Xen
Banned
From the depths of our imaginations springs forward the new life of an alternate universe, taking its place among the alternate worlds created by man for eons. Beyond our own galaxy and the world as we know it, exists billions more, in a jar of a far superior beings science project. This is just one of those alternate galaxies, existing the same as ours with only a slightly different history.
If examined side by side, it would be difficult to tell a huge difference in the worlds. Easily noticed are some of the borders are different, some countries that exist in one world fail to exist in the other, not all governments are the same, and the opinions are vastly different in most countries compared to their counterpart in the other world. If nothing else, this only proves we are what history shapes to be. There are no certain fates, and the winds blowing so strong in one direction can just as easily blow in the other. We are floating accidentally on the breeze, at complete mercy of the wind.
Historians between the two worlds have pinpointed the exact event that changed our worlds for better and for worse. His Majesty Maximillian's fateful decision in 1864 to reject the Mexican throne, with the Union winning the American Civil War, and Maximillian's rejection, Napoleon III gave up his ambitions in Mexico withdrawing his troops in 1865.
This seemingly small decision changed forever the face of European and ultimately world politics. The Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck toyed with the idea of war with Austria over his Kleindeutschland vision. When Napoleon III of France sided with Austria, Prussia quickly backed down. It was the beginning of the Franco-Austrian Entente, an alliance that would lead Europe down the path of war.
Two years after the Prussian-Austrian Crisis ended, Queen Isabella II of Spain went into exile. The vacant throne of Spain was offered to Maximillian, after long hours of prayer and thought, and at the urging of Paris and Vienna, Maximillian accepted. He was crowned King Maximillion I, the first Habsburg on the Spanish throne in nearly 170 years. Spanish conservatives were outraged, resisting the rule of Maximillian in favor of the Carlist claimant. Their insurgency was crushed by French and Spanish troops in short order.
King Maximillian I loved the sea, and wanted very much to make Spain a dominant force on the sea, just as they were before losing its great armada. Of course, Maximillian's ambitions drew the ire of Britain and soured relations between the British Empire and Napoleon. A war with Spain would most certainly mean a war with France and Austria. Unwilling to fight on those terms, Britain formed its own alliance with Prussia. For several tense weeks Europe seemed on the verge of war. Both alliances courted neutral powers, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands in hopes of tilting the upcoming war in their favor. Cooler heads emerged; historians credit the birth of Maximillian's son, Fernando with changing his father's heart.
The guns of Europe's great powers fortunately never fired but just a few short years later they would be heard in the east. The Russians and the sick man of Europe, the Ottoman Empire was once again at war. Unlike the generation before, Britain and France did not bail out the Ottoman Empire. However when Russian troops began getting close to Constantinople, Britain intervened on behalf of the Turks. Again the Russians were denied their dream of recapturing the former capital of the Byzantine Empire and returning the Hagia Sophia into a Christian Cathedral.
The Peace Treaty that followed was far more advantageous to the Russians, Bulgaria was granted independence. Not wanting to see Bulgaria turn into a Russian puppet, Britain and Prussia installed the Count of Caserta, Alphonse Bourbon as King of Bulgaria. (Austria remained silent, likewise not wanting to see Russia gain too much influence in the Balkans). Likewise Austrian attempts to claim Bosnia in the aftermath of the Russo-Ottoman War ended in failure, Britain and Prussia assigning Bosnia to the newly independent Kingdom of Serbia.
French Emperor Napoleon III died after a long illness in 1879, his son the Prince Imperial assumed the throne as Napoleon IV and proved a capable leader who quickly stepped out of his fathers shadow to pursue his own legacy. Shortly after claiming the throne, and in an effort to improve relations with London, Napoleon IV took Princess Beatrice, Victoria's youngest daughter as his wife. At first Victoria disapproved of the match, but was persuaded by her oldest son to allow the marriage to proceed. The Empress gave birth to her first child the following year, a daughter she named in honor of her mother, Victoria. Finally in 1882, France would get its heir when Beatrice gave birth to her first son, a second son was born a year later.
