Where the Sun never sets - A Spanish Oceania TL
- Thread starter Drex
- Start date
You'll discover that in the next chapter about Oceania, but it's time to leave this area for a while and for changes ITTL to spread out of Oceania.
Fixed.
¡Viva la Patria y Viva el Rey!
Warning: This chapter is entirely OTL, but it's necessary to understand TTL's developement. I saved you a quick read in Wikipedia if you didn't know about Spain from 1789 to 1815, and if you already know, up to you if you want to read this or not.
While peace and prosperity roamed across the overseas Spain, the mainland had problems, but to understand this we must go back a little. 1775, a rebellion breaks out in British North America. The British found unable to quell the uprising in it's initial stage and the rebels rapidly assured control of the thirteen colonies east of the Appalachians. Even if the rebellion was relatively succesful and the rebels had stablished their own state, the "United States of America", if the war continued it would be doomed. In 1778 France, seeking to weaken the British Empire, declared support for the rebellion and assisted the rebels militarily and economically. Spain did the same a year later and in 1783 Britain had been effectively expelled from most of their holdings in North America except for the northenmost provinces. The rebellion had two great consequences, first it ruined the finances of France, but we'll go back at that later. Second, it created a precedent, a precedent in which colonists managed to break free from the metropole and succeed. The Revolution inspired many liberals in Spanish America who seeked to do the same and stablish their own state, with the greatest exponent being Francisco de Miranda, a man who seeked to create a contiguous empire from Tierra del Fuego to California called "Colombia" after Columbus.
Francisco de Miranda
Back to the first point, France was ruined. In the years after crops failed and poverty increased. In 1789 the king Louis XVI called for the General States to attempt to solve the problem with French finances, however the representants of the third state noticed how the nobility and the church always allied to block their proposals and left the meeting. The third state soon began to radicalise and recruit common people for their cause which resulted in the Taking of the Bastille and a revolution that installed a constitutional monarchy. Liberal ideas began to spread across Europe now that the greatest absolute monarchy had fallen. The prime minister of Spain, José Moñino y Redondo, the Count of Floridablanca blocked the border with France to impede the flow of liberal ideas to Spain. In 1792 the king was discovered while attempting to flee France for Austria and the liberals accused him of treason while all of Europe declared war to France. France managed to fend off some initial attacks and obtained a crushing victory in the Battle of Valmy on September 20th 1792. A day later Louis XVI was forced out of the throne and executed on January 21st 1793, which caused outrage across Europe. This caused the Spanish monarch, Charles IV to declare war to the French Republic and named the old general Antonio Ricardos as captain general of Catalonia. Ricardos crossed the Pyrenees on April 17th 1793. Ricardos was a brilliant commander who routed the revolutionary French multiple times, notably at Céret and then surrounded and captured the impressing Fort de Bellegarde. Due to the harsh terrain and the low number of troops Ricardos couldn't continue pushing. His subordinates were overall incompetent but Ricardos' interventions helped push the French all the way to the fortified town of Collioure on December 20th 1793. Then Ricardos left for Madrid to pledge for more reinforcements as king Charles refused to send them, he caught a cold in the travel and died of pneumonia on March 13th 1794 without receiving any reinforcements. His somewhat capable successor, Alejandro O'Reilly died ten days later leaving the Spanish army uncommanded or in hands of incompetent minds who caused the Spanish forces to get expelled out of France in 1794. France invaded Spain proper later on without much success due to the aforementioned reasons, capturing Roses on February 4th 1795 and the subsequent Peace of Basel by which Spain ceded the eastern half of Santo Domingo to France and the new Prime Minister, Manuel de Godoy, decided to ally with France against Britain.
Portait of Antonio Ricardos, by Goya
Pursuiting his goals of maintaining the alliance with France, Manuel de Godoy declared a short war with Portugal called as the "War of the Oranges" due to some oranges she sent to the queen (some say the queen cheated the king with Godoy) and Spain annexed Olivença while forcing Portugal to stablish a blockade on British trade, though they never did. That's why Napoleon proposed a second invasion of Portugal in 1807. Charles accepted French troops to enter Spain to prepare for the invasion and Portugal was swiflty conquered and divided into three kingdoms, one for Godoy himself. However the French troops began to place themselves in strategical parts of Spain and went to directions opposite to that of Portugal such as Zaragoza. The French forced their entrance on fhe fort of Pamplona and the city of Barcelona. Many began to question what Charles and Godoy had done. Charles finally noticed that the French were not here in a friendly mood and tried to leave for America just as the Portuguese royal family did. His son, Ferdinand, an ambitious and mentally handicapped man noticed this and led the people to the town of Aranjuez where Charles was preparing to leave. The mob surrounded the palace and Ferdinand insisted that his father was responsible for the French presence and Charles was forced to abdicate. Godoy was found rolled in a turf in the upper levels of the palace on March 19th 1808. Ferdinand relied on Napoleon for support and agreed to meet with him on Bayonne. His father was also going there, along with most of the family, except for the young prince Francisco de Paula, who was a kid back then. In Bayonne, Ferdinand re-abdicated on his father and Charles abdicated on Napoleon who ceded the throne to his brother Joseph.
