent reason. Finally, after attacking an abusive guard, both of his arms are broken and he is sent to the "Work Camps" in Chersonesus. There, at Camp Burr, he recovers from his injuries and is then forced to relocate to Shicagwa, to work on an the expansive construction site for the new town hall. There he joins a strike.

On July 4, 1837, the workers all lay down their tools. The mercenaries march in, carrying clubs, muskets and rifles. Goodyear sends company vice-president Samuel Morse in to order the workers to get back to work. When they refuse, Morse unhesitatingly orders the small army to begin beating the Inferiors and shooting breaks out, beginning the July 4th Massacre of 1837. Dozens go down in seconds, and Crncevic is hit in both legs by musket balls. Doctors haphazardly amputate the legs and he is then sent back to Camp Burr. There, for the last several months of his life, he sits in his "cabin"--actually a meager shack just big enough to lie down in--penning his story.

After he managed to get the writing smuggled out, he died of infection from his double amputation. The tragic biography sold like wildfire in the Southron republics, only beaten in sales by the Bible. Many international clubs and organizations were formed to press for reform in the Union, such as French Canada's "League of Friendship for the Oppressed Peoples of the Republican Union," but they did little actual good. The plight of the Inferiors was systematic now, and aside from a total civil war there was nothing that could be done to improve their lot.

The Union responded by decrying the book as "Southron subversive propaganda," and promptly outlawed it, claiming Dragomir was not even a real person and the author had actually been a subversive Southron anarchist. Then the government turned right around and gave Goodyear the honorary title of "Colonel," reflecting the high esteem in which they held the industrialist. Colonel Goodyear Enterprises was born, and from that point on Goodyear finally lost whatever remaining bits of morality he had. The only thing that mattered to him was profit and productivity. Brutality was the rule of the day, and absolutely nothing was to get in his way of modernizing the Yankee economy. Any forms labor unions might take were outlawed. Goodyear's mercenary forces grew in leaps and bounds, with uniformed thugs present at every factory ready to beat anyone who dared not work hard enough.

Goodyear mercenaries break up the Goodyear Carriage Company Strike of 1838

Irish Colonel Goodyear Enterprise workers in New York City are crushed by the NYPD (1844)​

Goodyear was not the only industrialist to be making his way in the world at this time. Brigadier General Franklin Pierce, a New Hampshire gentleman and a hero of the Subjugation of Vermont, was opening up his own armaments company. He claimed to his family and friends that:

"During the war in Vermont we expended hundreds of thousands of munitions and only killed twenty thousand or so enemies. Before the invasion, we had some difficulty establishing enough stockpiles of ammunition and explosives and field pieces, as our dear Union has never fought an offensive war. This has me pondering as to the possibility of founding a national armaments company to supply our armed forces and make them ready for battle at any time, while also profiting immensely off of said battles and using the profits to fund research into better quality products. I am of a certain persuasion that this idea could be revolutionary following the Goodyear System. Munitions are one of the only commodities the Titan of Industry hasn't dipped his fingers into yet, and I may look into the possibility of creating this company myself."

Pierce was right, there was much to be gained by whoever secured contracts to outfit the Union Army. Springfield Armory, in Massachusetts, was the biggest and most powerful in the country, but it was still far from total monopoly. Various states and militias used locally produced weapons and rifles and carried a ersatz array of equipment and uniforms in general. Pierce knew if he were to make his dream a reality, he would have to buy out Springfield. He also knew that if he were to buy out Springfield he would need to do something revolutionary to come up with the money.

Pierce took his personal fortune and bought out the Seabrook Shipyard of Seabrook, New Hampshire. There he and a naval expert named Hunter Pitt developed the first ironclad warship in 1835. The ship was a fairly normal steam-powered vessel, but it was covered with sheets of iron on all its weakest points. It was quickly sold to the Union Navy and it was christened as the "R.U.S. Prophet's Will." The Prophet's Will was soon joined by sister ship, "R.U.S. Willard Crawford," and the profits started rolling in for an elated Pierce. The Navy bought a contract with Seabrook Shipyard to start the mass production of naval vessels. Pierce's first foot was in the door. By 1837, he was one of the richest men in the Union. Riding high, he went on to purchase some of the most prestigious naval production companies in America and then finally turned around and bought out the coveted Springfield Armory in 1839. On April 20, 1839, he renamed it and founded Pierce Munitions. An empire was born.

Franklin Pierce​

All was not well, however, as Pierce's marriage to Jane Means Appleton was a rough one, with Jane being constantly ill and Franklin struggling with alcoholism. Jane was the daughter of Reverend Jesse Appleton, one of Aaron Burr's right hand men during the founding of the American Fundamentalist Church. Unbeknownst to almost everyone, Jesse Appleton was one of the original members of the highly-secretive Council of Jehovah, being known as "Brother Crow" and being elected as its first "Grand Wizard" in a midnight ritual in the countryside on the outskirts of Philadelphia. In addition to health and alcoholism problems, the marriage suffered a further setback when their second son Robert William died in 1839 in a freak train accident. However, their first son, Jesse Appleton Pierce, survived a near-fatal dose of typhus in 1840. Jesse Pierce would live to head the Colonel Pierce Munitions Company himself one day.

In 1841, Franklin Pierce opened up a slew of new factories across the nation, including one in Oshkosh, Michigania, and another in Shicagwa, Iowai. His dream of funding the Union military-industrial complex was achieved, even as he slunk further and further into alcoholism and cocaine lozenge addiction. Thanks to Pierce, the Union Army was finally as modern as any other and was more than ready to bring the fight to any enemy. He and Hunter Pitt had revolutionized naval construction and brought about the age of armored warships. As he sat in his headquarters office in Seabrook, hung over and popping pills, he was leaving millions upon millions of dollars to his son. When Jesse Pierce eventually succeeded him as CEO, he would befriend a certain man named Custer and help found a political party that would sweepingly change the Union at its very core.

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 22
DEATH OF AN ERA

Only known photograph (taken by famed artist Louis Daguerre) ever found of Caesar Napoleon the Great, taken about six months before his 1835 death
​

"It is with great sadness today that this publication must report the death of the most monumental figure in modern European Civilization, perhaps of all time. Yesterday, at his home in Paris, Caesar Napoleon I passed into the arms of the Heavenly Father at the age of 65. Born on August 15th, 1769, to a Corsican family of minor nobility, Caesar, christened at birth as Napoleone di Buonaparte, attended the famed École Militaire in Paris. After serving a short time in the French Royal Navy, Napoleon became more interested in artillery, and from there out, his story is well known by all the world. The French nation mourns our beloved emperor. He may no longer physically be with us, but his spirit will reside in the French nation for ten thousand years. His son Napoleon II is now the only legitimate heir to the throne, and long may he reign! Vive Cesar!"

-Lyons Gazette, January 5th, 1835

"At his death, he was comforted by his wife, Her Imperial Highness, Caesarina Marie Louise, his son, Emperor Napoleon of Spain, his younger brother Jerome, several of his closest private friends, and his dear friend French Prime Minister Michel Ney. The cause of his death is not yet confirmed, but it is widely assumed that it was a combination of bronchitis, stomach ulcers, and a heart condition."

-Imperial Times (Paris), January 5th, 1835

"The French Ministry of Public Affairs states that due to his declining condition being well known as of late, other nations already had sent ambassadors to give their best to the Imperial Family during this time of sorrow before he had even fully passed. England's King Edward was, ironically, the first to send such an emissary. May Caesar rest in peace and finally be free of his ailments and pain. Gott erhalte Napoleon den Kaiser."

-Rheinbund Allgemeine Zeitung (Confederation of the Rhine General Newspaper), January 7th, 1835

"The French Embassy in Copenhagen claims Napoleon of Spain, "L'Aiglon," is to take the French Crown next month. There is much excitement amidst the sorrow as to how the 24 year-old Caesar Napoleon II will rule. Speculation is also rampant that the young monarch will form an official union between France and Spain, forging them into a single nation-state."

-Berlingske Tidende (Berling's Times) (Copenhagen), January 11th, 1835

"Rumors swirl of assassination by poison being the cause of Caesar Napoleon I's death. While these have not been at all substantiated, this version of events allegedly originated with a story from a servant at the Imperial Palace."

-London Times, January 13th, 1835

"Accusations of the Corsican being poisoned has interrupted the planned coronation festivities (scheduled for February 18th), and Napoleon II is apparently taking these theories seriously enough to be fearing for his own life. Security for the coronation has been tripled."

-Berlin Zeitung, January 20th, 1835

As seen in the newspaper excerpts above, there was a witch-hunt going on in Paris in mid-January to stamp out an alleged conspiracy to take the lives of the Imperial Family. The coroners were reporting that Napoleon I had showed symptoms of daily arsenic poisoning. Questions immediately arose as to who would do such a thing, with many suspecting a member of his inner circle, perhaps a general or marshal wanting to attempt a coup. Servants at the Imperial Palace were thoroughly interrogated, and a few were held as suspects. Chief among them was 31 year-old former Grand Army drummer Wilhelm Lukas Hofmeister, one of Caesar's chief butlers and servants.

Wilhelm Lukas Hofmeister, anarchist assassin of Caesar Napoleon I (Paris Police Sketch, 1835)​

On January 21st, Hofmeister, an ethnic Hessian, was arrested by Paris Police. They gutted his small house on the Imperial Palace grounds for evidence and found nothing too incriminating. Just as it looked like he would walk free, a sharp-eyed constable spotted a shovel next to the house that had fresh dirt on it and footprints around it. The curious officer grabbed the shovel, followed the prints, and discovered recently disturbed earth. He started digging and quickly came up with three bottles of arsenic, several medical books on poison, and a large tome entitled "The Anarchist Way," by Meinrad Beutel, a prominent riot-inciter in the Confederation of the Rhine. By the next day, all known anarchists in Paris had been imprisoned. Ethnic Hessians were also put under surveillance by the Imperial secret police. Several dozen suspected anarchists were lynched and murdered across Europe as the news spread. Even in countries rival to France, the murder of a monarch was unsettling, just as it had been when Louis had lost his head.

Hofmeister refused to confess, discuss possible members of a cell, or even really talk to authorities, knowing he would be executed anyway. The police swiftly turned to torture, but still they could not get any information. Jourdain Roux, lead investigator into the plot, wrote in his diary on January 24th, "The Hessian cretin refuses to break. He withstands every measure we use against him. He must break. I must break his spirit if it means breaking every bone in his body. The Empire is not safe until he talks." The next day, following brutal torture, Hofmeister died in custody. But while he was dying, he screamed something deliriously about "rooftops."

Jourdain Roux
Immediately, the Paris Police and the French Army started a massive sweep of all the rooftops in the city.

THE CORONATION OF NAPOLEON II

Caesar Napoleon II in his Study
(by Thomas Sylvestre Lestrange, 1835)​

On February 18th, 1835, Napoleon II (Napoleon I of Spain), at age 24, became the youngest most powerful man since Alexander the Great. Despite the assassination plot, he was determined to press onward with the huge planned festivities surrounding his coronation. While the fears of everyone involved would call for a shorter, quicker event, the coronation would be very public. The new Caesar claimed that any show of intimidation would only encourage France's enemies. Napoleon II, dashingly handsome in his blue uniform, made the carriage ride from the Imperial Palace of Fontainebleau to Notre Dame Cathedral amidst a a sea of admirers. Upon the young leader getting out in front of the same church his father was crowned at decades before, many held their breath, as if at any time a crazed anarchist might leap out and knife him through the heart. Fortunately, he made it inside without problem. As he received blessings from Pope Gregory XVI at the altar upon which sat his multiple crowns, a man named Tristan Langlais was taking a position in across the street. A private in the army, the assassin hardly looked like an anarchist, and everyone was fully aware he was "standing guard" there, along with several dozen other perfectly loyal soldiers.

Pope Gregory XVI
​

During the next fifty minutes, Napoleon II was crowned with the old crowns of France, Andorra, Italy, as well as the new one of the United Empire of Brazil and Rio de la Plata. He was then proclaimed to legally and rightfully be: "His Imperial and Royal Majesty Napoleon II, By the Grace of God and the Constitutions of the Republic, Caesar of the French and Spanish, Emperor of Brazil and Rio de la Plata, King of Italy, King of Andorra, Lord of Mann and the Channel Isles, Mediator of the Helvetic Confederation, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, Protector of the Free City of Lisbon, and Duke of Reichstadt." The title of "Prince of Bombay" had been earlier proclaimed to be a dauphin-like position for the heirs to the French throne, and as such, would be temporarily unused until a son or daughter had been born.​

When the ceremony was over, Caesar Napoleon II walked out the doors of Notre Dame under heavy guard, with tens of thousands screaming his name and singing the national anthems of the various empires and kingdoms involved. Flags fluttered in the winter wind, hands clapped, fists went up and down, trumpets blared, and shouts of "Long Live Caesar!" were chanted in a dozen languages. As he was about ten paces from his carriage, Private Langlais, hiding his doings from the other guards by standing behind crates on the flat roof of the building across the street, raised his rifle to his shoulder, took aim, and squeezed the trigger.

This was a now-or-never moment for European History. Bear in mind that at this point Napoleon II was merely a womanizer, and as of then had yet to acquire a bride or heir. If the bullet missed or merely wounded Napoleon II, the new Caesar would likely make it his personal vendetta to destroy anarchism and non-conformism in all its shapes and sizes. If it killed him, Europe would indeed likely be engulfed in anarchy, civil war, and warring states trying to grab up whatever they could from the decapitated corpse of the mighty French Empire. Truly, the fate of mankind might well have been said to be riding on that Single Bullet.

Smack.

Absolute pandemonium gripped the throngs of admirers as the bullet struck the newly-crowned monarch. The bullet had lodged itself in the right leg of Napoleon II, sending him flying down the cathedral steps in all his regalia, his crown, scepter, and orb rattling and dinging their way to the ground level Guards panicked everywhere, but one lucky officer had seen the puff and flash of gun smoke from across the street. It was Detective Jourdain Roux, the man who had broken Hofmeister. Roux dispatched soldiers to barricade the building across the street, and as Langlais attempted to escape by leaping across to a neighboring rooftop, the Imperial Guardsmen opened fire and riddled him with bullets. The anarchist's corpse came crashing to the cobbled ground three stories below. A note in his pocket revealed he had expected death, and the paper simply said, "I die for Freedom."

Back at the church steps, Napoleon II was alive and well (and cursing loudly and profanely) as his assistants and officers heaved him into his carriage and took off for the Palace. Weeping and screaming citizens were barely able to get out of the way as the Imperial Family's carriage caravan sped at break-neck pace to safety. At this point, security officers and police worried about a widespread "killbox," with gunmen and perhaps even grenadiers waiting to murder everyone in the government as they were held up by the mobs of people. As soon as the Imperial Palace's gates closed behind them and Caesar was rushed to his personal doctors, the whole city was put on lockdown.

Napoleon II makes his escape (1835 London Times illustration)
​

No one went in or out of Paris for days without written approval by the government. The Imperial Guard and Paris Police did massive sweeps, going house to house, making mass arrests, seizing property, and practicing brutality on those who did not cooperate. Patriotic fervor hadn't been as high since the last coronation or the Defeat of Great Britain, and many militias roamed the streets, looking for anyone affiliated with opposition to the Empire or its leaders. The days after the Coronation Plot, as it came to be called, are widely considered to be the foundation upon which later European totalitarianism would be built...

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 23
SUCCESSION CRISIS IN AUSTRIA AND THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Kaiser Franz ​

Following the dramatic events of 1835, Europe was waiting for the next "old-time" leader to pass away. Franz of Austria was in terrible health at age 67 and was expected to die any time. King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia had suffered a fall from his horse in 1834, and had been in declining condition since, even though he was only 65. His Wettin wife Maria of Saxony was only 53, but suffering hugely from the effects of increasing obesity. Many leaders of the "Napoleonic Generation" were in bad health. It was no surprise when the harsh winter and following spring of 1835-36 finally brought the Grim Reaper to the Royal Houses of Europe.

Frederick VI of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway
(January 28th, 1768 - November 4th, 1835)​

King Frederick VI of Denmark-Norway and the House of Oldenburg was to go down in history as a good monarch. He had been on the winning side of the Great Wars of the Empire, supporting Caesar Napoleon I, despite the fact that he was King George III's nephew. He was actually in good health until the day he died, aged 67, in Copenhagen of unknown causes (though he had been complaining of chest pains). His death didn't cause a news storm like Napoleon I's, but his funeral was attended by a large amount of Europe's leaders. The childless king's throne passed to his cousin, Christian Frederik, who became King Christian VIII.

King Christian VIII of Denmark-Norway

Joseph I of the Kingdom of Ireland
(January 7th, 1768 - January 9th, 1836)​

Joseph Bonaparte was a man who would go down as having ridden his entire life on his younger brother's coattails. Without Napoleon, he would have been nothing. Instead, at his death he had been king of two different nations, had a son waiting to be King of Ireland and a daughter on the Sicilian throne. He died of pneumonia two days after his 68th birthday. The funeral was attended by most of the French Imperial government and a few international leaders. Caesar Napoleon II bestowed many posthumous medals to Joseph's wife Julie at a ceremony in central Dublin. Joseph's only son Dominique (age 38) took the throne two weeks later as Dominic I of Ireland. Dominic was married to a German countess from the Rheinbund by this point, and already had two children, Crown Prince Dominic Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte and Mary Julie Napoleona Bonaparte.