In contrast to the reasons for marring Beatrice, Napoleon IV further aggravated London by including Russia into his alliance with Austria and Spain in 1881. Britain, as expected responded by strengthening its alliance with Prussia and adding the Ottomans, Portuguese, and Italians into the alliance. London and Paris engaged in a diplomacy, which would lead a future generation of Europeans into war on an unprecedented scale.
Tsar Alexander II wrote Russia's first Constitution in 1883, for the first time in Russia's history the power of the monarch was shared with an elected Duma. Although still limited, Russians began expressing free thought. St Petersburg was flooded with radical thinkers who expressed their views; those who crossed the line with their criticism were still arrested and exiled to Siberia. Russia underwent an expensive industrialization plan, intended on keeping her self-sufficient.
King Maximillion's reign had greatly benefited Spain, his liberal policies and industrialization plan saw Spain once again emerged as a great European power, instead of the slipping has been. Funding for many of Maximillian's policies fell short, forcing Spain to sell several of its colonies for hard cash. Cuba was sold to the United States in 1884, and the Philippines were sold to Napoleon's France in 1887.
Queen Victoria died peacefully and rather suddenly in 1891, her oldest son assumed the throne as King Albert, the first monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Under the new monarch, Britain aggravated both the United States and Japan in 1892 by annexing the Kingdom of Hawaii into its great Empire, establishing a Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. (No Reciprocity Treaty in TTL)
After a slaughter of Chinese Christians and westerners left untold thousands dead in Peking, the European Powers intervened on the behalf of their best interest. China was carved up between the great European Powers and Japan in 1895 into spheres of influence; Emperor Guang Xu became the puppet of European Council, and helplessly watched China's modernization. The Dowager Empress was placed under house arrest, and kept there until her death in 1898.
The post-Civil War expansion in the United States continued into the new century in spite of set backs such as Custer's defeat at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Europeans and the world romanticized the American west with tales of the rugged lawman and his trusty sidearm as tales of the Knights of the Round Table had intrigued so many in prior generations. The railroad connected eastern metropolises with cities on the Pacific, a trip from New York to San Francisco, which once took weeks and filled with dangers now only took a few days being relatively safe and comfortable. The illusion of America avoiding war was broken in 1900 when the United States declared war once again on its southern neighbor, Mexico.
After a band of Mexican nationalists wishing to restore Arizona and New Mexico to Mexico raided several border towns leaving dozens of American civilians dead. Public opinion swung in favor of revenge and war. President McKinley demanded Mexico hand over the criminals, and in spite of Mexican efforts to find the assailants, they were never found. Hawks in Washington with help from the press started shouting the Mexican government was behind the attacks. Facing enormous public pressure, McKinley declared war on Mexico.
As expected Mexico was crushed quickly with American troops occupying Mexico City, forcing the government to cede Baja California, Sonora and Chihuahua to the United States. The persona of Leonard Wood and Col Theodore Roosevelt defined for many Americans the typical American soldier fighting the "uncivilized" Mexicans.
Shortly after the American withdrawal from the capital a popularly supported Nationalist rebellion took up arms in the streets of Mexico's greatest cities. Government buildings were burned and looted, its officials dragged on the streets and hung by lampposts, anarchy reigned for weeks. Finally with the fall of the Presidential Palace and execution of the President, the nationalist proclaimed themselves the governing body of the National Republic of Mexico. The Mexican Revolution was romanticized, its leaders portrayed as conquering heroes, and their images appeared on the sides of buildings, stamps and propaganda pamphlets.
The first decade of the twentieth century saw the great prosperity come to many western nations. The worlds industries were producing more marvelous wonders than ever before. A Palace coup to replace Tsar Nicholas II in 1902 cost the conservative Russian monarch his life. He had become unpopular since trying to reverse his grandfather's progress after becoming the Tsar in 1897. His wife and four daughters were placed under house arrest, and allowed to live in the Kremlin in Moscow, keeping their royal status. Nicholas brother became Tsar Michael IV.