Later photograph (1850s) of King Dominic I of Ireland​

Prince Johann I of Liechtenstein
(June 26th, 1760 - February 3rd, 1836)​

Johann I was the last Holy Roman Prince of Liechtenstein, but he remained loyal to his native Austria until his death death at age 76. Aside from an exciting career in the Wars of the Empire, his life was unremarkable. One thing he was known for was his disgust at the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and protested the growing friendship between France and Austria. He was buried in the Imperial Crypts of Vienna and was immediately succeeded by his son Aloys II.

Prince Aloys II of Liechtenstein

Franz I of the Austrian Empire
(February 12th, 1768 - March 22nd, 1836)​

The death of Franz I on March 22nd, 1836, at age 68, jolted Europe. No one was surprised; they had expected his death due to declining health for over a year. But now that he had passed, it finally soaked in just how monumental his death was. He was the last man to hold the title of Holy Roman Emperor, he was one of the last leaders alive who had opposed Napoleon, and he was the first leader to host a World Congress.

For years, there had been rumors among the Austrian court that the severely mentally handicapped Prince Ferdinand would lose his claim to the throne. Normally, this would mean that the next male in the line of succession would automatically receive the crown--in this case, the next male was Archduke Franz Karl.

Archduke Franz Karl​

However, what was shocking was the increasing hold French Dowager Caesarina Marie Louise had on Kaiser Franz. He had been prematurely senile for several years, a condition made worse by his quack staff of medical "experts," and during that time his daughter pumped all kinds of ideas into him about her son, Napoleon II. Franz had always been fond of "L'Aiglon," but when he started hinting that he might just give the Austrian throne to his grandson, who also happened to be the son of his former mortal Corsican enemy, there began to be talk of a coup d'etat in Vienna. Young Franz Karl was gathering his supporters in both the government and the army in case his father's will said anything that smacked of his Francophile sister's involvement. When Franz finally died, all the world held its breath as the will was opened. The document formally offered the Imperial Crown of Austria, Hungary, and all associated kingdoms and lands to Napoleon II of the French. Franz Karl raged and left Vienna accompanied by his personal troops. Austria braced itself for civil war.

Now this is where things got really interesting and very dangerous. In late April, as news swept North America of the seemingly certain civil war between Austria and the Empire, civil unrest erupted in the Louisiana territory. To understand this turn of events, one has to look back at the last two decades prior to this time in history. The Republican Union had long been leaking settlers across the Mississippi. Many claimed huge swathes of territory as their own and AFC churches dotted the land. The first of these illegal "expeditions of exploration" into French Louisiana was led by one of Willard Crawford's right hand men during the Collapse of the Old Republic.

Meriwether Lewis
​

A hero of the Pacification of Rhode Island, Major Meriwether Lewis was actually a native-born Virginian, but he remained in the north after the Collapse of the Old Republic because of his personal loyalty to Crawford as well as wishing to see a new United States rise anew from the ashes. He was an early follower of the Prophet Burr and saw the Mad Preacher's vision of a united empire stretching coast to coast as a heavenly prophecy. Lewis also fought bravely during the War of 1812 and even led the unit Charles Goodyear's father Amasa died fighting in. In the 1820s, he began leading the expeditions out west to explore Louisiana, with the first true Yankee settlement in Louisiana being founded by him in 1825, originally named Sioux Falls. After Anglo-Saxon purism took deeper hold within the community, the town was renamed to Praise and they built the first true AFC church outside of the Republican Union.

Ever since, France had been enraged at this growing encroachment onto their territory and wanted the Americans expelled. This resulted in the 1833 Sioux-Praise War, which saw the regional capital of the American settlers viciously attacked by native Sioux tribes funded by the French. Much to the chagrin of the French, the settlers engaged in a massive genocidal holy war against the tribes instead, purging the once great Sioux Nation out of the Dakota region. They saw the Anglo-Saxon white man as virtually a god compared to the "Frenchified Red Savages." The unbelievable atrocities committed by both sides ended up simply chasing out the actual French settlers from the region leaving it wide open for more American meddling. Also, Iturbide, the Mad Emperor of Mexico, was still waging his bloody war of attrition against Georgia and Texas. All in all, almost no French people wanted to settle Louisiana because of its general mayhem and bloody conflicts.

The conflict was close to potentially erupting into a Union-French War when the Austrian Emperor died and the Second War of Austrian Succession loomed heavy on the horizon of Europe. Suddenly, the focus of the French public shifted from American villainy to Austrian doubting of their beloved Caesar's right to rule lands bequeathed to him by Kaiser Franz himself. Napoleon II knew he had to deal with Austria swiftly and immediately and focus all of his power upon it. This meant a conclusion of the Louisiana Crisis had to be achieved. Reluctantly, in mid-1836, as Franz Karl gathered his armies and the French and Spanish troops prepared for war, Union ambassadors led by Meriwether Lewis arrived to negotiate a "final peace in our time" over the Louisiana issue. In exchange for the Union entering the war against Mexico, they would receive almost the entirety of the Louisiana territory for the sum of 50 million RU Dollars. However, the southern half was to be sold to the Republic of Georgia, including the all-important New Orleans. The Union diplomats demanded this portion as well, but eventually agreed to the deal after France's price went down to 40 million dollars and guaranteed neutrality of the Mississippi River. America would quickly come to hate this deal, as the flow of America trade that was supposed to be free and guaranteed open travel was still restricted by the patrolling Georgian gunboats. This would later lead to many more problems. Even Georgia was now less pro-French, as they had seen the sale of Louisiana as a slight against their sovereignty and as bowing down to Philadelphia.

Back in Europe, just as things appeared to be coming to a breaking point, Franz Karl extended a hand to Napoleon II to come visit him in Vienna to try one last time to sort things out. Miraculously, they did, and the Second Treaty of Vienna was signed on September 10, 1836.

Main Articles of the Second Treaty of Vienna (1836)
​

• That Napoleon II of the Empire of France and its associated governments does henceforth negate all claims to the Crown of Austria.
• That the Empire of Austria officially become the Empire of Austria-Hungary.
• That said Empire of Austria-Hungary be ruled by Franz Karl, as Kaiser Franz Karl I, and that it will be in an inseparable, permanent alliance with the French Empire.
• That the aforementioned Napoleon II and Franz Karl I arrange for a later marriage of their children, an Austrian girl to a French boy, providing for ultimate dynastic union.
• That future expeditions into China and the Far East be jointly undertaken by the Empires of France and Austria-Hungary.
• That the Austro-Hungarian Army may never attempt military offenses or declare war without the approval of its ally the Empire of France and vice versa.

These terms, some said, essentially amounted to France taking away Austria's self-rule. But, to the businessman-like Franz Karl, they were acceptable. It was one thing for a born-and-bred Frenchman to take the Austrian crown, he said, but another thing to have a legitimate and agreed-upon half-Austrian, half-French heir take it. Thus, a catastrophic European civil war was avoided. However, Napoleon II, already having cracked down on "anarchy" before with ruthless efficiency, decided that the Louisiana Accords and the Second Treaty of Vienna made him look weak. He decided that if another potential conflict arose he would have to act immediately to show that his Empire would still rule the world and crush its enemies in battle.

The only real "loser" of the treaty was Ferdinand, the original heir to Franz I. Ferdinand was allowed to keep the title of Prince of Bengal, and was, in fact, "promoted" to "King" of Bengal. Dejected, he refused to ever step foot in India. He and his Sardinian wife stayed in the Palace of Vienna for many years before the death of his wife's cousin, the childless King Charles Felix of Sardinia. An invitation to rule was sent, and in 1849, Ferdinand became Ferdinand I, King of Sardinia. Later, he adopted an orphan infant of a minor Italian noble family and named him Crown Prince Ferdinand II. The House of Hapsburg-Savoy was born.

King Ferdinand I of Sardinia
​

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 24
THE NEW WEST

Flag of the Kingdom of California​

Upon the signing of the Louisiana Accords, the Republican Union began sending legions of troops out west to conquer the savage frontier and help destroy the Confederated Empire of Mexico, and it's Mad Emperor Iturbide. In late 1836, Yankee troops clashed with Mexicans for the first time, handing Iturbide's men a series of bloody defeats. They were ruthless and fresh and itching for war. American Fundamentalist Volunteer Brigades were pouring westward, just as they had during the Invasion of Vermont. Things were not looking good for the Mad Emperor. He had been waging constant warfare since 1827, when he had overthrown the Spanish overlords and went on a "campaign of liberation" of the other Central and South American regions.

Many said the war would have been ended years earlier, but Iturbide's former apprentice and rival Simon Bolivar of Gran Colombia had passed away in 1830, leading to a near-disintegration of Gran Colombia and civil unrest. Bolivar had fought with Iturbide in his campaigns of liberation throughout Latin America, but Bolivar was a staunch republican and hated monarchy, leading to the breakdown of their alliance and eventual war. In 1832, Gran Colombia entered a bloody period of three-way civil war between the forces of the Republican Army and Bolivarists against the Monarchists and Anarchists. With Gran Colombia out of the way, Iturbide finally ride himself of the nascent foe and was able to fuel his nearly suicidal war of attrition against the forces of North America.

But upon the American entrance to the war after the Louisiana Accords, the tide had turned. Not only were the Yankees marching down sacking and burning Mexican towns as they went and solidly defeating the Native Americans hired by Mexico as troops, but Napoleon II was also taking personal control of the Mexican War. Napoleon was determined to make his stand and defeat Iturbide once and for all. Rumors of weakness abounded after the Accords and the Second Treaty of Vienna, with some saying he lacked the "warrior spirit" and "combative bravery" of his father. Now he would make an example of Mexico for all the world to see. He would overthrow the Mad Emperor and send Mexico back to the Stone Age.

In early 1837, with the Austrian crisis well in the past, French reinforcements landed on the Mexican coast. 50,000 troops immediately set out for Mexico City and there they finally leveled its defenses. As the city flew into a panic, the people toppled Iturbide, who began a flight out of the country and abandoned his own throne. His top generals and staff were executed and a Mexican Republic was proclaimed.

Over the next year, borders were drawn and redrawn and treaties signed. In the end, the Union was allowed to annex the largely empty territory of Oregon, securing the Union a Pacific port in Barnumsburg*, Oregon's capital, that it had so long desired. It also gave it a thin but still noticeable border with Slavic Russian Alyaska, which they had not desired. As for the Louisiana Purchase regions, Montana was quickly first occupied by former convicts and petty criminals given a second shot at life on the frontier. Preaching American Fundamentalism and carrying a rifle, these men and women forged a new identity in Montana. Eventually, in 1840, it was officially admitted into the Union as the Territory of Redemption, and its capital was located in Aurora*. America carved out Dakota, with its capital in--of course--Praise. To the southwest was Lewisland and its capital in Salvation Springs*, and to the southeast along the mighty Mississippi was the Territory of Osage, and its capitol of Lewis City, formerly known as St. Louis under French and Spanish rule.

The only reason the Union was awarded Oregon was because they had to be browbeaten by Napoleon II into accepting the independence of the Kingdom of California. California was seen as vital by France, more vital than any other land in the west, and stories of gold in the hills and creeks of the vast territory had long been heard back in Europe. To ensure stability in California and to prevent it from becoming Louisiana part two, it was granted independence from Mexico and Princess Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine, the 20 year-old daughter of Jerome Bonaparte and Catharina of Wurttemburg, was installed as Queen Mathilde Laetitia I of California. Shortly after her coronation, she was married to Pierre Chevrolet, a wealthy Quebecois architect and land owner, and he became the Royal Consort of California.

Queen Mathilde Laetitia I of California
​

Of course, as ripping a war-torn nation in half is likely to do on most occasions, the creation of California under foreign Bonapartist monarchs was not going over well with the Mexican people. They saw themselves as heroes, having finally overthrown Iturbide and agreeing to peace. Now, they were getting robbed at gunpoint by the most powerful empire of earth. Riots and resistance swept California from the Oregon border down to the tip of Baja. Some revolutionaries even told tales of Emperor Iturbide still holed up in the Sierra Nevada somewhere, plotting a glorious return to power. This would not do. Queen Mathilde requested aid to destroy the resistance and capture Iturbide. Napoleon II responded by sending in Charles de Morny, the illegitimate son of Queen Hortense of Holland. Known usually as the Duke of Morny, Charles was well-trained in secret policing operations and had participated in many pogroms and manhunts for anarchists in Europe. Riding on a black horse and always in a plain black suit, de Morny was quickly known as the "Black Hand of California," dispatching brutal frontier justice as he saw fit and hanging all those who opposed Royal rule. In the waning months of 1839, de Morny and his personal troops caught Iturbide in the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada. There, on the spot, the Mexican Emperor in Exile was beheaded. The location of Iturbide's death was a little trading post known as Las Vegas. Following the events of 1839, many began calling it Ciudad de la Mano Negra, "City of the Black Hand." With Iturbide gone and de Morny crushing any other attempts at revolt, the Queen was firmly in control.

Count Charles de Morny​

Meanwhile, in the section of Louisiana bequeathed to Georgia, the Southron nation created two territories out of it. The northern section became the Territory of Mississippi, with its capital in Fort Davis*, the southern section becoming Louisiana proper, with its capital in New Orleans. The namesake of Fort Davis was the 50 year-old Georgian General Joseph E. Davis, who had led the Georgian Army in Mexico for most of the Mexican War. Davis resented poor management of the war and actively campaigned in the 1840s for the deposing of President George Crawford (no relation to Willard) and the defeat of the Liberty Party which had been in power since Archibald Bulloch's successor, George Troup. The Patriot Party, largely consisting of angry veterans, anti-Union radicals, slavers, and the middle class, took power in 1841 under the control of President George Bonaparte Towns. Under his administration, he greatly heightened tensions with the Yankees and continually harassed Union shipping down the Mississippi River. Towns and the Patriot Party would lose power to the Log Cabin Party in 1849, after the end of Towns last term. President Herschel Vespasian Johnson would ease tensions along the Mississippi River and quiet tensions, but poor economic showings at home propelled Towns and the Patriots to once again seize power in the 1853 elections and reignite the threat of war with the Union.

George B. Towns​

In 1840, Georgia also finally modernized its borders as Virginia had done and created "departments" within its own nation, much like states in the Union. These new departments made taxes and border control much, much easier. The new departments were Savannah, with its capital in Savannah proper, in the north was Peachtree, with its capital in Athens, out to the southwest along the coast was West Florida, with its capital in Mobile, and north of West Florida was Bulloch, and its capital of Elyton. Finally, at least on the mainland, was Florida, and its capital of St. Augustine. In the Caribbean, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands were also granted department status, with their capitals in Nassau and George Town respectively.

Meanwhile, the Democratic-Republic of Texas had expanded in the aftermath of the Mexican War and became a buffer state between the Union and Mexico, as France feared the Union might one day try to invade Mexico again. France and her allies simply didn't have the time or energy to occupy all of Mexico forever, and so tried to guarantee its independence and neutrality. Texas was now a large nation but a very broke one, with the government teetering on the edge of bankruptcy constantly and the threat of a military coup was very real in the late 1830s. However, by 1840, thanks to Union shipping along the Mississippi, trade started to slowly bring back the economy. Georgia also guaranteed the Texas government troops in its never-ending war against the Indian tribes. Unfortunately, Texas would one day soon overstep themselves in their ambitions to achieve riches from tariffs, and their sock-puppet alliance with Georgia would involve them in a bloody, bloody war a generation later.


*Barnumsburg, Oregon, would be Portland, OTL
*Aurora, Redemption, would be known as Billings, Montana, OTL
*Salvation Springs, Lewisland, would be OTL Colorado Springs

MAP OF THE WORLD: 1840

 

[Napoleon53]

“People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take.”

- Meinrad Beutel in a letter to follower Leonhard Troki

“Ask for work. If they don't give you work, ask for bread. If they do not give you work or bread, then take bread.”

-Meinrad Beutel's second book, The Triumph of the People
​

Meinrad Beutel was born on January 1, 1800, among the first babies of the new century. He would end up being one of its most well-known celebrities and political thinkers. At the time of his birth, his father Wilhelm Beutel was working on a farm with his wife, Meinrad's mother Sofia. The family lived in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, part of the Holy Roman Empire. Meinrad's grandfather, Karl Beutel, was a farmer as well, but had also served in the Hessian Army during the American Revolution. Karl respected the revolutionaries he fought against and loved the original American dreams of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When he came back home he tried to instill these ideals in Wilhelm, but Wilhelm was a devout monarchist and was loyal to the Holy Roman Empire. Karl Beutel had better luck with his grandson Meinrad, and in their leisure time on the farm the old veteran would share the works of Immanuel Kant and other famed authors of the Enlightenment.

In 1807, Caesar Napoleon I marched his Grand Army into Hesse-Kassel and proclaimed the land as the Kingdom of Westphalia, with his brother Jerome Bonaparte as King Jerome I. It then became a part of the wider Confederation of the Rhine, itself created by the Treaty of Pressburg in 1806. As the Great Wars of the Empire came to an end in 1815, this new Confederation made travel, education, and commerce much easier, especially for the poor wishing to venture out for a new life. In 1817, a strapping young Meinrad left his home for Bavaria and its famed Ludwig Maximilian University of Landshut. While at Landshut, Meinrad poured over the great works and the most famous political theories. For a while, the young man went back on his grandfather's teachings and the pressures of the college made him into a monarchist. His mother had raised him as a devout Catholic, and Landshut taught him to see the government and Caesar and King as God's Hand on earth, preventing the masses from turning to barbarism.

Things changed, however, in 1819, when the infamous Hep-Hep Pogrom began in Bavaria. At the same time Henry Marx was taking his family to the Republican Union after the massive anti-Jewish violence, Meinrad was becoming concerned at the plight of the Ashkenazi Jews. Napoleon had been the Great Emancipator of the Jews, promising them equal treatment and fair laws. Now, he did nothing as Bavarians massacred Jews following their status elevation to citizen. Even the Bavarian Royal Army was getting in on the action at this point, such as the Ingolstadt Massacre of 1819. Bavaria was also experiencing a famine and economic depression for several years, leading to starvation for some of the poor. Meinrad was a devout Catholic, but he believed in the inherent value of all human life and the respect of other religions and was disgusted by the treatment of the Jews. For a while, he explored the paths of radical republicanism and democracy, but those viewpoints were being taken less seriously in the aftermath of the Fall of the Old Republic in America and the abrupt turnaround in France from regicidal democracy to the Second Coming of Julius Caesar. By 1820, Beutel decided none of the forms of government were the right one.

As he struggled with the ideas of law and order and government itself, Meinrad began to turn back to his grandfather and his love of the idea of absolute freedom, Kant's "Law and Freedom without Force." Some in Europe had already described anarchy as a form of society free from hierarchy, but this was not enough to Meinrad. Pure anarchy seemed to leave too much unanswered to him, and society would never choose anarchy as the way forward voluntarily. The hierarchy was too entrenched to defeat through debate or elections alone. The big companies and nobility would always keep them down. In 1822, he experienced an epiphany. "The Fifth Way."

Immanuel Kant had described four means of government as:

1. Law and freedom without force (anarchy)
2. Law and force without freedom (despotism)
3. Force without freedom and law (barbarism)
4. Force with freedom and law (republic)

What Beutel envisioned was a "Fifth Way," consisting of "Law and freedom through revolution and then without force." Beutel referred to himself throughout his life as a "Practical Anarchist" and "Anarcho-Libertine." However, he was the first of what would become Anarcho-Beutelism, sometimes called "Fifth Way Anarchism." Anarcho-Beutelism sought for all the forces of society to join hands to overthrow the oppressive hierarchy and destroy classes forever. Beutel claimed that only through chaos could the Fifth Way advance into the future and bring about true freedom and fair law. Upon the day a country totally accepted the Fifth Way, it would then be their sole purpose to continue the revolution into other nations to liberate them from dictatorship and monarchy.

The wheels inside Beutel's mind were turning at a thousand times per minute during the 1820s, when he continued to formulate and refine his new ideas. In 1824, he was kicked out of Landshut for his "subversive ideology" and he returned home to Hesse-Kassel and Westphalia. There, he began working on a book entitled The Anarchist Way. It would change the course of history forever. In 1828, the relatively small 239-page volume was published and caused much outrage in society. In early 1829, Napoleon declared the book to be "degenerate and dangerous" and rounded up as many copies as possible and burned them. In March of 1829, Imperial police raided the main print shop responsible for the printing of The Anarchist Way and Anne-Jean-Marie-René Savary, head of the Imperial secret police, had it razed to the ground.

"There will come a time on this earth when true free men will cast off their oppressors. The bloated hierarchical ticks in Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Moscow, and Philadelphia will eventually run out of ways to contain every citizens' deep and innate desire to have liberty, and then what will they do? They will either wipe their people out, wipe each other out, or the people will wipe them out. To achieve the last option, we must also assist in the second option. It is the Anarchist Way to pit our swindling, oppressive monarchs and leaders against one another. We must destabilize, so that we can stabilize. We must destroy, so we can create. We shall build a New World Order, an order dominated by personal liberty, freedom of choice, and minimal government. No government should have the ability to impress its citizens into military service, like every civilized country today does. No government should have the right to tax its citizens. No government should oppress the civil liberties of its citizens. The freedom-loving man had one chance thus far in history to create an Anarchist Utopia: the old United States. But the United States failed to solidify its freedoms under a constitution, and after good General Washington stopped holding their ship of state steady, the place fell to civil war, violence, slavery, racism, and murder. If all free men join this cause, once and for all, and fight for the Anarchist Way, for the Fifth Way, then we shall truly be free. The Ancient Regime of the status quo must crumble. The New World Order must rise."

-Final Page of The Anarchist Way

With the government now trying to silence him, Beutel knew he was a man on the run, a fugitive, and that he would likely be imprisoned or executed if the Imperial government ever got to him. Thus, he and a small group of followers fled to Morocco and then from there sailed to Gran Colombia, a South American nation so embroiled in civil unrest that he could live in peace and seclusion. From there, more copies of The Anarchist Way were printed and shipped out all over the world.

In the Republican Union, any negative reaction or book burning in France seemed positively tepid. The American Fundamentalist Church declared Beutel an enemy of the church and an Antichrist. As the book became secretly distributed to the poor Inferiors slaving away under the Yankee jackboot, teams of American detectives began hunting for him in Gran Colombia. Still, Beutel slaved away, continuing to print his masterpiece and churning out many letters and treatises.

In 1828, Beutel had married Marie Granger, an ethnic Frenchwoman living in Hesse-Kassel. They both had a great fascination with philosophy and political thought, and it was she who transcribed her husband's words following a failed assassination attempt by American agents in 1832 left him unable to write. At last, however, their luck ran out when a team of bounty hunters paid for by Charles Goodyear discovered their Colombian estate, high in the mountains. After a brief shootout August 1, 1833, between the Beutelists and the bounty hunters, Marie was shot dead on the portico of the house. Ten more anarchists were killed as well, but they had helped Meinrad to escape into the forest.

Now widowed and incapable of writing on his own, Meinrad fled to Peru, a neutral nation where he hoped the extreme isolation would protect him. There he began work with a new secretary on a second book titled The Triumph of the People, which showed Meinrad Beutel as an angry, vengeful man, filled with rage and depression at the loss of his wife and more focused on the violent revolutionary aspect of Anarcho-Beutelism and advocating for the assassination of government and corporate figures. He also became an atheist, finally and fully rejecting the Christianity he been raised in. Declaring that governments used religion to keep the people in their places of poverty and inequality, he said that even the leaders of the Church should not feel safe from the Revolution. He desired the people to seize their leaders and violently overthrow those that wouldn't embrace the Revolution.

His luck returned in late 1833 after he published The Triumph of the People, when the growing crisis in Gran Colombia exploded into full-on civil war. The elements of the government that had supported the late President Bolivar aligned with the military to crush a monarchist uprising of the upper classes, mostly former Spanish colonials. The poor people and working class were largely uninvolved in this struggle, simply focusing on survival in the total collapse of society. It was Beutel's time. He and his followers emerged from their exile in Peru and returned to Gran Colombia with rifles in hand. They marched on Guayaquil and Quito, abolished slavery, took over the factories and forts, and declared the Revolutionary Nation of Ecuador.

This terrified the Gran Colombian government and generally everyone else in the region. Though there was no "government" in Ecuador, Beutel was calling the shots, his crippled right arm kept in a sling over the shoulder of his military-style uniform. As most of South America, even Peru, united to crush this outbreak of anarchism, he knew he had to take emergency power and fight off this assault. He declared that this military rule was not permanent, but simply a "necessary step" to defend the nation before "true anarchy could be implemented." Fifth Way revolts were breaking out all over South and Central America, but this sudden militarism by Beutel was causing some to rethink their plans. But many, loyalists through-and-through, put their faith in Meinrad to get them through the storm and believed that the Hessian needed to raise such a vast army to combat the forces of the enemy that sought to end their freedom and their very lives.

Beutel's right hand was a young Jewish Pole named Leonhard Troki, and Troki quickly became the iron-fisted right-hand (pun unintended) to Beutel. He had fled persecution in Prussia only to find it in the supposedly emancipated Jewish ghettos of Bavaria. He had been with Beutel since his flight from Europe and had survived the bounty hunter attack that had killed Marie Beutel. Now, he was placed in charge of the People's Free Army of the Liberation. He rallied the former slaves and the working poor and led the massacres against the upper class and the old aristocracy. While Beutel wanted to win over the upper class if they were willing, Troki thought them inherently dangerous and far too risky to keep alive. Beutel had no idea that Troki was off murdering over ten thousand people in 1834 alone, and mostly concerned himself with the day-to-day operations of the "un-state," as his enemies called it. When Beutel found out about the massacres, he wanted to sack Troki, but he realized he was too valuable.

In late 1835, the Republican forces and the Army finally defeated the monarchists in the north and could turn their attention to the south. As government forces marched down, Troki mad a surprise move and invaded Mexican Panama, setting it up as the Anarchist People's Republic of Panama. What had happened was a total betrayal. Troki abandoned Beutel to the Colombians while he set up shop in war-torn Mexico. While Republican troops closed in on Quito, Beutel's remaining soldiers held them off as he was in flight once again. Beutel was heartbroken, and as he left Ecuador he realized he had become his own worst enemy. He had left it in a worse state than it ever had been in, and his right-hand man had massacred thousands of innocents. Peru told the failed leader that he was no longer welcome in their country and they would arrest him if he tried to cross the border. With no other choice, he boarded a ship and set sail for Mexico.

He would land in Baja California in January, 1836, just days after his 36th birthday. The former dictator tried to rally some locals to his cause to go against Iturbide, Mexico's Mad Monarch. In July, he went east to Durango and he and his supporters overthrew the local garrison, creating the Anarchist Commune of Durango. Iturbide, already busy fighting all of North America and dealing with Troki in Panama, was furious at this turn of events and wanted the Commune crushed utterly. A civil war broke out, often called the Durango Conflict, and while the Anarchists had no hope of victory they chewed through a lot of Iturbide's best men, substantially weakening him before the early-1837 French invasion. In late 1836, Durango fell and was then burned to the ground by Iturbide's forces. Beutel was captured in the chaos and brought to Mexico City. Trying to use momentum and the high morale of the moment, the Mexican Army marched south and razed Panama to the ground and arrested Troki, ending the Anarchist People's Republic of Panama.

With both revolutionary leaders now in his dungeon, Iturbide was free to finally end the anarchist threat once and for all. During the early hours of December 13, 1836, Troki was publicly executed by firing squad. A few minutes after him, Beutel and several of his officers were brought forth and strapped to the pole. Upon being asked if he had any last words, Beutel reportedly said, "The Triumph of the People shall come. Though I may die, the People will live on. No amount of tyranny can hold back the power of a billion starving, hopeless, huddled fools yearning to be free. I go now in peace, knowing my followers will avenge me sevenfold, and safe in the knowledge that nothing can stop the Revolution."

With that, the Meinrad Beutel story ends, as his limp corpse dangled from a pole, riddled with bullets. Some said he was a messiah of the poor, while others said he was the devil in the flesh. Some said he was a great author and intellectual, while others said he was simply a man who knew the philosophy he invented would gain him popularity and power with the poor and uneducated. Some said he genuinely wanted to improve the world, while others called him a terrorist who inspired the assassination of Caesar Napoleon I and countless other figures. He was many things, but at the end of the day he was a poor boy from Hesse-Kassel who became one of the most colorful and interesting figures of the entire 19th century.

Leonhard Troki leads his Panamanian Army to its last battle against the Mexican Army

Execution of Meinrad Beutel by Mexican Imperial firing squad​

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 25
DAWN OF THE INDUSTRIAL AGE

"We are becoming like gods. We harness the power of the lightning bolts, we invent horseless leviathans that traverse mountains and plains, we build massive factories with smokestacks stretching to the heavens, and we steam and sail to the far corners of the world, bringing white civilization and religion to those less favored than us. Truly, a golden age has come, an Age of Industry."
-Union inventor Carl Ferguson​

The name "Industrial Age" (commonly called the "The Industrial Renaissance" in Europe) was coined by Carl Ferguson, an American inventor who invented very little. However, his magazine Knowledge for All was widely read throughout North America, so his expression (printed in Issue 228) became very well known. It is not an easy thing to pinpoint just when the Industrial Age began, and there is still dispute as to if it should be considered part of the so-called Pax Napoleonica, or rather if it was simply the second phase of the Pax Napoleonica.

EUROPE IN THE INDUSTRIAL AGE:​

France (or rather, the greater Southern European Catholic monarchic meritocracy it had become) was on a technological spree, beginning at the ill-fated Paris World Congress of 1838. Prussia, with Friedrich Wilhelm III in horrible health but still on the throne, was right behind or tied with them. Prussian railroads were expanding rapidly and, despite numerous horrific train accidents, were wildly successful and popular. Prussia's economy exploded, worrying its rival France even further.

But another feature of the Industrial Age was that the major powers did not wage war. As long as they were preoccupied with building colonies and industrializing, empires like France and Prussia had little desire to go spelunking into neighboring countries close to home. The current alliance system had engulfed the entire civilized world and any war would almost certainly result in decades of violence. Besides, there wasn't much to fight over. Any attempt to remove the Bonapartes from power now would be laughable. Besides, so many had lived with them on the throne that the days of their illegitimacy seemed long over. No, any war would involve most of the planet, and with only gunpowder technology to fight it, it could go on indefinitely or even "forever." This was the last thing anyone wanted.

Still, not all was well in Europe. The Kingdom of England, still under Edward VII "the Puppet", was slowly picking up its economy and moving into the modern world, but increasing French control was growing irksome for the prideful Englishmen. French troops occupied most cities side-by-side with the Redcoats, and French overseers made sure that England's military elite didn't show any signs of a coup against Edward the Puppet. The most frightening thing about England's situation was a growing presence of Russian spies and infiltrators. Apparently, Alexander II still had the hots for Princess Victoria, and was growing increasingly bold in his desire to marry the future queen. Edward expressed no opinion. When told by Napoleon II to discourage her, he did as instructed. Neither Victoria nor Alexander backed down. Since the days of the fall of Great Britain, the threat of revolution had been high. When Napoleon I had first sent in the Imperial Guard to protect Edward from his own people in 1832, the protest became riots. By the late 1830s, the nation was on the verge of civil war.

Then, in 1840, Alexander (age 22) finally requested marriage to Victoria (age 21). Napoleon II panicked and considered demanding Edward skip Victoria in the line of the succession, but realized it would incite civil war in Britain. Plus, Victoria was an only child, and passing the position of heir to another relative would look terrible. Frustrated and defeated, Napoleon II agreed to back out of the affair. Alexander married Victoria on December 21st, 1840, in St. Petersburg. Victoria became Viktoriya Alexandrovna, future Queen of England and Empress Consort of the Russian Empire. Ten months later, on October 29th, 1841, Crown Prince Nicholas was born. His parents announced they would train him to speak both Russian and English. They would have several more children, with Viktor being the youngest, born in 1860, when Victoria was 41 years old. They stated Viktor was a "surprise," but nonetheless "A blessing from God."​

Crown Prince Alexander II and his wife Victoria of England​

A seven year-old Crown Prince Nicholas​

Despite the huge Anglo-Russian powder-keg being primed to blow, the Industrial Age remained peaceful in Europe.

AMERICA IN THE INDUSTRIAL AGE:​

After the Green Mountain War and the Mexican War, an eerie truce had settled from Quebec to Yucatan. Despite control of the Mississippi River being a ticking time bomb, there were no true wars. However, civil unrest was widespread, which would, in the Union, lead to the formation of one of the most infamous organizations of all time. Also, the Council of Jehovah would elect a new Reverend-Colonel for the first time.

The Prophet Aaron Burr II, Reverend-Colonel of the AFC Church​

On June 2, 1839, the Prophet Burr passed away of a massive stroke. A period of national mourning began that was unparalleled in American history up to that point. Every place of business that wasn't a necessity was shut down for a full week, flags across the country were flown at half-staff for a month, and all AFC churches draped black banners from their entrances that read "All Hail the Prophet Burr, may he rest till Judgement Day." These words would become one of the mantras of the Church in years to come. The Council of Jehovah met to elect a new Reverend-Colonel for the first time and many thought Theodore Burr, Aaron Burr's son, to be the likely choice. However, unbeknownst to the public, the Council of Jehovah had actually long despised Theodore as nothing more than a party animal and philanderer and considered him a degenerate. They knew, however, that publicly shaming Theodore Burr would make the Council look like it was taking over power from the Prophet's family in a sick move to exploit Aaron's death. They knew that they had to deal with Theodore somehow, but delicately and without ruining the Prophet's last name.

This resulted in the "Crow Conspiracy" of which the public would never find out. Jesse Appleton, known as Grand Master Crow to his cohorts and to the public as the smiling evangelist father-in-law of Colonel Franklin Pierce, formulated a plot to get rid of the annoying playboy Theodore once and for all. They decided they would actually murder him in a discreet way to make room for Edward Everett to become Reverend-Colonel. On August 3, 1839, Theodore Burr went out on the beautiful Lake Wallenpaupack, in northeastern Pennsylvania, for an afternoon of fishing... and mostly drinking, his favorite pastime. In one of the most bizarre assassinations of all time, while Burr was docking his boat after he was done fishing agents of the Council released a massive 500 pound black bear on the edge of the pier. The highly distraught and intoxicated Burr froze for an instant and then began screaming for all it was worth. The already starved and irritated bear had enough and charged the son of the Prophet, mauling him and ripping his throat out. It should be noted that this seemingly insane plot was only one of several dozen ways they could have killed Burr. Others were more discreet, such as poisoning his food, but this ridiculous one was honestly the least likely to look suspicious. It was just a freak accident to the general public. Years later, a certain American despot would discover the Crow Conspiracy and it inspired his penchant of feeding enemies to bears. Because he could.

This left the charismatic and staunchly devout Edward Everett to helm the Church. In September, 1839, he was elected by the Council as the next Reverend-Colonel. As the Union expanded outwards thanks to the Louisiana Purchase and the acquisition of Oregon, the Church needed a firm guiding hand to expand. Under Everett, it would see its power stretch to new heights and its missionaries would know reach the Pacific. Reverend-Colonel Everett would only be surpassed in power and popularity by one other Reverend-Colonel in the history of the Church, when William Graham would be anointed in the 20th century.