Spain mourned the death of King Maximillian the Great in 1903, although he couldn't solve all of Spain's problems, and many more still remained. Maximillian did however give Spain a sense of pride back, and helped create its industry. He was succeeded by his only son who assumed the throne as King Fernando VIII.
Likewise France lost its Emperor in a horse riding accident in Paris in 1907, Napoleon IV was throne from his horse outside of Versailles Palace. His oldest son took the name Napoleon V upon his coronation, but unlike his father seemed lazy, and unconcerned about the fortunes of France.
The Great War:
The massive Empires of Europe, in particularly Britain and France had for decades been a source of tensions between London and Paris. When British interests started running afoul of French interests in France's sphere of influence in China, the hot-tempered Napoleon V declared war on Britain. The French Navy caught the Royal Navy off guard off the coast of Shanghai sinking two ships, sending hundreds of sailors to their watery grave and beginning the Great War in the summer of 1911.
As expected the alliance system enveloped all of Europe into the war. The war was expected to be short, with both sides believing to achieve victory with in a few short months. Britain and her allies proved more than capable of fighting the multi-front war against seemingly overwhelming odds, receiving a boost with the addition of Japan and Netherlands joining their alliance.
As the weeks stretched into months, and the months into a year, the war showed no sign of letting up. Both alliances looked to the neutral America's for support. The United Kingdom won early success by convincing the Republic of Argentina and the Empire of Brazil to join the war effort. France managed to gain an alliance only from Chile. The United States led by the energetic Theodore Roosevelt, claimed the alliances were in violation of the Monroe Doctrine, and an attempt by Britain to colonize South America. The American Press turned rabidly anti-British, demanding Congress take action to protect the United States from Great Britain. When the British seized the USS Cincinnati, an American Merchant ship off the coast of France, a scuffle broke out between the British boarding crew and the American sailors resulting in the death of 7 Americans and 2 British men. President Roosevelt finally had the ammunition he needed to go to war, Congress had no choice but to comply, the United States declared War in June 1912, clashing with Canadian troops along the border.
Suddenly Britain had the momentous task of fighting a two front war, with most of the British forces in Canada came from her Pacific colonies, led by Indian and the ANZAC forces. After a little more than a year at war with the United States, Britain requested a peace treaty with the American's. The war became too expensive to continue fighting and shipping badly needed supplies and men across the Atlantic instead of to Germany. It was decided an American victory was less costly to Britain than a French and Russian Victory. The Treaty of Hamilton, Bermuda ended the war in North America, and ceded Canada's sovereignty to the United States.
While the Great War was being fought in North America, Britain's Ottoman ally was overrun by Russia. The great city of Constantinople was finally under Russian occupation. Too weak to continue fighting the Ottoman Empire was divided between the French, Spanish and Russians. Unwilling to allow Russia to continue to hold Constantinople, Britain and Prussia lured Greece into their alliance with promises of returning the former Byzantine capital to Greek control at the wars end.
The war in Europe continued until 1915, battle exhausted and broke the French requested a cease-fire, followed by Spain a few short weeks later. Austria's military collapsed after the death of Franz Joseph in the summer of 1915, leaving Russia to fight alone. The Russians too sued for peace after suffering from a string of humiliating defeat's in October 1916. Russia's Navy was now at the bottom of the Baltic, destroyed by the British and Prussian navies, the German's now occupied Warsaw and Riga. The British and Greek's had captured Adrianople with relative ease and were marching on the poorly defended Constantinople. The Japanese occupied Vladivostok in the Far East, and Sweden had been convinced to enter the war on Britain's side. Russia officially surrendered on October 29 in Constantinople.
The New World Order:
Unlike the Napoleonic Wars, the aftermath of the Great War completely changed the maps of Europe. Borders were redrawn in favor of the victors. Entire Empires were reduced to shadows of their former selves, and entire governing institutions were overthrown.