In other affairs in the Union, clusters of immigrants deemed inferior by the "Betters of Society" oftentimes formed huge gangs in their ghettos to protect themselves and to fight other groups of poor immigrants. Boston, one of the main arrival points for immigrant workers ("New Slaves" as discussed before in earlier chapters), was swarmed with crime. The Boston Police simply could not contain the horde of angry and hungry Irish and Slavs. On some days, over twenty people were murdered daily. The neighborhood Protestants did the only thing they could think of: they formed their own gangs. Mobs of armed men would occasionally make incursions into the ghettos and randomly assault immigrants. The immigrants fought back and in turn joined the gangs; thus starting an endless cycle. Finally, in 1841, under First and Second Chief Consuls Aaron Burr Payton and Zachary Gibbs, the Union government sent in special military units to put an end to all of the gangs, regardless of ethnicity or faith. It was stunningly successful, and the same thing was done in all major cities. Suddenly, a new branch of government had been created: the Republican Union Military Police (or RUMP as it would later be commonly nicknamed). General William J. Worth was appointed the first head of the MPs.

William J. Worth, Chief of the Military Police​

Worth was a slimy graduate of the New York City School of Corruption, and though he held the position of Chief from 1842 until his death in 1866, he lacked people skills and suffered from alcoholism. One of his closest friends was none other than Charles Goodyear, who Worth credited with "guiding him to Jesus" by recommending listening to famed preacher Edward Everett. Worth, by all reports, while a cold-blooded alcoholic, was exceedingly dedicated to his line of work. Many of the most famous core principles of the Military Police were penned by Worth. While an avowed racists and staunch Scientific-Marxist, Worth saw the white protestant gangs as criminals all the same.

But an officer on duty knows no one—to be partial is to dishonor both himself and the object of his ill-advised favor. What will be thought of him who exacts of his friends that which disgraces him? Look at him who winks at and overlooks offenses in one, which he causes to be punished in another, and contrast him with the inflexible officer who does his duty faithfully, notwithstanding personal feelings. The conduct of one will be venerated and emulated, the other detested as a satire upon the title officer and its honor."

-William J. Worth, Chief of the Military Police​

Over the years, the Military Police worked hand-in-hand with Goodyear's army of "Company Men" to eliminate threats to the growing de-centralized police state the R.U. was becoming. Using an ordinary census as a cover, RUMP began collecting information on the whereabouts of every single immigrant. This laid the foundation for later intense government surveillance of all immigrants. Even when immigration from Ireland and Eastern Europe began to slow, third-generation Irish- and Slavic-Americans were still classified as "immigrants." The word was said with hatred by almost all. Meanwhile, welcomed arrivals, like Germans and English, were called "new citizens." But in the end, RUMP mostly only existed in the large cities with huge immigrant populations and crime. This lack of firm control out west would later end with the creation of the brutal Custer's Company.

Military Policemen of the 1840s-1860s; RUMP officers were long famous for sporting spiked pith helmets​

Meanwhile, the new technology being unveiled by Goodyear and his North American rivals was indeed making life easier and more exciting for those not being persecuted. A crude "telephone" was invented in Atlanta, Republic of Georgia, in 1845, by a group of electricians (a new occupation, or at this point, hobby). It consisted of a 2 foot by 4 foot wooden box, with long cords that went from one house into another. They could only work with the two cords (in other words, they could not be equipped so three or four people could talk to each other). The sound received was very feint. The idea was abandoned by 1850, but it was picked up again in the 1870s. The light bulb was greatly expanded upon by Samuel Morse (Colonel Goodyear Enterprises' Vice President). He was so successful in his experiments that he said all homes would be equipped with light bulbs by 1880. He was very close in this prediction.

The crowning glory of American Invention during the Industrial Age was the product of Newport News, the slowly rebuilt former trade-hub of Virginia, by local inventor Henry Wilson. For years, he had been obsessed with electromagnetic communication, a study that was all the rage in Europe. After ten years of failure, Wilson erected a series of poles in his neighborhood, all linked with wire. Then, he tested his new machine. The Telegraph, an invention that had long been toyed with all across North America, had just been perfected. In no time, the inventor and his nephew Jed Wilson developed a code system. The system became known as Wilson Code and it was used when Newport News made the first complete wired transmission between cities in history, on January 5th, 1845. The message to Richmond: "What Hath God Wrought?" The world would never be the same.

Almost overnight, thanks to a loan from the Bank of Savannah (Georgia's biggest bank) telegraph lines shot up all over the South, connecting city after city. The Yankees quickly stole the technology and the Yankee Doodle Telegraph Company, founded by up-and-coming robber-baron Miles Hendricks, began erecting poles and running wires all across the Union. While Yankee Doodle Telegraph was the favored service of the eastern cities, the Old Kinderhook Telegraph Corporation ran lines to the western territories, connecting to the Pacific in 1849. Old Kinderhook, named after Van Buren's nickname which in turn derived from his birthplace in Kinderhook, New York, was owned by playboy millionaire Martin van Buren, known as "one of the most debauched and narcissistic men who was ever born." Van Buren had long been rich off of his lucrative shipping company, also named Old Kinderhook, operating since the opening of the Erie Canal and that had since expanded to the Mississippi River. Now, he sought to develop a monopoly out in the western territories on telegraph and shipping. This led to the creation of the Old Kinderhook Express, which consisted of thousands of riders carrying mail and freight by horse or wagon out all the way to the Pacific coast. Van Buren would later employ the services of Custer's Company to defend his lines and riders from hostile native tribes. The stopping of an Old Kinderhook Shipping cargo ship by the Georgian Navy would later lead to the greatest North American crisis of the 19th century.

Martin Van Buren​

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 26
The 1838 World Congress: Tragedy in Paris

The Assassination of Kaiser Franz Karl and his Wife (London Times, 1838)​

Napoleon II was extremely eager to host the Congress in his Imperial capital. He was prepared to put on the "biggest show on earth" that would "dazzle and shock the world." He would announce a more final union of France and Spain for one thing, and no longer would he be known as the Caesar of France and Emperor of Spain, but as "Caesar of the United Empire of France and Spain," in a similar vein to Franz Karl being Kaiser of Austria-Hungary. He had his fiance, Eugénie, a daughter of a minor Spanish noble, secretly moved to Paris in time to announce his wedding. He would also show off new ironclad warships, improved rifles, and much, much more. As peace seemed to be relatively stable and many nations were happy with the status quo, most of the world looked forward to the event, not having a clue that a sovereign monarch and his wife were about to be assassinated and forever put an end to the World Congresses.

Meinrad Beutel, an influential Hessian philosopher, was held to blame for the deaths of Franz Karl and his wife Sophia of Bavaria. In 1828, Beutel published the 239-page book The Anarchist Way, which railed against the ever more powerful empires and dictatorships and insisted that all men who desire to be free should fight against tyranny using whatever means necessary. Following a failed attempt at multiple anarchist nations in South and Central America, he was executed by firing squad in Mexico in 1836. In death, he had become much more popular than when he was alive, and his demise at the hands of a ruthless imperialistic tyrant just made him that much more popular.

It was with these teachings flowing through his head that ethnic Dutchman Fons Elbert Spijker entered the Paris Congressional Palace and International Exhibition which saw a crowd of some nine thousand civilians during the first day it was open. The Congress had not officially begun, and only a few leaders were present so far. Spijker was a floor-sweep at the Palace had access to most all parts of the structure, so he attracted little attention. Under his coat was a small flintlock pistol and a dagger. This floor-sweep was going to murder Caesar Napoleon II and bring about the collapse the French Empire.

Only known picture of Spijker​

The royal families of France-Spain, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Ireland were attending a military band competition on the night of July 4th, 1838, in the Concert Hall of the Paris Congressional Palace. Spijker had found out who was to be situated in which seats through a friend in the booking department and was certain his plan would succeed. At 6:33 that evening, Spijker began his ascent up the stairs to Emperor Napoleon's private seats. Seconds later, a guard noticed him and began walking toward him. Panicking, Spijker lost his nerve and bashed through the entrance, took out his pistol and dagger, and... shot Austrian Kaiser Franz Karl directly in the back of the head. The whole Concert Hall began shrieking and the guards came running, weapons ready. Furious he had killed the wrong man, Spijker turned to the screaming Kaiserina Sophia and slashed her throat with his dagger. He then leapt from the balcony, raised the bloody dagger over his head, and shouted proudly, "Sic Semper Tyrannis! The People will be free! Down with the Hierarchy!" A moment later, a French Imperial Guard shot him in the chest, killing him instantly in front of the entire crowd.

As Franz Karl's brain matter dripped onto the floor and Sophia's body sat almost beheaded, Spijker's last thought was probably of frustration for Napoleon not being in the seat instead. It just so happened that Napoleon had invited the Austro-Hungarian Imperial family to sit with him in his box. Seconds before Spijker arrived, Caesar had stepped out to fetch his fiance to meet his former rivals. Napoleon reportedly suffered a minor nervous breakdown, knowing the bullet was meant for him. The Congress was cancelled. There would never be another. The French and Austrian economies plummeted overnight.

The Hapsburg Imperial Funeral in Vienna​

"Today France, Spain, and all other territories under the Crown of House Bonaparte mourn the sinister murder of the noble and honorable Emperor Franz Karl I, of the Empire of Austria-Hungary, and of his wife, the beautiful Empress Sophia. They were both brave and true friends of our people, who desired peace and stability for all of Europe. We must not allow their dream to shatter. We must not allow the Anarchists to interrupt stability on this continent. Now orphaned, the Austro-Hungarian Imperial children will be henceforth cared for and raised by Caesar Napoleon II of the Imperial Union, and his future empress, Eugénie. These children, Franz Josef, age eight, Maximilian, age six, Karl Ludwig, age five, and Maria Anna, age three, will be full members of the Imperial Family and will receive all the rights and benefits thereof. Caesar Napoleon II now has an heir, Franz Josef, who, if no other, natural-born male child is produced, will ascend the throne of the Empire under the name Caesar Francis Joseph I. The articles of the Second Treaty of Vienna are hereby declared null and void and the governing of the Empire of Austria-Hungary shall, for the duration of the current instability, fall to Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz. A Third Treaty of Vienna shall be drawn up later this year to decide matters over the eventual union between France-Spain and Austria-Hungary into a Tripartite Imperial Union."

-Official Response of the Franco-Spanish Imperial government to the Franz Karl Assassination, July 5th, 1838

The young children of Franz Karl were indeed legally and officially adopted by the Franco-Spanish Imperial Family the day of their wedding, August 2nd, 1838. Caesar Napoleon II and Caesarina Eugénie were parents. No longer did the House of Bonaparte need to worry about a collapse for lack of an heir. Adopted at such a young age, only Franz Joseph (legally Francis Joseph I, Prince of Bombay and the Heir of Hapsburg) was old enough to have any nationalistic thoughts about Austria. The other children were swiftly and intensely "Frenchified." All the children learned to speak French, German, Spanish, some English, and of course Latin. Francis Joseph was reeducated into a solid Bonapartist by the time he was ten. However, upon the birth of Napoleon III in 1839, he no longer was Prince of Bombay or first in line to the Bonaparte throne.

Caesarina Eugénie of the United Empire of France and Spain

Francis Joseph, age 15

Maximilien, Count of Vienna, age 16

Charles Louis, age 12

Marie Anne, age 8
​

Directly following the wedding, Napoleon II went to Vienna to negotiate the future of Southern Europe. His puppet, the half-senile Field Marshal Radetzky, was actually being manipulated by Caesar's mother, Dowager Caesarina Marie Louise. Over the decades, she had certainly become a shadow empress in her own right. In what was a surrender of sovereignty, Austria-Hungary essentially became a part of France upon Radetzky's signing of the Third Treaty of Vienna. Upon his coming to the throne, Napoleon III would become sovereign of Austria-Hungary, and would almost certainly make Austria-Hungary and its territories mere states in a bloated United Bonapartist Empire. Many Austrians did not like this one bit, but the few instances of actual civil unrest were put down by the Austrian army acting directly on the orders of Radetzky. To most, the events were simply a great tragedy and made the witch-hunt for anarchists that much more thorough. Napoleon II stepped up his police state measures, creating the Imperial Secret Service. Detectives and police scoured the streets for anarchists and subversives and sent many off packed in ships like sardines to the to desolate and disparate Australian holdings.

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 27
THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION

Princess Victoria is greeted by her husband Prince Alexander II of Russia upon her arrival in St. Petersburg
​

By 1842, the situation in England was untenable. Ever since the deployment of French Imperial Guardsmen in London to protect King Edward, the English Royalty was on its last knees. The ancient regime of England was a powder keg primed to explode at any second. Since 1835 or so, numerous riots had broken out into armed conflict with Royal and Imperial soldiers firing on civilians. The English economy was among the worst in the continent, leading to it being dubbed the "Sick Man of Europe."

When Princess Victoria married Alexander of Russia in 1840, this was the last straw for many Englishmen. Not only were French troops in their capital supporting a hated monarch, but now their princess had married the heir of the Russian Empire. As discussed before, Napoleon II considered halting the marriage as he saw it as an enormous train wreck headed for English civil war, but he backed out at the last minute. The wedding was unparalleled in European history. Such a bizarre union was just unheard of. Unsurprisingly, the English population was upset. King Edward VII was in his 70s and expected to die soon and Victoria was one of the most unpopular figures in English history. She seemed to be doing what she wanted and not what was good for the country.

But 1842 brought about an unbelievable turn of events. Edward died in his sleep on July 20, leaving the throne to his daughter, the Russian Consort. Victoria had become increasingly distant with her own English family and was spending much of her time in St. Petersburg with her husband. Now, she officially announced she was abdicating all responsibilities as the English monarch and moving to Russia. Overnight, the English monarchy, so long on the rocks, collapsed. Angry mobs besieged Buckingham Palace, shouting "Death to the Romanovs! Death to the Traitor-Queen!" and throwing firebombs at the soldiers trying to keep everything together. As Victoria made her escape with the help of Russian marines, the entirety of Buckingham lit up like a firework. As the Russian steamer slogged down the Thames, Princess Victoria looked back at the final destruction of the English monarchy. Interestingly enough, she and her husband had been planning this abdication for some time it seems. She was deeply in love with Alexander and had no desire to reign over her unwilling subjects. This much was never known to the general populace though.

Newspaper depiction of the revolutionary riots in London
​

The British Parliament was in no better shape than the rest of the government. Many citizens saw it as a rubberstamp organization of traitors for Bonapartist rule and wanted them gone as well. On August 4, some five thousand citizens armed themselves in whatever way they could and marched down to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster and fought a bloody battle against Royal and French troops. After some two hours, they broke through and swept through Westminster like a raging fire, destroying everything. Some five revolutionaries clambered up the rooftop and draped a banner proclaiming "England Now and Forever Free." As cheers went up from the crowd and the military units pulled back, news was quickly reaching Paris of the disaster. Napoleon II was quickly mobilizing his army in case violence spilled over into Cornwall or the Channel Isles.

Assassins attempt to ambush the fleeing Princess Victoria ​

The mobs break through into Westminster Palace​

By mid-August, much to the Bonapartes' chagrin, the rioting had spilled over into Wales and Cornwall. "England Now and Forever Free" and "England United Again" were the rallying cries of the mobs. Nobility were running for their lives and Parliament completely gave up and set up a government in exile in Scotland, with Ernest Augustus, King Edward's younger brother and fifth son of George III, as pretender to the throne. Before long, however, even Scotland became to anti-Royal for him, leaving him without a country. The Prussian King extended a hand of friendship in respect of their shared heritage and offered the title of King of Hanover to Ernest Augustus. The Pretender accepted and arrived in later 1842, bringing with him thousands of Royalists and the Parliament-in-Exile. Napoleon II accepted this situation and allowed Hanover to join the Confederation of the Rhine. While both Napoleon II and Friedrich Wilhelm III desired to place Ernest back on the English throne, he would never sit upon it. From Hanover, Ernest Augustus tried to wage a civil war, a Fourth English Civil War. The Royalist faction, while often called Ernestites, was not united behind Ernest entirely.

Ernest Augustus, self-styled King Ernest Augustus I of England, King of Hanover

Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, self-styled King Frederick I of England
​

On the contrary, many of the more liberal elements of the Parliament and government-in-exile favored his younger brother Augustus Frederick, as he was a progressive reformer who had also been an avowed enemy of France. Augustus Frederick was seeking safe haven in Denmark-Norway at this time. While Augustus Frederick never officially fought his brother from the crown, this disunity between the Ernestites and the Frederickites caused them to be unable to halt the growing revolutionary fervor for a republican form of government. To make matters worse, besides the Radical Republicans who had largely been behind the revolution, several Beutelist communes were set up across the nation, incensing Monarchist Europe. England was now a confusing rabble of disorganized political and revolutionary groups, and law and order was breaking down completely.

Simplifying things somewhat was the heart-attack death of the Duke of Sussex in early 1843, leaving the title of Pretender to the Ernest indisputably. Many claimed the stress had killed the Duke, and his brother wouldn't be far behind him. Frantically and fearing death before victory, Ernest sailed for England in March with some 40,000 troops to retake the throne. He first arrived in French Cornwall, where Napoleon gifted him the region to secure his place on the island. As new spread of his return, the English rebel groups united to push him back. In early April, he made a drive for London. A devastating battle ensued, with thousands dead on both sides. In the end, Ernest's troops entered Westminster, where the rebels had set up the "National Revolutionary Committee" and declared it illegal and void. For twenty days, Ernest held Westminster, fighting off wave after wave of counter-assaults. On April 27, rebel forces broke through and decimated his forces for the final time. With one last window of escape open, Ernest fled to the Thames where French ships were ready to sail him back to Europe. He barely escaped with his life. Rebel forces took Cornwall and brought it back into England. Napoleon was furious and quickly was thinking of how to handle the situation.

The English Revolution was now essentially over. After the last Royalist forces withdrew from England, the revolutionary government quickly turned to the anarchist communes and destroyed them, as one of their biggest fears was a total invasion by all the powers of Europe if they were thought of as anarchists themselves. In actuality, most all the revolutionaries were right-wing "Radical Republicans" who had more in common with the values of the Republican Union than anything else. They saw the destruction of their once great country as a threat to the Anglo-Saxon race itself and viewed France and the Bonapartist empire as a liberal and Catholic conspiracy for world-domination. Not long after that, Reverend Milo Miles, the infamous AFC minister, arrived in England with some 10,000 AFC followers formed into "Fundamentalist Volunteer Brigades." These Brigades had seen action in the Subjugation of Vermont and the Mexican War, and they did not fight for pay or reward, but rather out of unceasing devotion to the Church and to the Anglo-Saxon race.

Reverend Milo Miles pledges his loyalty to the international family of Anglo-Saxon Christians (interestingly enough, standing besides the English redcoat is a young Ambrose Burnside, while a 34 year-old A. A. Lincoln sits at Miles' feet)

General George Brown (seated, center) discusses matters with his staff in this earliest wartime photograph ever taken
​

This intervention saw the Volunteer Brigades allying themselves with General George Brown, a former monarchist and staunch conservative who had been one of the highest-ranking officers to defect the revolution after Victoria's abdication. Miles and Brown were soon occupying Westminster and propping their jackboots up on the furniture. Pogroms for Royalists and anarchists reached a fever pitch, securing the Brown as dictator. On September 11, 1843, Brown declared the Commonwealth of England in a public rally in Trafalgar Square. Brown was to be acting Chancellor of the Commonwealth. A Senate of the People was to be formed within the year to vote on laws and policy. Jubilation swept an England now solidified under the new government. Order was restored and the economy began the long, slow, painful process of getting back to work.

In frustration, Napoleon II was forced to abandon Cornwall to England, fearing trying to take the region back might result in a full-on war with England and possibly the Republican Union. While it didn't look very good to the general Imperial public, it was the only thing that really made sense. If he had tried to retake Cornwall, he would have to raze all of England just as his father had done decades earlier. If he razed all of England, an English warzone would become a non-stop money-pit and butcher shop to grind up his finest soldiers. Already, too many of France's sons had died trying to protect the English royals. No, he would rather face a small defeat than a never-ending slaughter.

Flag of the Commonwealth of England​

Meanwhile, Victoria was welcomed with open arms in the Russian Empire. Crown Prince Alexander II, her husband, was overjoyed when she and their son Victor formally converted to Russian Orthodoxy. They were remarried in style in St. Petersburg, in an official Orthodox ceremony. England and the world would never be the same. The Crown Jewels were seized in London and the English monarchy abolished forever....

 

[Napoleon53]

Chapters 28 and 29 were written as one chapter, but you can't have more than twenty illustrations per post so I was forced to break it up.

I like to imagine in this timeline that Flight of the Valkyries is a Prussian piece inspired by the Balkan Wars titled "Last Stand of the 300 Spartans."

CHAPTER 28
THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE 1840s AND THE BALKAN WARS

Greek mural celebrating the toppling of Muslim rule​

Europe was on edge after the English Revolution. Many feared unrest would spread all across Europe, just as it had in the days of the French Revolution. The Bonapartes now saw themselves in the ironic position of stifling reform and revolution. Almost immediately following the English Revolution, Wales saw immense political turmoil and violence just short of civil war. In Denmark-Norway, revolution swept in with the Norwegians demanding independence. All at the same time, Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottomans was barely holding his grip in Greece and the Balkans. The Industrial Age had brought progress and technology such as the steamship, telegraph, and train. Now it would bring warfare and revolution.

As England picked itself up and Chancellor Brown and the Senate started working on a new constitution, the momentum of change was afoot. Denmark-Norway had seen an era of success and growth, expanding their operations in Africa's Gold Coast and generally being respected on the world stage. However, a new movement of Norwegian nationalism was building that was coming to a head. On February 13, 1844, Norwegian citizens began protesting new heavy-handed taxes and military conscription. Revolts in the Gold Coast were causing more and more problems and were forcing the government to spend more coin and life there. The Norwegians had had enough and on February 27 demanded that a new constitution be drawn up allotting Norway more autonomy to levy its own taxes, to end conscription, and to have their own legislative assembly. This incensed King Christian VIII, who reigned with the absolute power that the Danish-Norwegian kings had ruled with for 400 years. He was determined not to budge and to keep his authority respected.

Danish troops in Copenhagen hold a final parade before shipping out for Norway​

Christian rallied his army and dispatched them to Norway. Upon their arrival, they were to arrest the leaders of the protests for treason and to burn all copies of the so-called Norwegian Constitution. The Norwegians, unsurprisingly, didn't go along with this quietly, and armed confrontation soon turned into open street battles in the large cities of Norway. Within months, the Norwegian War of Independence had begun. The people of Norway soon began following Thorlief Strand, a popular general and veteran of the Gold Coast conflict. He was held up by the people as their leader and became the public face of the rebellion.

Strand soon saw secret funding from Sweden, who was seeking to stick their old rival Denmark in the eye. With this cashflow he purchased new weapons and supplies from the Commonwealth of England. He also called for international volunteers to help "combat the cancer of absolute monarchy and bring about a Norwegian Republic." As it was asked, so it was given, and thousands of English and American volunteer veterans of the English Revolution landed in Norway to join Strand's forces. Milo Miles led the American Fundamentalist Brigades, while General Thomas Foxbridge led the "Cromwellite Volunteer Republican Army." Together, they launched the Winter Offensive in December of 1844, kicking the Danes out of the port cities of Bergen and Haugesund and raising the morale of the Norwegian people. As revolutionary fervor swept Norway, Denmark was starting to feel the burden of fighting in Norway and in Africa against the rebellious tribes. Strand hoped that if he kept up the fight long enough, Denmark would finally pull out and focus on trying to stabilize their colonies.

Meanwhile, the Althing was re-established in Iceland against the King's orders. As Denmark dealt with Norway and the Gold Coast, a stealthy rebellion had formed in Iceland. In the spring of 1845, the Althing overthrew the Danish garrison there and proclaimed Iceland a republic. Greenland, now cut off from the mother country, followed suit, declaring independence in June. Immediately, American troops moved into Greenland to "secure their independence from European invaders." This greatly disturbed Napoleon II, as American ships and troops in Greenland could cut off Canada from the Empire. However, Napoleon II personally despised the King of Denmark and refused to stop the revolts.

Norwegian revolutionaries in Oslo

Flag of the Republic of Iceland

Flag of the Republic of Greenland

Flag of the Republic of Norway​

Finally, with no other choice and facing bankrupting his kingdom, Christian back down and brought his troops home. Norway and all the other regions that had rebelled were now independent. The Kingdom of Denmark-Norway was no more after 400 years. Now, in Denmark itself there was a clamor for reform. They saw Christian as out-of-control and a ruler in need of checks and balances. In early 1846, Christian signed the new Danish Constitution into law, abolishing absolute monarchy forever in Denmark. He would die in 1848 a broken man and failed ruler. His son Frederick VII would take power and would be much more popular and would finally secure the Gold Coast as Denmark's last overseas holding. He would become known as one of the most enlightened kings of Europe, despite practicing much brutality in his African colony. Despite his shortcomings, he also officially banned slavery forever on Danish soil, bringing an end to one of the greatest sources of slaves for the American Southron nations.

King Frederick VII of Denmark​

Now, all the while in the Balkans a new spirit of revolution was brewing. In the case of Greece, a long-standing bloody feud with their Turkish masters was supposed to be resolved at the ill-fated Congress of Paris in 1838. It's abrupt cancellation upon the Austrian Imperial family's assassination saw to it that the Sultan, Mahmud II, just grew more and more brutal in his reprisals against Greek rebels. In 1839 he had had 300 revolutionaries slaughtered publicly in the streets of Athens. When he died and Abdul Mejid II came to power, things grew even worse. After the English Revolution, the new Sultan feared that the Greeks would be energized and so executed some 500 political prisoners in late 1842 to send a message to the Greek people. Instead of making them cower, this only emboldened them, and by the spring of 1843 the Greeks were rallying behind General Lavrentios Marinos, a fierce fighter for Greek Independence, head of the Greek People's Army, and an outlaw with a death sentence on his head from Istanbul. Finally, in June a Greek independence supporter tried to assassinate the Sultan during a state visit. Abdul Mejid immediately carried out brutal reprisals and murdered hundreds of people, many of whom had nothing to do with the plot whatsoever. Outraged, Marinos and his followers stormed Athens in a surprise attack, massacred the Turkish garrison, and declared Greek independence from the top of the Acropolis.

Marinos' sheer popularity and charisma alone would not win Greek independence, however. He knew he must seek international aid to supply and fund his army. He rejected the idea of French backing out-of-hand, knowing this would result in his nation being a French puppet. Ironically, the anti-Slav, anti-Orthodox Republican Union came to his assistance. America had little interest vested in the Balkans and simply saw it as a way to make a quick buck off a foreign war. The Colonel Pierce Munitions Company supplied thousands of rifles and guns to the Greeks. Prussia also agreed to help, sending a few ships down to Athens to be the foundation of a Greek Navy. Russia, however, was the most eager to help and sent not only ships and arms but several thousand volunteers to Greece to train and reinforce Marinos. Russia's longstanding hatred of the Turks made them a natural ally, despite their conflicting Orthodox faiths. Little did Marinos know that Russia hoped a collapse of the Ottoman Empire in Europe would open up the path for a potential taking of Istanbul and the repulsion of Muslim rule from Europe forever. Also, the Kingdom of Italy, of which Napoleon II was the titular monarch, also sent arms and supplies as a good-will offering, hoping to eventually win over the Greeks.

the Liberation of Athens by General Lavrentios Marinos​

Unfortunately for the Greeks, their revolution was not as easy or fast-paced as the Norwegians, and a bloody, bloody, war ensued with many massacres on both sides. In 1846, a newly-formed Greek Parliament voted to install Marinos as Lavrentios I, King of the Greeks. This was the creation of the House of Marinos. Russia was the first to officially recognize his sovereignty. By 1847, the unrest had spilled over into the rest of the Balkans. The Turks were now overwhelmed and no amounts of massacres could hold back the bloody tide of revolt. In 1855, the Sultan officially recognized the Balkan states' independence. Abdul Mejid was fearing revolt back in Istanbul and he saw no further point in throwing away his troops into a meatgrinder of a war with no end in sight. Turkey was praised for this action, but still brought international condemnation down upon itself for its bloody reprisals and backwards tactics. This would end in the Franco-Ottoman War.

Balkan States at the End of the Balkan Wars

• Macedonia declared independence as a Republic in 1850, but was quickly absorbed by Marinos' Kingdom of Greece.
• In 1856, Romania became an absolute monarchy under the idolized King Simion I. Bulgaria adopted a constitution and a Holy-See approach to elect their first monarch, Tsar Timotei I, from a "College of Generals."
• Albania followed a similar strategy, which ended with Joakim I being crowned King.
• Montenegro almost immediately started suffering internal problems as several generals and politicians fought for control after it declared independence in 1851, ending in Serbia moving in and annexing it.
• Serbia became a Republic in 1852 under, surprisingly, the female republican Tatjana Trkulja, but she was assassinated in 1853 by Muslim reactionaries. This saw General Ivan Radovan Ateljević overthrow the Republic in 1854 and then he made himself king.

Almost all these new countries were a new style of dictatorship, ruled by the military and with little to no free speech or religious freedom. Crude propaganda posters lined the streets, and anyone who questioned the new orders were labeled traitors and Turkish sympathizers.

The Republican Union took advantage of the persecuted groups and told them more stories than ever before about the "Land of Opportunity." Goodyear was about to get more "New Slaves." Seeing this happening, the governments eventually banned Union citizens from entering the Balkans, something which the Union used as "proof" that the dictatorships just wanted to keep their people "in chains." .

King Lavrentios I of Greece (born 1808)

King Simion I, King of Romania (born 1808)​

Joakim I, King of Albania (born 1810)

Serbian revolutionary and republican martyr Chancellor Tatjana Trkulja (1825 - 1853), first modern female head of state

Ivan I, King of Serbia (born 1802)

Timotei I, Tsar of Bulgaria (born 1799)

Flag of the Empire of Bulgaria

Flag of the Kingdom of Romania

Flag of the Short-Lived Republic of Montenegro

Flag of the Kingdom of Albania

Flag of the Republic and then Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro

Flag of the short-lived independent Macedonia region​

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 29
THE AUSTRALIAN CIVIL WAR AND THE BIRTH OF THE NORDREICH

Declaration of Australian Independence​

As Europe exploded into nationalistic fervor, the story of the House of Hanover was not over yet. In 1845, Pretender to the English throne King Ernst of Hanover was still officially the monarch of English East Australia. In April, Australia finally declared for independence following a gold rush in Eureka, which brought in foreigners, especially Americans, from all over the globe. It began calling itself the Commonwealth of Australia and aligned itself with the Commonwealth of England. Ernst tried to muster up funds for an invasion to put down the revolt but it was far too late and too far away. In the end, he only could sit and watch as East Australia finally broke from Royalist rule and became its own country. With a small population mostly based in the "golden foothills" of Eureka, there was a dispute at first as to where to place their new capital, with some wanting to place the capital in Eureka and other in Sydney. In the end, Sydney won out. Interestingly enough, the new government immediately began taxing the living daylights out of the miners in Eureka to provide funding for the new government, led by a Protector of the Realm and the Congress of Australia. This led to the Australian Civil War of 1846, wherein over 10,000 people lost their lives. In the end, the government won out and brought about harsher rule, more in line with the Republican Union. The new government also planned for more rapid expansion, segregating all Aboriginals and forcing them into "containment areas" far from any desired lands. In the latter half of the 19th century, this would turn into full-on genocide against the native tribes.

Flag of the Commonwealth of Australia ​

Back in Europe, on October 12th, 1850, one of the last leaders alive from the Great Wars of the Empire era, Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, died. He was 80 years old, and he had been expected to die over a decade before. That isn't to say he was in good health; he was unable to stand starting around 1840, side-effects of a fall from his horse. He had suffered multiple strokes and one heart attack, the latter of which killed him. Most of Europe's leaders attended the funeral, though they feared an anarchist attack after numerous threats were given by letter. In what became known as the Year of Three Kings, he was immediately succeeded by his eldest son Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Soon after, Friedrich Wilhelm IV's stepmother died of a massive heart attack caused by gross obesity. As per the Hohenzollern's and Wettin's agreement, her titles in Saxony, Warsaw, and Finland were passed to her step-son. Unbelievably, the king died before he had officially accepted them. He had caught a severe case of the flu, and died at age 55. At last, after so many family deaths, Prinz Wilhelm, after whom the first railroad was named, accepted the titles, was crowned, and promptly did away them all. No longer were Prussia, Warsaw, Finland, or Saxony separate entities. Instead, Wilhelm merged them all and created the Nordreich, or Northern Empire, becoming Kaiser Wilhelm I. All the areas within the Nordreich were granted a level of autonomy and rights, and Kaiser Wilhelm hoped to bring Prussia screaming into an industrial future, wealthy beyond imagination.

Friedrich Wilhelm IV​

The Coronation of Kaiser Wilhelm I of the Prussian Empire, House of Hohenzollern-Wettin

Flag of the Nordreich
​

Napoleon II was very swift in reacting to these events, as he saw the creation of a "Northern Empire" as a direct threat to his own Empire. His first telegrams with Wilhelm concerned the French peacekeepers present in Finland. Wilhelm calmed him and told him they could stay, as "Prussia never dishonors treaties." They did agree to negotiate on an eventual withdraw, though it wouldn't happen till decades later. Napoleon II grudgingly accepted Wilhelm's rule and formally recognized his legitimacy.

The entire time these epic events were unfolding, another series of events was unfolding to the south. The Race for Africa....

 

[Napoleon53]

Like I said, France is about to come roaring back to show everyone who is Caesar! I've been plotting a Franco-Ottoman War for some time now.

CHAPTER 30
THE BONAPARTES AND HAPSBURGS REGROUP

Flag of the Rheinbund
​

Napoleon immediately feared any form of Nordreich growth, and he wanted to make sure his territories along the Rhine never drifted into the Berlin camp. He had finished forming the union with Austria-Hungary, which would become a part of the United Empire upon the ascension of his son, Napoleon III. Thus, the Confederation of the Rhine, the Rheinnbund, was given an increase in power and a stronger government. Instead of directly ruling it himself, he installed his 20 year-old adopted son Francis Joseph as High King of the Bund. Though the High King was technically over all the other monarchs of the Bund, including Napoleon II's own uncle King Jerome of Westphalia, he still was a puppet of Napoleon II. Many historians have claimed this prevented Francis Joseph from wanting more power, as he allegedly felt robbed upon the birth of Napoleon III. Soon after, the Rheinbund adopted a flag for the first official time and the government's popularity sky-rocketed and Rheinish pride glowed. The many kingdoms and principalities and such inside the Confederation had to bow down to their overlord the High King. They kept their thrones, but they were increasingly losing real independence in their own affairs. In a similar move, Napoleon II abdicated the throne of Italy and put Francis Joseph's younger brother Maximilien in place. Finally, Charles Louis, the youngest Hapsburg brother, was given the crown of Andorra. Lastly, Napoleon II actually returned sovereignty of Lisbon back to Portugal for their many years of faithful alliance. The main reason for Napoleon II's abdication in Italy and the placing of Maximilien (now Massimiliano I) as King of Italy was because he feared revolutionary and unionist sentiment sweeping Italy and thought greater autonomy would ease any tensions of that matter. He truly desired for the Italian nation to be unified into a greater Empire of Italy, but knew that would require unseating cousins from their thrones, something which he simply could not bring himself to do.