The French Revolution of 1916 overthrew the rule of Napoleon V in favor of the liberal Orleanist pretender, who claimed the throne as Louis Philippe II. A similar Civil War in Spain pitted the Carlist Pretender against the Habsburg dynasty. King Ferdinand VIII had become extremely unpopular, resigning his throne in 1917 to pass it on to his son, Maximillian II. The Spanish Civil War lasted only a few months, ending with the crushing defeat of the Carlist insurrection.
Prussia exercised a popular pre-war movement called Grossdeutschland annexing the German Confederation, including Austria and Bohemia into the Second Reich led from Berlin by the popular Wilhelm II. A treaty with Russia signed shortly after the war returned independence to Poland under the Portuguese branch of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty. King Sigismund IV (Manuel of Portugal) was welcomed into Warsaw with open arms by the Polish nationalists, excited over their newfound independence.
Italy like Germany was finally unified, annexing the Papal States in 1916. Pope Innocent XIV excommunicated King Victor Emmanuel III in response, and threatened to excommunicate any Roman caught participating in the Italian elections. It did not have the effect the Pope wanted. The Kingdom of Italy added insult to injury by moving its capital to Rome.
The United States seen its return to the Manifest Destiny by annexing Canada in 1914, it would soon discover fighting the war was much easier than occupying a country that didn't want annexed. The Canadian Liberation Army was founded in 1915 made up of former Canadian soldiers and nationalists, the CLA wished to throw the American's out and form the Republic of Canada. Many Canadians just wanted peace, but were supportive of the CLA in its first years of operation. The CLA's attacks against American soldiers were seen as heroic, and it wasn't until the 1921 campaign when the CLA lost its support by attacking American settlers that its numbers started to decline.
The British Empire quickly recovered from the loss of Canada annexing much of the former French Empire, and dividing the former Ottoman Arab lands between themselves and Germany (with Italy receiving small territorial gains around Antioch and Lebanon). The Central Asian states that had once been dominated by Russia were now heavily influenced by Britain from India, and Persia was all but annexed by the Empire.
The next trouble spot in the world to no ones surprise came from Eastern Europe/Anatolia. Turkish refugees poured across the straits into Anatolia, the sting and humiliation from losing so much territory, including the capital was overwhelming. The Greco-Turkish War of 1917 nearly succeeded in reclaiming Constantinople and the control of the straits. The Greek territory near Izmir and the island of Cyprus were recovered by the Ottoman Empire, had it not been for the Second Reich's intervention on behalf of Greece, the Ottomans would have succeeded in reclaiming their capital.
Greece emerged from the war perhaps as the biggest winner, although much of its territory was lost in the later Greco-Turkish War, the Greeks recovered Constantinople, and its Roman heritage. With the influx of Greek Refugees from Izmir and Cyprus, the city again became Greek, with much of its Ottoman influence either converted or destroyed. It was perhaps the Greeks greatest triumph that outraged the Ottomans more than anything, when Greek soldiers tore the Crescent off of the Hagia Sofia, replacing it with a cross, the four spirals surrounding the building were destroyed, and the plastered over Christian art, was restored. This would be the source of tension between the Ottomans and the Greeks for many decades.
The War to End All Wars:
The boast of the Great War being the War to end all wars has been proven false. After nearly a century since the war began, most of the world's major powers have taken up arms yet again. However the Great War may be the last "great" war.
The unresolved tensions between the Germans and Russians escalated into yet another war between those nations in the 1930's. Although both countries had extensive alliances, their allies failed to come to their aid again, the memories of the Great War still too fresh to repeat the same mistake a generation later. Aside from Poland siding with Germany, and Serbia and Hungary siding with Russia, no other nation involved itself in the War. Fought between 1937-1939 the war was bloody and locked in a stalemate. War weary, and fearful of an economic fall out, all belligerents agreed to a cease-fire and a formal peace treaty signed in London in 1941, restoring normal relations.
Japan and the British Empire locked horns a few short years later, fighting for control of the Pacific, it was a war Japan found itself alone in, finally agreeing to a cease-fire in 1947. The war secured the Royal Navies domination of the Pacific, and forcing Japan to give up its Empire. Indochina, the Philippines and Korea were added to the British Empire.
If examined side by side, it would be difficult to tell a huge difference in the worlds. Easily noticed are some of the borders are different, some countries that exist in one world fail to exist in the other, not all governments are the same, and the opinions are vastly different in most countries compared to their counterpart in the other world. If nothing else, this only proves we are what history shapes to be. There are no certain fates, and the winds blowing so strong in one direction can just as easily blow in the other. We are floating accidentally on the breeze, at complete mercy of the wind.
Historians between the two worlds have pinpointed the exact event that changed our worlds for better and for worse. His Majesty Maximillian's fateful decision in 1864 to reject the Mexican throne, with the Union winning the American Civil War, and Maximillian's rejection, Napoleon III gave up his ambitions in Mexico withdrawing his troops in 1865.
This seemingly small decision changed forever the face of European and ultimately world politics. The Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck toyed with the idea of war with Austria over his Kleindeutschland vision. When Napoleon III of France sided with Austria, Prussia quickly backed down. It was the beginning of the Franco-Austrian Entente, an alliance that would lead Europe down the path of war.
Two years after the Prussian-Austrian Crisis ended, Queen Isabella II of Spain went into exile. The vacant throne of Spain was offered to Maximillian, after long hours of prayer and thought, and at the urging of Paris and Vienna, Maximillian accepted. He was crowned King Maximillion I, the first Habsburg on the Spanish throne in nearly 170 years. Spanish conservatives were outraged, resisting the rule of Maximillian in favor of the Carlist claimant. Their insurgency was crushed by French and Spanish troops in short order.
King Maximillian I loved the sea, and wanted very much to make Spain a dominant force on the sea, just as they were before losing its great armada. Of course, Maximillian's ambitions drew the ire of Britain and soured relations between the British Empire and Napoleon. A war with Spain would most certainly mean a war with France and Austria. Unwilling to fight on those terms, Britain formed its own alliance with Prussia. For several tense weeks Europe seemed on the verge of war. Both alliances courted neutral powers, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands in hopes of tilting the upcoming war in their favor. Cooler heads emerged; historians credit the birth of Maximillian's son, Fernando with changing his father's heart.
The guns of Europe's great powers fortunately never fired but just a few short years later they would be heard in the east. The Russians and the sick man of Europe, the Ottoman Empire was once again at war. Unlike the generation before, Britain and France did not bail out the Ottoman Empire. However when Russian troops began getting close to Constantinople, Britain intervened on behalf of the Turks. Again the Russians were denied their dream of recapturing the former capital of the Byzantine Empire and returning the Hagia Sophia into a Christian Cathedral.
The Peace Treaty that followed was far more advantageous to the Russians, Bulgaria was granted independence. Not wanting to see Bulgaria turn into a Russian puppet, Britain and Prussia installed the Count of Caserta, Alphonse Bourbon as King of Bulgaria. (Austria remained silent, likewise not wanting to see Russia gain too much influence in the Balkans). Likewise Austrian attempts to claim Bosnia in the aftermath of the Russo-Ottoman War ended in failure, Britain and Prussia assigning Bosnia to the newly independent Kingdom of Serbia.
French Emperor Napoleon III died after a long illness in 1879, his son the Prince Imperial assumed the throne as Napoleon IV and proved a capable leader who quickly stepped out of his fathers shadow to pursue his own legacy. Shortly after claiming the throne, and in an effort to improve relations with London, Napoleon IV took Princess Beatrice, Victoria's youngest daughter as his wife. At first Victoria disapproved of the match, but was persuaded by her oldest son to allow the marriage to proceed. The Empress gave birth to her first child the following year, a daughter she named in honor of her mother, Victoria. Finally in 1882, France would get its heir when Beatrice gave birth to her first son, a second son was born a year later.