Most interestingly, Napoleon II's son was growing into a young man and would one day inherit the thrones of France, Spain, and Austria-Hungary. Many ideas were bandied about as to what this colossal empire would be named. Some suggested "Tripartite Empire," but Caesar rejected this as it could snub Hungary, who technically had their own crown in the Empire of Austria-Hungary. Still others suggested suggested things like "Quadripartite Empire" and "Imperial Union." These did not appeal to Napoleon II. Finally, he came up with the name himself: The United Empire of Europa. It was perfect. It respected all parties involved, had a better ring to it, cooled down nationalist tensions, and allowed for expansion. Moreover, its citizens could be called "Europans" as a demonym. It was just what he wanted. Thus, Prince Napoleon III was given the title of Prince Imperial of the United Empire of Europa. While the Empire at its heart was still clearly French, things were moving in an unusual direction of an identity emerging for all the peoples of Catholic Southern Europe. This played right into the hands of the anti-Catholic propagandists in America and England. But it also stuck a finger in the eye of the Nordreich and its desire to form a pan-ethnic upstart empire. Wilhelm might be the Kaiser in the North, but Napoleon III would be the Caesar of Europa.

One of the many proposed flags for the pan-European Bonapartist superstate

Another proposed flag for the potential future Empire of Europa​

Another issue of the time was the American presence in Greenland. This was an obvious move to create a choke-point to strangle Canada and Quebec if war came. This was unacceptable. Napoleon ordered the Union to remove its ships and men from Greenland and in return he would recognize the new new nation as a neutral power, just as he had with Mexico. He also got the Nordreich on board to restore balance to the Pax Napoleonica, as it didn't want to see Greenland be occupied by France either in the event of a stupid war that the Union would certainly lose. Prussia didn't hate the Union, but they also saw their ships in Greenland as obvious imperialism. Tensions were high for a while, but Napoleon was Caesar and he called the upstart Union's bluff, and their ships left Greenland waters in 1846, having only been there for a few months.

Napoleon II was worried his fair-handed dealings with friend and foe would make him look weak to his people, so he knew he had to crack the whip and go on the offensive. French and Irish troops moved into Wales and Scotland in late 1846, ending any possibility of a reunified Britain. A mass wave of arrests occurred in Wales, and a leading pro-English political party found itself behind bars. In Europe proper, he also signed the Anti-Slavery Law, ending slavery in France and its holdings forever. This caused a further rift between the Empire and the Southron nations. From that point on, the Empire announced it would transform the Continental System idea into the World System, policing the waves for slave traders. During the Balkan Wars, Napoleon II also applied the System to the Ottoman Empire for its insane levels of brutality and murder. Despite his own rather dubious feelings on liberty, Caesar was largely responsible for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in Europe and ending Mediterranean piracy and slavery from North Africa forever. This was the foundation of the French colonial empire in North Africa, marked out since the Congress of Berlin years before. Caesar's goal was to eventually take Egypt and complete his father's dream. This would lead to the Franco-Ottoman War of the 1850s, which would show the world that Caesar Napoleon II was not a man to be trifled with. Not only would he seek to take Egypt, but he would take the Holy Land itself. Meanwhile, Russia would makes moves toward Istanbul and heighten tensions between the Czar and Caesar....

List of Bonaparte-Hapsburg Leaders of the 1840s-1850s:

• Napoleon II, (born 1811) Caesar of the United Empire of France and Spain, Emperor of the United Empire of Brazil and Rio de la Plata, Lord of Mann and the Channel Isles, Mediator of the Helvetic Confederation, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine
  
• Napoleon III, (born 1839) Prince Imperial of the United Empire of Europa, Prince Imperial of the United Empire of Brazil and Rio de la Plata, Prince Imperial of the Empire of Austria-Hungary, Prince of Bohemia, Duke of Reichstadt, Prince of Bombay
• Francis Joseph I (Franz Josef I), (born 1830) High King of the Confederation of the Rhine
• Massimiliano I, (born 1832) King of Italy, Count of Vienna
• Charles Louis I, (born 1833) King of Andorra
• Zénaïde I, (born 1801 died 1854) Queen of the Two Sicilies
• Carlotta I, (born 1824) Queen of the Two Sicilies
• Dominic I, (born 1798) King of Ireland
• Louis I, (born 1778 died 1846) King of Holland
• Louis Napoleon I, (born 1808) King of Holland
• Karl I, (born 1786 died 1858) Grand Duke of Baden (married to Princess Stéphanie, daughter of Napoleon I)
• Karl Napoleon I, (born 1813) Grand Duke of Baden
• Elisa Napoleona (born 1806) Princess of Lucca and Piombino

High King Francis Joseph I (Hoher Koenig Franz Josef I) of the Rheinbund

King Massimiliano I of the Kingdom of Italy

King Charles Louis I of Andorra

Queen Zénaïde I of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

Queen Carlotta I of the Two Sicilies

Dominic I, King of Ireland

Louis I of Holland

Louis Napoleon I of Holland

Grand Duke Karl I of Baden

Grand Duke Karl Napoleon I of Baden

Princess Elisa Napoleona I of Lucca and Piombino

​

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 31
A MEETING IN PHILADELPHIA

President Lincoln inspecting the officer corps circa 1855 (Wyatt Jenkins can be seen directly behind Lincoln)​

The day was August 29, 1855. As four Carolinian diplomats walked down the hall of the Republican Union Capitol Building, their heels echoed off the red-and-gold papered walls and the heavily-polished oak floors. Union officers saluted as they passed. Ahead of them down the hall was the Union War Room, heart of the Union Army. An officer in a gold coat with blue trim, a soldier of the Republican Guard that staffed the Capitol, opened the door and bowed slightly to his Southron counterparts. Well-trained, he hid own personal disgust at the Southron boots trampling on his hallowed halls.

Leading the Southron diplomats was Wade Hampton III, a bushy-bearded 32 year-old Lieutenant General in the Carolinian Army and bear of a man. Behind him was Brigadier General Gabriel J. Rains, a man known for his resplendent mustache and impeccable dress as well as his bravery as a young soldier in the Cuba War. Also in their group was Brigadier General Lucius Worth II, a balding and rather uninteresting son of a soldier's soldier son, and Wendell P. Ambrose, a civilian and leading member of the Confederation of the Carolinas' House of Citizens. Ambrose's gaunt face and gray hair was framed by his impossibly high and stiff white collar. They were all here to negotiate with the Union hierarchy and secure the Confederation's future on the continent. Hampton III just hoped it would go smoothly and that none of these men would cause a scene.

The Union officer that had been sent to deal with the Confederation diplomats, Field Marshal Wyatt Jenkins, a wiry fellow with a rare combination of cold green eyes and sandy blonde hair, sat at a massive desk carved out of the finest mahogany. Jenkins lit up a cigar and then stood up and saluted the diplomats as they stood before him on a massive red rug covering the marble floor below. "Gentlemen, all hail our Christian friends in the Confederation! It is an honor to meet you all. I am Field Marshal Wyatt Jenkins, Supreme Commander of the Union Army Group I and serving at the pleasure of our President Lincoln and the People of the Republican Union as ambassador to you gentlemen today. What matters of import may we discuss today? I trust your travel was pleasant?"

Hampton III nodded and saluted back, clicking the heels of his boots together snappily. "Lieutenant General Wade Hampton III, at your service. These fine fellows with are Brigadier General Rains, Hero of the War of Virginian Aggression, Brigadier General Lucius Worth II, and House Citizen Wendell Payton Ambrose, an orator of great renown. Our travels were pleasant, yes, and your infrastructure is impressive. Upon behalf of my nation, I salute your people's handiwork. We have come to discuss the situation in Virginia and the imminent demise of Potentate Taylor."

Jenkins took a slow drag from his cigar as he sat back down in his leather chair behind the desk. He propped his boots up and looked off to the corner of the room and motioned for his butler to bring drinks. The Irish butler, a red-haired fellow with a scar across his face, quickly rolled a brass cart over and began pouring drinks for everyone present. "Thank you, O'Hara, that will be all," Jenkins said, a tad over-politely to the Inferior servant. The servant hurried away with the empty cart, leaving the bottle of brandy on the desk. "Oh, I know what you all are thinking," Jenkins said slyly with a hint of a smile forming from his thin lips. "O'Hara knows his place. And he gets paid. Don't get me started on your darkies down southaways."

The Confederation delegation just stared at Jenkins until Hampton III finally spoke again. He took a sip from his drink and said, "Back on topic, Zachary Taylor doesn't have long to live. Our reports are saying he has fallen very ill after eating contaminated food. They give him two weeks tops."

Jenkins grew more thoughtful and took another drag from his cigar, replying, "So we've heard. Son of a bitch needs to hurry up and die. No one outside of Virginia can stand his guts. We just wonder who the replacement will be."

Ambrose spoke up now in an unpleasant tone. "We have received reports he is ordering Field Marshal Early to be the next Potentate of the Republic."

Jenkins gasped and snuffed out his cigar as he leaned forward, wanting to know more. "Early? Jubal Early? That man makes us look like pacifists. The nutter has been saying eventually he'll unite the South under the Star and Bars. He's a madman."

Hampton III replied, "Yes. Virginia's economy has been in a rough patch ever since Caesar abolished slavery internationally. Their economic aid from Paris has ceased, even to my country. The Confederation fears he may attempt to build up the Virginian military and invade the Confederation and destroy us to grow his Republic and eventually unite with Georgia into a grand Confederacy of the South. This cannot stand. We are willing to step outside of our usual comfort zones with the Union and draw up plans for a mutual defense from our enemies."

"General Hampton," Jenkins said, shrugging his shoulders, "Early is a far graver threat to the Confederation than to the Union. If war came, without French help the Virginians would be crushed by my fair Union. We have no doubts. The War Department has run exercise after exercise, and every situation we could think of we still come out on top."

"Ah! But!" exclaimed Hampton, now raising a finger up, ready to prove a point and shock Jenkins. Smiling slightly in an almost evil way, he said, "The Union has a long-standing problem with Georgia not following the terms of the Louisiana Accords. Many say it is only a matter of time before armed conflict breaks out in the area between your country and Georgia."

Jenkins nodded and said, "This is true. If I had an silver eagle for every Yankee ship the Georgian dogs have harassed, I would be a wealthy man indeed. But anyway, what does this have to do with Virginia?"

Brigadier General Rains stood up and unfurled a map on the desk. Excitedly, he said, "The people of the Confederation feel fenced in by Virginia and its allies. This encirclement stretches from Maryland to Texas. Since the War of Virginian Aggression, what y'all Yankees would call the 'Cuba War,' our people and our culture have been worked into a damn corner. The Vulture of the Confederation needs to spread its wings once more, and it may take help from the Union Eagle." He pointed a finger on the map to the Province of Boone. "This is West Carolina, and I don't give a damn in hell what the Virginian sumbitches call it. It ain't Boone anymore than New York is France. This is rightfully Confederation soil. We fought a war against Virginian imperialism and our defeat spelled Virginian control over over West Carolina and our link to the Mississippi, caused the death of our beloved Chancellor Jackson, and was and still is a disgrace to our glorious nation. If an event should trigger war between the Republican Union and Georgia, Virginia would likely come to its aid. Almost certainly, in fact. Now, if the Confederation is given weapons and supplies, we can restore our armed forces and we shall retake West Carolina if a war breaks out in North America."

Jenkins scratched at his cleft chin and his eyes gazed at the map. "So what you are proposing is we shall give you equipment and materiel to your nation for free?"

Hampton III spoke back up, "No, sir. We would be happy to compensate your country after a glorious victory. You would be paid back every penny and you could name a tax on Confederation goods traversing the Mississippi. We want West Carolina back and we want our neighbors humiliated. The balance needs to be restored. The Confederation can't restore the balance on its own. We need help. Even if it means turning to the Union. We only ask for weapons, some supplies you can spare, and a promise of non-aggression. You may consider this a formal offer from the Confederation government and from our Chancellor Alexander Peterson."

The Union commander asked another good question, "But what of Maryland?"

Hampton III shrugged and said, "It is but a small nation-state, almost entirely reliant on Virginia for its continued existence. Since the souring of relations with the Bonapartes and Caesar's ongoing hijinks in Africa and the Holy Land, Virginia is Maryland's only hope. My suggestion would be to worry about Virginia first and foremost. If you can break Virginia, I would say an amiable end to this future war would be the Confederation flag flying over West Carolina and the Union taking the rest of Louisiana and possibly Westsylvania. The Georgian and Virginian dogs would pay dearly indeed. If you agree to this strategy, we can promise you we will be victorious in the South. Can the Union be victorious in the North?"

Jenkins stood up and raised a glass of brandy, saying, "Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure. I shall look forward to seeing where this meeting shall take us. Salutations!" They all took a drink."

Lucius Worth sat his drink on the desk and pointed to a portrait of a man who looked almost exactly like a young version of Jenkins, but some features were different. "Who is that young lad in the painting, Field Marshal Jenkins?"

The Union General took a slow sip from his brandy and then sat it down gently. "That... that is my dear departed big brother Elroy, Martyr of the Union. First soldier to die during the Invasion of Vermont. I do my job, I chose this career, all because of him. I wanted to be just like him as a lad and decided I wanted to be a soldier. Now here I am, a General of the Army and I still feel as if he is a better man than me. You know, gentlemen, sometimes I question everything. Some days I wish to hug my brother once more. Some days I wish I sold shoes. But then I remember what this is all about. God and Country. God and Country, gentlemen. This isn't about me, or you, or my brother Elroy, this is about a divine destiny. This is about fate. For all our bluster and bravado and sword-waving, it is God who controls events. I know you Southrons don't believe as we do, but there's a shared heritage. If you got rid of your slaves there would hardly be differences at all. At any rate, before you leave, please join me for a minute of silent prayer if you would."

The Carolinians were rather shocked at how cordial and respectful Jenkins seemed. Nodding, they all bowed their heads and said their prayers. While it would take hours more of planning and paperwork, the Union-Confederation Non-Aggression Pact would be signed in secret a week later. The stage was set and the barrel of the cannon was loaded. All that was left was the spark which would set off the fuse. That spark would come in 1858, when Georgian patrol boats would seize an Old Kinderhook trade ship and create an international incident that would escalate into the Great American War....

 

[Napoleon53]

Abraham Aaron Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in Vincennes, Iowai. His paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln, participated in the Crawfordite coup against Adams and Hamilton and for his trouble was granted some property in Knox County, Iowai. Ironically, Captain Lincoln soon helped to exterminate any remaining members of the Iowai (sometimes spelled "Iowa" tribes) in the west. Known as "Captain Indian Killer," Lincoln was a vicious and brutal military man, soon promoting to general following the Iowai War. General Lincoln returned home to find his hometown of Vincennes in Knox County had been renamed to Lincolnburg in his honor by the state government. Lincoln soon settled down into quiet retirement and operated a wagon and carriage business, as well as a lumber mill.

Fate was not through with General Lincoln, however, as at age 68 he reenlisted with the Union Army for the War of 1812. His 38 year-old son Thomas, now proud father to Abraham Aaron Lincoln, also joined up. Together, they fought through most of the bloody conflict and remained in one piece. However, luck would run out in the last month of the war when Thomas was killed by a Canadian ambush near Quebec, ironically on the Plains of Abraham. General Lincoln returned home to Lincolnburg and buried his son. With Thomas's wife Nancy falling ill and dying at a young age just a year later, the orphaned A. A. Lincoln, sometimes nicknamed "Double A" to distinguish him from his grandfather, was taken in by the aging General Lincoln.

General Abraham Lincoln departs for the War of 1812​

It was A. A.'s grandfather that would instill in him a value of honesty and duty, as well as a hatred of Catholics and foreigners who had robbed him of his father. In a way, A. A. also viewed the "vast Papist horde" as responsible for his mother's death as well, which he saw as caused by her never-ending sorrow. A. A. went to work for his grandfather's lumber mill when he became a teen, growing to gargantuan proportions and becoming strong as an ox. He was well known for his violent and mean streak, as well as his bluntness in conversation, so General Lincoln shipped the boy off to the Philadelphia Military Academy in 1824. General Lincoln also knew he was now 80 and could die at any time, and desperately wanted a capable heir to manage his legacy and the Lincolnburg Estate and its surrounding farms and businesses. When A. A. arrived at the Academy, he was ceaselessly mocked for his "country bumpkin" persona, with many calling him "Double Dolt." Double A would soon put an end to their mockery however, when he soared to the top of his classes after arguing with and killing fellow classmate and Vermont immigrant Stephen Douglas, a younger but bullying classmate whom Lincoln saw as a detestable foreigner. When asked later about the killing, Lincoln said, "Douglas ceaselessly mocked me for my accent and my general existence, and so I turned around and told him the Green Mountain Republic never birthed anything but slithering snakes and rapists and papists. So he slapped me in the face. So I punched him in the mouth. He never got up." PMA was originally going to cut Lincoln loose, but decided to keep him when he suddenly became a legend on campus for killing his classmate in the so-called "Lincoln-Douglas Debate."

Now placed in charge of his regiment on campus, an 18 year-old Lincoln was now a chiseled and proper young Yankee who had forced himself to lose his "hickerbilly" accent and had adopted the ways of the East. It was 1824, and the young man found himself on trip back to Knox County to pay his final respects to his grandfather, who lay dying of old age. Upon his arrival at the General's bedside, his grandfather hugged him and told him he was proud of his "Second Son." Double A cried for one of the only times in recorded history and entombed his war-hero and Indian-killing grandfather in the family crypt on June 4, 1824.

Double A returned to the Philadelphia Military Academy a changed man, and now the owner of a very wealthy estate. It was actually the Lincoln Estate which had financed a young Charles Goodyear when he launched his Enterprises, and Goodyear and Lincoln got along quite famously. When Lincoln officially entered the Union Army at the rank of Captain in 1825, the young man turned over control of his estate's funds to Goodyear to manage. When the return came back in on his investment, A. A. was wealthier than he had ever imagined. Lincolnburg became a boomtown and the finest architecture and styles were used in new buildings. In 1830, Lincoln sold his carriage business to Goodyear in exchange for a 2 percent share in Goodyear Enterprises.

In 1832, Lincoln was brought up for active duty to fight in the Subjugation of Vermont, becoming one of General Frankin Pierce's aide-de-camps. His legendary prowess in battle solidified him as an able commander and master of morale, quickly becoming one of the most popular officers in the army. It was this first taste of popularity that made him have political ambitions. He returned home from the war and shifted to reserve duty. Then he once again rode to the East, studying political science and law at Benedict Arnold University of Boston and leaving after 8 years as a professor. In 1843, Professor Lincoln soon was hitting it off with a local English immigrant on campus named Charles Darwin, a zoologist who claimed to have discovered the "Science of Natural Selection." This "Science" stated that God created some creatures inherently superior to other creatures and that those "Betters" were destined to vanquish the "Inferiors" and claim dominion over the earth. A hitherto irreligious Lincoln thought this was genius and quickly came around to Scientific Marxism and was baptized into the American Fundamentalist Christian Church. Darwin would publish his book, The Science of Natural Selection, in 1850, and dedicated it to Lincoln and their "spirited debates and good times at Benedict Arnold University of Boston." Interestingly, the two men were also born on the same day in 1809.

A 34 year-old A. A. Lincoln sits the feet of Reverend Milo Miles in England, 1844​

Now a religious radical and super-patriot, Lincoln joined a Fundamentalist Volunteer Brigade under Reverend Milo Miles, fighting for neither pay nor reward--simply out of duty to God and Country, and in 1844 participated in the aftermath of the English revolution and the liberation of Bergen and Haugesund, Norway, from Danish control. When he returned home to America, he was appointed Dean of Benedict Arnold University of Boston, the youngest man to ever hold the position. Lincoln could have been done there and retired himself from the public eye and a life of luxury. But it was not in him to become soft or complacent. Instead, he turned himself to the growing problems within the Union itself. He viewed the Consular system of government as useless and inefficient. He believed in the Strong Man Theory, a similar theory to Darwin's that had been experiencing equal growth and would later merge into one "Science." Lincoln used his popularity and status to publish Why We Need a President Washington Again, a series of letters in the Boston Herald which called for a return of the Presidency.

"Beavers build houses; but they build them in nowise differently, or better now, than they did, five thousand years ago. Ants and honey bees provide food for winter, but just in the same way they did as when Solomon referred the sluggard to them as patterns of prudence. Man is not the only animal who labors; but he is the only one who improves his workmanship. We improved as a nation when Crawford hanged the traitors Adams and Hamilton. But under the current consular system we have been driven to apathy and weakness. The consular system is a creation of the Enlightenment which has outlived its usefulness. This type of weakness is what caused the corrupt Federalists to seize power in the first place. It is obvious war will come with our neighbors to the South. In the face of an all-out war, a total war, our system would cripple us and only aid our enemies in their devilish romps through our hallowed fields. I would have us remember George Washington, a true Patriot-Saint and Christian soldier, as well as the only decent Commander-in-Chief we have ever had. This bare-bones government is already straining under our recent territorial expansion, and surely shall not last much longer. We need a return of the Executive branch with a power to execute. We need to be able to grab our problems head-on and deal with them in a swift and efficient way. That is why I call for a restoration of the Presidency. While Washington is mouldering in his grave, we must not forget what he did, nor must we allow his memory to be forgotten. Rather, it is for the living to be dedicated to Washington's unfinished work. The Union needs a strong leader, a President, who shall captain our ship of state through the troubled waters of blood and iron that the future will bring. For it is by blood and iron under a strong leader that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the People, by the People, and for the People shall not perish from the earth."

- Abraham Aaron Lincoln, Dean of Benedict Arnold University of Boston, 1847

The Letters made Lincoln an overnight political celebrity, with thousands of veterans and hard-core patriots rallying under his cause to restore America to glory and bring it one step closer to fulfilling its manifest destiny. Soon, he found himself creating his own political party, the Second Sons of Liberty, of which he was "Commander." The Second Sons headquartered themselves in Boston for a period of time, but Lincoln soon relocated them to Philadelphia to better participate and make an impact in government affairs. There were also many hardline Republicans who bitterly fought against an idea of a return of the Presidency and hated Lincoln. Street battles ensued between the Second Sons and the Radical Republicans, and RUMP usually had to be brought in to put down the violence.

A. A. Lincoln addressing his followers, 1848​

First Chief Consuls of the Republican Union:

Willard Crawford (Republican-NH) (1801-1807)
Aaron Burr II (Republican-NY) (1807-1813)
Oliver Walcott Jr. (Republican-CT) (1813-1819)
Daniel D. Tompkins (Republican-NY) (1819-1825)
Richard Rush (Centrist-PA) (1825-1831)
Lewis Cass (Republican-IW) (1831-1837)
Aaron Burr Peyton (Centrist-NJ) (1837-1843)
John P. Hale (Republican-NH) (1843-1849)

Second Chief Consuls of the Republican Union:

Aaron Burr II (Republican-NY) (1801-1807)
George Clymer (Republican-PA) (1807-1813)
Joseph Bloomfield (Republican-NJ) (1813-1819)
James Fenner (Republican-RI) (1819-1825)
John Samuel Peters (Republican-CN) (1825-1831)
Francis Granger (Republican-NY) (1831-1837)
Zachary Gibbs (Centrist-PA) (1837-1843)
Levi Woodbury (Republican-NH) (1843-1849)
​

As Lincoln's Second Sons grew to be a powerhouse across the nation, he realized he would be the one to assume the Presidency or no one would ever be able to. Fiery torch-lit rallies foreshadowed those later held by the Manifest Destiny Party and intimidated many of the quieter voices of dissent into submission. In 1849, the situation was coming to a head. There was a real risk of civil war as First Chief Consul John P. Hale and Second Chief Consul Levi Woodbury considered deploying the military to arrest the Second Sons and Lincoln himself. This was not to be, however, as the military was, in large, very supportive of Lincoln and very keen on the Strong Man Theory. Even the AFC Church began to preach that A. A. Lincoln was "A giant, a titan of freedom, sent by God in our time of need to lead us to our Destiny." Many who at first feared a return of an "imperial presidency" were also won over by arguments made that, "Unlike the Federalists, the Second Sons of Liberty are devout Christians and Patriots who seek to gird the Union's loins for the future." By the end of the year, Hale and Woodbury could see there was no hope in trying to fight the wave of Lincolnism and resigned from their positions. The now quite unpopular duo would eventually die in obscurity. The rest of the body of the Union government announced that there would be an election for the Presidency. This did not sit well with many, however, who already knew Lincoln would win hands-down.

Instead, Lincoln and his followers marched on the capitol and assumed power. Addressing concerns of him becoming a dictator, Lincoln, now sporting a famous beard, said, "I am not crowning myself king. I am assuming the Presidency during a time of national crisis and with our future in doubt. With tensions with the South at an all-time high, we cannot allow them to gain the upper hand by attacking us when we are quite literally leaderless." The Second Sons' famous Liberty Bell flag was draped from the capitol building and thousands celebrated in the street as Lincoln marched in to assume command as the Republican Union's first President. Quickly, he and his cabinet drew up a new Union Constitution, which created three branches of government. The first branch, the Executive Branch, held most of the power. The President was to be President for four years and could run for reelection as many times as he chose (the survival of the fittest that Darwin preached was a huge influence on not installing term limits). The President could make war and peace, manage trade agreements, and draft policy. The second branch, the Legislative Branch, consisted of the National Assembly, a congress of "Assemblymen" which could create taxes, implement policy, and manage voting rights. The third and final branch was the Judicial Branch, which consisted of the Supreme Court and its six Judges installed for life by the President. Any matters of dispute as to laws and treaties could be decided upon by the Court. If the six of them were tied, the President would cast the deciding vote. In addition to these branches, the old position of State Governor was restored, finally ending the State Consuls and the consular system forever (although the currently-serving State Consuls were allowed to remain in power as Governors until the next election).

The Union military swears loyalty to President Lincoln, 1849​

This new system was obviously very centered on the powers of the President, with the Supreme Court essentially his rubber-stamp and the Assembly his lackies. This new constitution, however, did take a cue from the Old Republic by guaranteeing freedom of religion and the right to bear arms. The right to bear arms was held highly by the Second Sons and their minutemen persona, and the freedom of religion was an easy addition to soothe worried Protestants and Jews that the AFC was willing to coexist. While this technically legalized even Catholicism on a national level, it said nothing about forcing Catholics or other beliefs into ghettos or reeducation camps. The starving factory worker being beaten for his beliefs was free to believe them and even teach them to others, but it did not mean he would be safe. It was a slick bit of political maneuvering that adjusted America's image abroad a bit.

Now, with America solidly behind its new President Lincoln, it stood on the cusp of war. Although it would still be eight years until the beginning of the Great American War, Lincoln had much to do and was determined to modernize the military and make sure the Union was in the best position he could possibly put it in. His "Minutemen," his core of elite followers, also acted a secret police of sorts, rounding up Radical Republicans who plotted his assassination or overthrow.

It was with these very plots of assassination in mind that Lincoln chose his first Vice President, New York legend Hamilton Fish. Fish was a fairly bland, quiet man of not much charm, but he was also a staunch supporter of Lincoln's policies and Lincoln knew that if something were to happen to himself, Fish would fight like hell to follow his policies and ideals.

Vice President Hamilton Fish​

Although Lincoln was a dictator in everything but name, it could be argued he wasn't seeking to be one, as he really did seek to preserve the Union and wisely predicted that war was coming with the South. If America had remained under the Consular System, it likely would have experienced massive setbacks in the war and likely a military coup. However, it could also be argued he wanted war with the South, as did many of the Second Sons, and his Presidency made the South even more fearful and aggressive to the Union. In the end, when the war came in 1858, it catapulted Honest Double A to a third term.

Statue of A. A. Lincoln in the Second Sons of Liberty Headquarters, downtown Philadelphia

Flag of the Second Sons of Liberty​

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 32
CAESAR'S CRUSADE

Caesar Napoleon II​

"What is a man's goal who rules half the globe? What more could he possibly want in life? Surely, he could run himself ragged just keeping up on the day-to-day running of his masterpiece. But the masterpiece is not finished until the painter is content. If you stop setting new goals or a grand final goal for yourself, complacency will take its place. You will grow fat and old and die a miserable man, unable to take your riches with you. A ruler who truly seeks to fulfill his destiny, to be the actual master of his destiny, knows to never quit until your masterpiece is truly complete. My father was unable to hold Egypt, something which forever humiliated him. Now, as I stand at the face of the Sphinx, my boots upon the dusty bones of the Pharaohs of old, I am fulfilling not just my destiny, but my father's. A century of dreams realized in an instant. And as I gaze at the pyramids, the bodies of my enemies strewn before me all the way to Jerusalem, the Golden Eagle raised over Suez, I know I can die in peace. I am fulfilled. My masterpiece is finished. I am Caesar, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Pharaoh of Pharaohs, Protector of the Holy Land. And now I am complete. Long live the Empire."

- Caesar Napoleon II

It was September, 1855. As Napoleon II stood on the observation deck of his flagship, the Triomphe, gazing out to sea, the sight of the Palestinian coast caught his eye through the early morning fog. It was humid and miserable, but the graying Caesar was a happy man. This was to be the final triumph of his lifetime. His biggest war ever, and hopefully his biggest prize. Without announcing hostilities or even declaring war, Caesar had mustered his French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, and Polish soldiers together in the Mediterranean for "military exercises" near Malta. In reality, Malta was a staging ground for an all-out assault upon the decrepit Ottoman Empire. The weak Muslim caliphate had long been struggling to continue ruling over its disparate peoples and lands and had recently only reluctantly granted independence to the Balkan nations. Now, with all of Europe's ire raised over the Sultan Abdul Mejid's massacres and genocides, it was the opportune moment to lash out and strike.

It had been Napoleon's wish to have the Balkan nations ally with his empire and take Istanbul. However, the Balkan nations feared French domination and influence far too much to enter Caesar's Imperial Sphere. Instead, the nations of South-Eastern Europe would find out when everyone else did of the French assault on Turkish dominions. At this same time, hundreds of miles away, a second Imperial fleet was racing toward Egypt on orders to sack Alexandria and Cairo. Caesar hoped a two-pronged attack would cause enough tumult to trigger unrest and revolution in Istanbul, but just for good measure he had a small fleet headed to the Ottoman capital to barrage the city and make it think a land invasion was imminent. Caesar cared little for Istanbul, as that was more strategic to Orthodox Christians. What he wanted was Alexandria, Cairo, Suez, Damascus, and Jerusalem to be under his control. The French emperor was a very utilitarian man, and he saw the difference between strategically important must-have territories and what could be passed on or cut loose to benefit the rest of the Empire. Though he had been mocked for years for selling Louisiana and other deals of the sort, he had all this time been preparing for the ultimate victory that would make the world tremble at his power. Funds had been built up under the guise of various pork-barrel projects, but in reality Caesar was routing it all toward building up the strength to absolutely decimate the Ottomans and fulfill his father's dreams of taking the Holy Land.

So it all began on that morning of September 12, 1855, as the first French guns opened up on Turkish shore defenses on the Gaza coast. The shocked and surprised soldiers manning the forts were utterly decimated by the barrage and before long thousands of Imperial troops were landing on the shore, routing the Turks utterly as they began a long retreat to Jerusalem. When Caesar stepped ashore, he took a deep breath and thought of his father. This was how it felt to truly stun his enemies. To see the fear and pandemonium sweep through the enemy ranks as the Imperial Guard marched forward, bayonets fixed. This was victory. He dispatched messengers to spread the word that Jerusalem would be taken in short order, and that quarter would be given if requested. For Caesar wished an amiable end to the war, with Christians, Jews, and Muslims living side-by-side.

When the Sultan received word by telegram that the Holy Land and Egypt were under assault, he was furious and terrified. He knew of his own precarious position and how fragile the Ottoman Empire was. He knew the murmurs in the army about deposing him and installing a new leader. He had executed and exiled thousands in recent years just to make sure he didn't end up dead in a gutter. His horror was expounded greatly when he sent orders for the Turkish forces on Cyprus to assault the European forces on the coast of Palestine. Instead of a glorious assault in his name, he discovered that an Italian fleet had already invaded Cyprus and the garrisons there had surrendered with barely a shot. It was from Malta to Cyprus Napoleon had actually originally gone, overwhelming the Turkish island with sheer numbers and cutting off communication with Istanbul. From there, that was where the fleet had split up, with a secondary force under the half-Spanish, half-Bavarian Field Marshal Leopold Ferdinand Gomez storming the beaches of Egypt. In Egypt, the resistance was more extreme from the Turkish army, but after news spread that the Holy Land was also under siege, cutting them off from reinforcements, a gradual end came to the slaughter. At this point, Caesar was only a month into his war, and everything was going perfectly. Though it held out till late January, Cairo fell. Some legions of pro-Imperial Egyptians flocked to Gomez to fight against their former Turkish masters with promises of a degree of self-governance and liberty by Caesar. Algeria, Libya, and the rest of the North African coast under Turkish rule began to fall into anarchy, and Caesar would later move into these lands as well, securing his positions as laid out in the World Congress agreement with Prussia on colonization of Africa.

Imperial troops break through into Cairo, December 20, 1855

Imperial chasseurs battle Turkish defenders in Palestine
​

It was at this point, around the beginning of 1856, that things began to get really... interesting. Sensing Turkish collapse was at hand, the Alexander of Russia, Victoria's husband and now finally Tsar after the passing of his father Nicholas I, united with Tsar Timotei of Bulgaria and King Simeon I of Romania into the "League of Three Tsars." This massive alliance smashed into Turkey from the north and west. In March, rapid mobilization by the Bulgarian army made it the first to invade Turkish homeland soil, besieging the western European side of , and the Russian Black Sea Fleet brought up the firepower to begin picking up where Napoleon's diversionary siege cannons had left off a month prior. Before long, Greece, under its bombastic and charismatic Greek Orthodox King Lavrentios I, was up in arms over the obvious attack to retake Constantinople, which it saw as rightfully Greek. War was threatened, but Greece just could not find anyone willing to join it against its Slavic neighbors. These lingering hatreds would eventually boil over years down the line.