In contrast to the reasons for marring Beatrice, Napoleon IV further aggravated London by including Russia into his alliance with Austria and Spain in 1881. Britain, as expected responded by strengthening its alliance with Prussia and adding the Ottomans, Portuguese, and Italians into the alliance. London and Paris engaged in a diplomacy, which would lead a future generation of Europeans into war on an unprecedented scale.
Tsar Alexander II wrote Russia's first Constitution in 1883, for the first time in Russia's history the power of the monarch was shared with an elected Duma. Although still limited, Russians began expressing free thought. St Petersburg was flooded with radical thinkers who expressed their views; those who crossed the line with their criticism were still arrested and exiled to Siberia. Russia underwent an expensive industrialization plan, intended on keeping her self-sufficient.
King Maximillion's reign had greatly benefited Spain, his liberal policies and industrialization plan saw Spain once again emerged as a great European power, instead of the slipping has been. Funding for many of Maximillian's policies fell short, forcing Spain to sell several of its colonies for hard cash. Cuba was sold to the United States in 1884, and the Philippines were sold to Napoleon's France in 1887.
Queen Victoria died peacefully and rather suddenly in 1891, her oldest son assumed the throne as King Albert, the first monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Under the new monarch, Britain aggravated both the United States and Japan in 1892 by annexing the Kingdom of Hawaii into its great Empire, establishing a Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. (No Reciprocity Treaty in TTL)
After a slaughter of Chinese Christians and westerners left untold thousands dead in Peking, the European Powers intervened on the behalf of their best interest. China was carved up between the great European Powers and Japan in 1895 into spheres of influence; Emperor Guang Xu became the puppet of European Council, and helplessly watched China's modernization. The Dowager Empress was placed under house arrest, and kept there until her death in 1898.
The post-Civil War expansion in the United States continued into the new century in spite of set backs such as Custer's defeat at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Europeans and the world romanticized the American west with tales of the rugged lawman and his trusty sidearm as tales of the Knights of the Round Table had intrigued so many in prior generations. The railroad connected eastern metropolises with cities on the Pacific, a trip from New York to San Francisco, which once took weeks and filled with dangers now only took a few days being relatively safe and comfortable. The illusion of America avoiding war was broken in 1900 when the United States declared war once again on its southern neighbor, Mexico.
After a band of Mexican nationalists wishing to restore Arizona and New Mexico to Mexico raided several border towns leaving dozens of American civilians dead. Public opinion swung in favor of revenge and war. President McKinley demanded Mexico hand over the criminals, and in spite of Mexican efforts to find the assailants, they were never found. Hawks in Washington with help from the press started shouting the Mexican government was behind the attacks. Facing enormous public pressure, McKinley declared war on Mexico.
As expected Mexico was crushed quickly with American troops occupying Mexico City, forcing the government to cede Baja California, Sonora and Chihuahua to the United States. The persona of Leonard Wood and Col Theodore Roosevelt defined for many Americans the typical American soldier fighting the "uncivilized" Mexicans.
Shortly after the American withdrawal from the capital a popularly supported Nationalist rebellion took up arms in the streets of Mexico's greatest cities. Government buildings were burned and looted, its officials dragged on the streets and hung by lampposts, anarchy reigned for weeks. Finally with the fall of the Presidential Palace and execution of the President, the nationalist proclaimed themselves the governing body of the National Republic of Mexico. The Mexican Revolution was romanticized, its leaders portrayed as conquering heroes, and their images appeared on the sides of buildings, stamps and propaganda pamphlets.
The first decade of the twentieth century saw the great prosperity come to many western nations. The worlds industries were producing more marvelous wonders than ever before. A Palace coup to replace Tsar Nicholas II in 1902 cost the conservative Russian monarch his life. He had become unpopular since trying to reverse his grandfather's progress after becoming the Tsar in 1897. His wife and four daughters were placed under house arrest, and allowed to live in the Kremlin in Moscow, keeping their royal status. Nicholas brother became Tsar Michael IV.