Destruction of the Turkish Black Sea Fleet by the Russian Imperial Navy

Turkish prisoners under guard by an Imperial soldier

Imperial troops slaughter a Turkish formation in Syria

The Imperial Banner is raised over Jerusalem ​

By the spring, Jerusalem was falling despite the best attempts by its defenders to hold. There were no reinforcements inbound. To the east, the Mamluks of Iraq were in open revolt, finally overthrowing their overlords and establishing the Kingdom of Iraq and asking for Caesar's good will. Caesar indeed backed the Mamluks that had fought his father years before and they came to his aide, smashing into eastern Palestine and butchering the Turkish garrisons there. The Armenian people also backed the invasion and took up arms against the Caliphate. On April 10, 1856, Caesar and his generals and marshals rode into Jerusalem to accept the surrender of the remaining garrison there. At the Dome of the Rock, Caesar Napoleon II and his officers took communion. From there, just as his father had always done during his conquests, he began dividing up the map of the Middle East. He established the Kingdom of Egypt, with himself as Pharaoh, and also created the Grand Realm of the Levant, with its capital in Jerusalem and himself as figurehead monarch "Grand Protector of the Realm" and the Grand Council of the Realm deciding most political matters, though firmly within French orbit.

One of the main unknown factors was how much Christianity would factor into the governance of the territories. These questions were answered when Napoleon recreated the Knights of Jerusalem, with himself as headmaster and several of his best generals as the first to be titled "Knights of Jerusalem, Defenders of the Grand Realm of the Levant, Servants of Empire, Pope, and Christ." Napoleon also exerted his power as the "one true protector of Christians in the Holy Land." This absolutely infuriated the Muslim population and triggered mass rioting in the captured cities, as well as souring relations with Iraq. It also triggered anger from the Republican Union, Prussia, and Russia, who started to see the war as a new crusade to set up Catholic dominance and control over the Holy Land. Almost immediately, the League of Tsars protested this action, claiming Orthodox Christians had just as much right to claim protection of the Christian minorities as anyone else and also sought supremacy in Jerusalem. However, they played into Napoleon II's hands, as he knew the League was far too busy fighting in Anatolia to do anything. Also, Persia in the east was a potential foe for Russia, so it was not about to get involved in three wars at once. Napoleon had had ambitions both of Catholic grandeur but also of the religious freedom his father so championed. However, he was as much a Hapsburg as a Bonaparte, and the conservative Catholic majority of his nation wanted a return of Catholic rule in the Levant.

Now, in the waning months of 1856, with all of the Levant under Imperial control and Istanbul under siege, the Ottoman Empire collapsed. On November 14, 1856, the Orthodox forces broke through into Istanbul proper, guns blazing and swords waving, the banners of three Tsars going on before them. Wave after wave of infantry came ashore, butchering whatever defenders that had stayed behind and shouting battle cries of "God is with the Tsars!" and "Constantinople will be Christian forever!" More than a few men were charging forward remembering the atrocities the Caliphate had visited upon their homelands, and it was with those memories burning bright they began to butcher thousands of Turks in what is known as the "Rape of Istanbul." Though it had been centuries since Byzantium had fallen, in the hearts and minds of the Orthodox Europeans the Muslims before them were just as responsible as ever. Though some officers and commanders attempted to halt the widespread looting and rape, they simply lost control. Some 50,000 troops ran through the city, burning, killing, and raping. The Sultan himself was apprehended by Russian ships trying to escape into Anatolia. He was taken into custody but killed himself with his own dagger before he could be stopped. The rest of the Sultan's family was rounded up and thrown into the sea, food for the fish. The utter decimation and carnage inflicted on Istanbul stood in sharp contrast to Napoleon's invasion to the south, and it is considered to be the first genocide of the modern era. In Anatolia, radical Islamists proclaimed the Islamic Republic of Turkey and vowed revenge on the West.

Abdul Mejid, last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1823 - d. 1856)​

To largely counteract the creation of the Levant, the League of Tsars signed the Treaty of Constantinople on January 1, 1857. This document secured Constantinople as an independent but Orthodox state under control of the Three Viceroys, one representing the interests of each nation in the League. This infuriated Greece even more, but again it was forced to back down. It cannot be overstated how bloodsoaked this conquest was, with thousands of civilians slaughtered en masse by the "liberators." The rage and anger felt by the Turks would simply fuel a never-ending fire of hatred that would never go out and would see the emergence of the radical Islamic Sons of Turkey movement at the Turn of the Century.

To the South, Caesar's alliance with the Iraqis had soured. His Catholicism on full display, rebellion broke out all across his new territories. He regrouped his armies once more and marched south from Lebanon, hanging any traitors along the way and dispersing rebellious mobs with cannon fire. He wanted peace, and he wanted cooperation, but the Empire would crush any anarchists or Turkish loyalists it came across. As the Muslim majorities recoiled at his latest moves, some began to back down, realizing that his victory was inevitable. But others did not. The Egyptians, who had fought and died under Caesar's banner under promises of self-governance, rebelled once he actually crowned himself Pharaoh in mid-1857. Alexandria and Cairo rose up tried to throw out their occupiers. Field Marshal Gomez was reaching a breaking point when Caesar came down from Palestine and slaughtered the Egyptians by the droves. Martial law was declared and Gomez was set up as the Chancellor of Egypt. Imperial Foreign Minister Charles de La Valette was by this point begging Napoleon II to return to Europe to handle affairs and to get out of harm's way. Caesar did so, but not before finally standing at the site of the Great Pyramids of Giza and delivering his famous speech to his men. Thousands more gathered in Alexandria to say goodbye to their beloved leader and commander. And with that, he was off to Europe once more.

Field Marshal Leopold Ferdinand Gomez, Chancellor of Egypt​

In late 1857, despite the absence of an actual recognized or functioning Turkish government, the League of the Three Tsars proclaimed the end of formal hostilities. Caesar stated to the press that no legitimate Turkish government existed, so there was no need for a peace treaty. This all had been by far the bloodiest fighting in history since the end of the Great Wars of the Empire. Some historians classify the Franco-Ottoman War and the League of Tsars-Ottoman War as the same war, and even call it the "10th Crusade," but that is possibly hyperbole. What is certain is that it rocked the entire world and especially the Middle East, laying the groundwork for future nation-states and wars. It saw the complete collapse of the ancient Ottoman Empire, saw Caesar's domination over North Africa and the Holy Land, gave birth to the Kingdom of Iraq, the Grand Realm of the Levant, and the Viceroyalty of Istanbul. Many say this was the conclusive end of the Pax Napoleonica and if there was any doubt that the era of peace was over, then what would happen the next year in New Orleans would put that question to bed once and for all....

Flag of the Grand Realm of the Levant

Flag of the Viceroyalty of Constantinople

Map of the World in 1857​

 

[Napoleon53]

CHAPTER 33
LIFE UNDER LINCOLN

​

We are coming, Father Abraham, 300,000 more,
From Mississippi's winding stream and from New England's shore.
The Second Sons are mustering from far and from near,
The Anarchists flee before us, The Papists cower in fear!
We dare not look behind us but steadfastly before.
We are coming, Father Abraham, 300,000 more!​

We are coming, coming our Union to restore,
We are coming, Father Abraham, with 300,000 more!

If you look across the hilltops that meet the Northern sky,
Long moving lines of rising dust your vision may descry;
And now the wind, an instant, tears the cloudy veil aside,
And floats aloft our spangled flag in glory and in pride;
And Eagle Banners in the sunlight gleam, and bands brave music pour,
We are coming, father Abraham, 300,000 more!

We are coming, coming our Union to restore,
The Second Sons are coming, 300,000 more!​

Abraham Lincoln was celebrating his reelection as President of the Republican Union in 1854. He had achieved so much in his first term after he had seized power that now he was being freely chosen and voted in with a mandate from the American people. Lincoln had risen from relative obscurity to dictator of the country in just a few short years with his Second Sons of Liberty movement, and now here again he was celebrating a second term, having defeated Republican candidate Rufus Samuel Newkirk. Newkirk had been a throw-away candidate by the Republicans and any doubt Lincoln would win was a sheer fantasy.

One of the biggest reasons for low turnout for anyone who opposed Lincoln was the growing Minutmen sub-group of the Second Sons led by young New Jersey party radical Schuyler Colfax. Colfax was known as "Lincoln's Hand" and his goons were some of the most hardened veterans of the street battles with the Radical Republicans during Lincoln's rise to power. Interestingly, Colfax's grandfather William Colfax and served in George Washington's Life Guard during the Revolutionary War, so his position was a fitting one. The mild-mannered young Colfax, a simple-looking bearded man in a suit, age 31, seemed as though he were a friendly neighborhood bank teller. But in reality he was one of the most cold and calculating members of Lincoln's administration. In 1855, a year after Lincoln's reelection, Colfax would order the poisoning of Potentate Zachary Taylor of Virginia. Supposedly, Lincoln was spoiling for a war to fulfill manifest destiny, but knew Taylor was too old to want a fight at this point. So it was actually Colfax who had Taylor poisoned so Jubal Early would come to power in Virginia. Unlike Taylor, Early was brash and always eager for a brawl.

Schuyler Colfax, Grand Master of the Fraternal Order of Minutemen​

The first term had gone well for Lincoln. He genuinely saw himself as a defender of American virtue and its sacred beliefs. The Strong Man Theory which had grown so popular in New England in the 1840s, had been a revelation to to him. The Theory, combined with his new but deeply ingrained beliefs in American Fundamentalism and Scientific Marxism, made Lincoln see himself as a literal titan, a six-foot-four bearded strong man sent by God to lead America to glory and purity. He genuinely viewed Southron culture and morality as a threat and a test from God which he had to guide the nation through. In some ways, Lincoln was very much cut from the same cloth as the Roman dictators of antiquity; reluctant to assume power but when he did he did so with great purpose in mind. It was these similarities to Rome that further swept the nation up into "Rome-mania," and everything began being patterned after the "ultimate achievement of the Pinnacle Man," that being Ancient Rome.

Within the first year of assuming power, Lincoln reorganized the structure of the armed forces, grouping the Army into "Legions," exactly as Rome had. The ranks system was experimented with, at one point even trying to rename and restructure all ranks just as the Roman Legions, but this was deemed to antiquated and confusing. Lincoln did purge the "Frenchified" rank of lieutenant, replacing it with "legate." Likewise, "lieutenant general" was purged in favor of "legate general." Another interesting change that was adopted was the replacement of "corps," which consisted of around two divisions (around 50,000 men). Instead of "corps," they were now "legions." The Roman-style banners so popular with the Second Sons of Liberty were carried over into these new legions, each topped with an eagle made of pure gold and sporting a red banner showing the legion's number and army group number. These legions were part of larger "army groups" that defended a particular region or grouping of states. For instance, the 30,000-strong "Home Guard Legion" that was stationed inside Philadelphia was known as Legion I, Army Group I. Army Group I consisted of Legions I, II, III, IV, V, and VI, all based in and around Pennsylvania and New York. These 150,000 men formed the basis of "Lincoln's Hammer," which would, in the event of a war, be the first to see action and would be pounded deep into enemy territory rapidly. Each Legion was commanded by a Legate General, and the Army Groups served under a Field Marshal. Another example is Army Group II, under Field Marshal Percy Monroe. Legion VII was based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, Legion VIII was from Lincolnburg, Iowai, Legion IX out of Lewis City, Osage, and of course, the future infamous Legion X out of Shicagwa, Iowai. Together, Army Group II would be expected in the event of war to fight both in Virginia's Boone region and also carry the main fight to Georgia down the mighty Mississippi. There were other army groups and legions as well, of course, but that shall be discussed in a later chapter.

To back up the legions, the Union needed a strong navy. Lincoln began a process of rapid expansions for the Union fleet, fully embracing steel plating and "ironclad" warships which could be expected to clean the Mississippi River of antiquated Southron ships in a war and provide firepower and logistical support to any thrust Army Group II might make deep south toward the all-important New Orleans. Lincoln also signed a deal with Colonel Pierce Munitions to begin experimentation with the first "riversharks," what the rest of the world would later call "submarines." While far ahead of their time, these new riversharks would not be very useful for some years to come and could only seat two people, but they were able to dive beneath the waves for short intervals and could deploy mines. This new navy was also reformed and divided into four "Navy Groups," with Navy Group I serving out of Port Halifax, Nova Scotia, Navy Group II out of Boston Harbor, Navy Group III all along the Mississippi, and Navy Group IV, out on the Pacific Coast. The Republican Union Naval Academy operated out of Port Halifax, training up a new generation of sailor.

Meanwhile, American culture itself was changing and becoming even more odd and unique. In Boston Harbor the Second Sons of Liberty had erected a statue of Benjamin Franklin, who was held up as a genius "Pinnacle Man," holding a fasces in his left hand while his right hand extended toward the sky, hailing new arrivals to the port. The base of the statue read, "We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." The fasces had always been a symbol of America, in conjunction with the eagle, but it was around this time that many began to refer to the Second Sons and followers of Lincoln as "fascists," as it quite aptly described their views on unity and the solidarity of the states.

Lincoln also revolutionized culture by banning Christmas celebrations. In 1853, he announced that:

"Christmas is quite literally and openly a papist mass and an idolatry that should not be dallied in by true God-fearing protestant Americans. 'Merry Christmases' are bandied about every year as if it were some harmless goodwill, but mark my words as it is a very cancerous and diabolical intrusion of Bonapartist popery into our lives. Our Puritan forefathers knew this and made Christmas illegal, and so I too say it should be illegal. Instead, I wish to see us have a new perspective on Remembrance Day, also known as Christmas Eve. Instead of mourning the dead of 1812 as if at a funeral, we should instead celebrate their lives and sacrifice with an 'All-American Patriot-Saints Day, rejoicing in the fact that they have died an honorable death for their nation and given their all in defense of blood and soil. They have gone to be with the Creator, and though we may wish them back, they are at peace. And as the Prophet Burr revealed to us in verse two of the Book of Manifestum, our old comrades shall ride in the holy cohort of Christ on Judgement Day. So I say that Remembrance Day shall henceforth be known as Patriot-Saints Day. We will still have the Mourning of the Dead, but the rest of the day shall be devoted to a brighter and more hopeful holiday. We shall give gifts to one another in Christian charity, we shall sing songs and celebrate American life itself. This, I feel, is also a good reflection on how America is recovering and achieving its manifest destiny."

This banning of Christmas and creation of Patriot-Saints Day in the place of Remembrance Day did not sit well with some Protestant minorities, who viewed it as another step toward theocratic rule by the AFC Church and as a violation of the religious freedom supposedly guaranteed by Lincoln's own Constitution. Also, this raised pure hell with the Inferiors across the country, most of whom were Catholic. Now, for the first time, one of their religious practices was actually illegal. This resulted in the Christmas Riots of 1853, which saw the RUMP deploy en masse and slaughter several thousand Inferiors and also saw the Oshkosh Irish Ghetto completely burn to the ground. The flames ended up spreading to several nearby Better neighborhoods and did millions of dollars worth of damage. The Second Sons also deployed in "volunteer battalions" and patrolled the streets.

The Irish Ghetto burns to the ground

Betters of Society flee as the Franklin District goes up in flames​

Instead of making the Lincoln administration or AFC Church look bad for imposing the Christmas Ban, it only steeled the resolve of the true believers. To them, the Franklin District Fire, which contained mostly the houses of Shicagwa's Lutheran population, was God's judgement upon Lutherans for not getting in line with the AFC. However, as rage started to boil over between rival Protestant groups, Lincoln stepped in with Reverend-Colonel Everett to say that other Protestant denominations were still welcome in the Union, "For a House divided against itself cannot stand." In reality, the AFC Church hoped to simply breed out other denominations and not actually come into conflict with them. This would be a future boiling point for America, but Lincoln would use his magnanimity to defuse the situation for now and used government funds to help rebuild the Franklin District.

Despite the setbacks of the Christmas Riots of 1853, the rest of Lincoln's reforms and policies had been rapidly adopted to no small acclaim. He pushed for a fair minimum wage for the Betters of Society and improved working conditions following the Colonel Pierce Munitions Factory Fire of 1852, which saw 8 foremen and 100 Better factory workers killed. He made schools much more widely available for Betters and raised the literacy level to a new high. As Lincoln said, "Not only by blood and iron, but by intelligence also shall we come out victorious above all other nations." In honor of his service to academia, John Purdue, a wealthy Iowai business magnate, founded President Lincoln University in Lincolnburg (formerly known as Lafayette), Iowai in 1854. This began a trend across the nation in the naming of schools after Lincoln.

As could be imagined, the aftermath of the Imperial Invasion of Egypt and the Levant did not sit well with Americans, who saw the Napoleonic presence in the Holy Land as an affront to Christ himself. Mass demonstrations were held, which partially helped distract from the Christmas Riots, burning Napoleon II's effigy and chanting, "Jerusalem shall be purified by blood and iron!" Indeed, if they didn't have the South to deal with, many Americans were just spoiling for a fight against Caesar and wanted to take Jerusalem for the stars and stripes. The fact that the Union would most certainly lose such a war didn't occur to them. What was interesting though, was the fact that Union arms and munitions began turning up in Iraq, Turkey, and North Africa. Little did the world realize that Lincoln had begun funneling supplies and weapons into Ethiopia on tea ships. From there the weapons were auctioned off to whoever wanted to fight Napoleon II's rule. By using Ethiopia as a trading partner, Lincoln was covering the Union's tracks so Ethiopia would be held liable for the weapon sales. Ethiopia had also grabbed up lower Egypt following the Ottoman collapse, which infuriated Caesar. This would later lead to the Franco-Ethiopian War of 1857, which would see Caesar conquer the Red Sea area and begin construction of the Suez Canal, making it far faster for Imperial troops and tradeships to get to and from India. Despite Ethiopia's best efforts, they could not hold back the Imperial Army forever and had to concede their coastline.

Ethiopian troops armed with Union-made weapons fight the Imperial army in this Ethiopian painting​

In 1858, Lincoln was up for reelection again. It was then that the Old Kinderhook Sinking would occur in the waters outside New Orleans, catapulting him to a third term and triggering the Great American War....