Spain mourned the death of King Maximillian the Great in 1903, although he couldn't solve all of Spain's problems, and many more still remained. Maximillian did however give Spain a sense of pride back, and helped create its industry. He was succeeded by his only son who assumed the throne as King Fernando VIII.
Likewise France lost its Emperor in a horse riding accident in Paris in 1907, Napoleon IV was throne from his horse outside of Versailles Palace. His oldest son took the name Napoleon V upon his coronation, but unlike his father seemed lazy, and unconcerned about the fortunes of France.
The Great War:
The massive Empires of Europe, in particularly Britain and France had for decades been a source of tensions between London and Paris. When British interests started running afoul of French interests in France's sphere of influence in China, the hot-tempered Napoleon V declared war on Britain. The French Navy caught the Royal Navy off guard off the coast of Shanghai sinking two ships, sending hundreds of sailors to their watery grave and beginning the Great War in the summer of 1911.
As expected the alliance system enveloped all of Europe into the war. The war was expected to be short, with both sides believing to achieve victory with in a few short months. Britain and her allies proved more than capable of fighting the multi-front war against seemingly overwhelming odds, receiving a boost with the addition of Japan and Netherlands joining their alliance.
As the weeks stretched into months, and the months into a year, the war showed no sign of letting up. Both alliances looked to the neutral America's for support. The United Kingdom won early success by convincing the Republic of Argentina and the Empire of Brazil to join the war effort. France managed to gain an alliance only from Chile. The United States led by the energetic Theodore Roosevelt, claimed the alliances were in violation of the Monroe Doctrine, and an attempt by Britain to colonize South America. The American Press turned rabidly anti-British, demanding Congress take action to protect the United States from Great Britain. When the British seized the USS Cincinnati, an American Merchant ship off the coast of France, a scuffle broke out between the British boarding crew and the American sailors resulting in the death of 7 Americans and 2 British men. President Roosevelt finally had the ammunition he needed to go to war, Congress had no choice but to comply, the United States declared War in June 1912, clashing with Canadian troops along the border.
Suddenly Britain had the momentous task of fighting a two front war, with most of the British forces in Canada came from her Pacific colonies, led by Indian and the ANZAC forces. After a little more than a year at war with the United States, Britain requested a peace treaty with the American's. The war became too expensive to continue fighting and shipping badly needed supplies and men across the Atlantic instead of to Germany. It was decided an American victory was less costly to Britain than a French and Russian Victory. The Treaty of Hamilton, Bermuda ended the war in North America, and ceded Canada's sovereignty to the United States.
While the Great War was being fought in North America, Britain's Ottoman ally was overrun by Russia. The great city of Constantinople was finally under Russian occupation. Too weak to continue fighting the Ottoman Empire was divided between the French, Spanish and Russians. Unwilling to allow Russia to continue to hold Constantinople, Britain and Prussia lured Greece into their alliance with promises of returning the former Byzantine capital to Greek control at the wars end.
The war in Europe continued until 1915, battle exhausted and broke the French requested a cease-fire, followed by Spain a few short weeks later. Austria's military collapsed after the death of Franz Joseph in the summer of 1915, leaving Russia to fight alone. The Russians too sued for peace after suffering from a string of humiliating defeat's in October 1916. Russia's Navy was now at the bottom of the Baltic, destroyed by the British and Prussian navies, the German's now occupied Warsaw and Riga. The British and Greek's had captured Adrianople with relative ease and were marching on the poorly defended Constantinople. The Japanese occupied Vladivostok in the Far East, and Sweden had been convinced to enter the war on Britain's side. Russia officially surrendered on October 29 in Constantinople.
The New World Order:
Unlike the Napoleonic Wars, the aftermath of the Great War completely changed the maps of Europe. Borders were redrawn in favor of the victors. Entire Empires were reduced to shadows of their former selves, and entire governing institutions were overthrown.
The French Revolution of 1916 overthrew the rule of Napoleon V in favor of the liberal Orleanist pretender, who claimed the throne as Louis Philippe II. A similar Civil War in Spain pitted the Carlist Pretender against the Habsburg dynasty. King Ferdinand VIII had become extremely unpopular, resigning his throne in 1917 to pass it on to his son, Maximillian II. The Spanish Civil War lasted only a few months, ending with the crushing defeat of the Carlist insurrection.
Prussia exercised a popular pre-war movement called Grossdeutschland annexing the German Confederation, including Austria and Bohemia into the Second Reich led from Berlin by the popular Wilhelm II. A treaty with Russia signed shortly after the war returned independence to Poland under the Portuguese branch of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty. King Sigismund IV (Manuel of Portugal) was welcomed into Warsaw with open arms by the Polish nationalists, excited over their newfound independence.
Italy like Germany was finally unified, annexing the Papal States in 1916. Pope Innocent XIV excommunicated King Victor Emmanuel III in response, and threatened to excommunicate any Roman caught participating in the Italian elections. It did not have the effect the Pope wanted. The Kingdom of Italy added insult to injury by moving its capital to Rome.
The United States seen its return to the Manifest Destiny by annexing Canada in 1914, it would soon discover fighting the war was much easier than occupying a country that didn't want annexed. The Canadian Liberation Army was founded in 1915 made up of former Canadian soldiers and nationalists, the CLA wished to throw the American's out and form the Republic of Canada. Many Canadians just wanted peace, but were supportive of the CLA in its first years of operation. The CLA's attacks against American soldiers were seen as heroic, and it wasn't until the 1921 campaign when the CLA lost its support by attacking American settlers that its numbers started to decline.
The British Empire quickly recovered from the loss of Canada annexing much of the former French Empire, and dividing the former Ottoman Arab lands between themselves and Germany (with Italy receiving small territorial gains around Antioch and Lebanon). The Central Asian states that had once been dominated by Russia were now heavily influenced by Britain from India, and Persia was all but annexed by the Empire.
The next trouble spot in the world to no ones surprise came from Eastern Europe/Anatolia. Turkish refugees poured across the straits into Anatolia, the sting and humiliation from losing so much territory, including the capital was overwhelming. The Greco-Turkish War of 1917 nearly succeeded in reclaiming Constantinople and the control of the straits. The Greek territory near Izmir and the island of Cyprus were recovered by the Ottoman Empire, had it not been for the Second Reich's intervention on behalf of Greece, the Ottomans would have succeeded in reclaiming their capital.
Greece emerged from the war perhaps as the biggest winner, although much of its territory was lost in the later Greco-Turkish War, the Greeks recovered Constantinople, and its Roman heritage. With the influx of Greek Refugees from Izmir and Cyprus, the city again became Greek, with much of its Ottoman influence either converted or destroyed. It was perhaps the Greeks greatest triumph that outraged the Ottomans more than anything, when Greek soldiers tore the Crescent off of the Hagia Sofia, replacing it with a cross, the four spirals surrounding the building were destroyed, and the plastered over Christian art, was restored. This would be the source of tension between the Ottomans and the Greeks for many decades.
The War to End All Wars:
The boast of the Great War being the War to end all wars has been proven false. After nearly a century since the war began, most of the world's major powers have taken up arms yet again. However the Great War may be the last "great" war.
The unresolved tensions between the Germans and Russians escalated into yet another war between those nations in the 1930's. Although both countries had extensive alliances, their allies failed to come to their aid again, the memories of the Great War still too fresh to repeat the same mistake a generation later. Aside from Poland siding with Germany, and Serbia and Hungary siding with Russia, no other nation involved itself in the War. Fought between 1937-1939 the war was bloody and locked in a stalemate. War weary, and fearful of an economic fall out, all belligerents agreed to a cease-fire and a formal peace treaty signed in London in 1941, restoring normal relations.
Japan and the British Empire locked horns a few short years later, fighting for control of the Pacific, it was a war Japan found itself alone in, finally agreeing to a cease-fire in 1947. The war secured the Royal Navies domination of the Pacific, and forcing Japan to give up its Empire. Indochina, the Philippines and Korea were added to the British Empire.