Godoy during the War of the Oranges, by Goya
The French Army entered Madrid on May 2nd looking for Francisco de Paula, however the people refused to let the French soldiers enter the palace, so the French fired on the crowd and a brutal street battle ensued on the streets of Madrid in which the Spanish Army decided to ignore the events. The people were massacred the day after, the same day that the mayor Móstoles issued a proclaim in which he stated "War with the French! War without truce, people or king!". All of Spain shaked against the French rule with the imperial soldiers being forced to fight civilians to take each town. Murat ordered his army to march south to Andalusia, being ambushed in the way in the town of Valdepeñas, in which the women of the town led a charge against the French forces, managing to repel them but the French eventually got the upper hand and burnt the entire town. In the meantime, as Spain had no official government several Juntas were formed all across Spain. Floridablanca took control of that of Murcia and led a coalition Junta in Seville, who scrambled to build an army. In the north the French were defeated in Valencia after a popular uprising, The Bruch and laid siege to the fortress of Zaragoza. Again, the population sided completely with the defenders and the French failed to take the city and retreated towards Navarre. In Andalusia, the general Francisco Javier Castaños manaed to trap the French in the hills of Bailén, and after three days of combat marshal Dupont was defeated and captured. That was the first time an imperial army was defeated, and not only defeated, but completely anihilated. Castaños entered Madrid, abandoned by Joseph and pulled all the way to the Ebro river.
Defensa del parque de Monteleón
Napoleon could not stand such an humilliation and decided to led the army into Spain personally. The forces of Castaños and Palafox (commander of Aragon) had placed themselves in Tudela and the banks of the Quelles river. Castaños expected to lure Napoleon into thinking his army was in a bad shape and allow the French to cross the river, and then Palafox's army would strike the back of the French army from the other side. Palafox refused to accept that plan, insiting in that a defeat would result in the fall of Aragon, to which Castaños replied "Spain! We must defend Spain!" Palafox's stubborness to accept Castaños' orders continued for days until the French surprised them and routed them both. The French went south towards Madrid and in November 30th 1808 the Polish cavalry managed to cross the range of Somosierra and Napoleon entered Madrid on December 4th. Sixteen days later Zaragoza itself was besieged again, with Palafox trapped inside. He refused to surrender and the battle became the most brutal Europe had seen in centuries. This is how marshal Jean Lannes described it:
"I've never seen such bitterness as that proven by our enemies in the defense of this place. Women let themselves be killed in front of the trenches. It's necessary to organise an assault for each house. The siege of Zaragoza has nothing in common with our previous wars. This is a terrifying war. The city burns from it's four corners right now, and hundreds of bombs rain over it, but nothing is enough to intimidate it's defenders... What a war! What a men! A siege in each street, a mine under each house. Being forced to kill so many brave, or better said so many furious men! This is terrible. Victory is not worth it."
Batalla en el convento de Santa Engracia
After that last stand most of Spain gradually fell to the French offensive. The Junta of Seville absorbed all others to form the Junta Suprema Central (Supreme Central Junta), but were forced out of the city and retreated to the port of Cádiz, and then to the Island of the Lions. There the Junta decided to stablish a full government organism and began to write a constitution, which was published on 1812. The constitution essentially stated that Spain was to be a constitutional monarchy in which the people received the right to express freely. The constitution also stated that "Spanish of both hemispheres are equal and shall be considered as thus", which essentially meant that Spain further integrated the colonies into the mainland (they already were, as the American territories were kingdoms within the Hispanic Monarchy with the same rights and duties as those in Iberia and not colonies in the English way, but oh well, it's easier to explain it this way). However there was no monarch to rule as Charles moved to Parma, the land of his wife, and Ferdinand was trapped by Napoleon in Valençay. There, Ferdinand enjoyed a great life, he organised parties and dinners. Ferdinand deeply admired Napoleon despite all his subjects had declared war to him, if at least the Spanish knew for what kind of king they were fighting...
¡Viva la Pepa!
Spain did not fight alone as a British army commanded by Arthur Wellesley landed in Portugal and cleaned the country of French troops in 1808 and then again in 1810. The Royal Navy helped the Spanish in Cádiz by impedint the French to assault the city. Wellesley's forces, along with Portuguese and Spanish forces managed to inflict a half-victory in Talavera de la Reina despite the Spanish reticence to fight in Sunday, however Wellesley decided to retreat and give up all progress maden in 1811. When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 the Coalition troops managed to push back the French, capturing Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca and Badajoz, while the French captured Valencia after two sieges and annexed Catalonia into their empire. When the French invasion of Russia turned out to be a disaster the French found themselves in an unsustainable position in Iberia and began to lose ground through the rest of 1812 and 1813, culminating with the Battle of San Marcial on August 31st 1813, which saw the Coalition forces reach the Pyrenees. While the French Empire was collapsing Napoleon signed with Ferdinand VII the Treaty of Valençay, which recognised him as king of Spain and promised that all French troops would leave Spain, but they didn't. Ferdinand reached Spain through the port of Valencia on May 24th 1814, where he published the "Manifest of the Persians" in which he declared void all political activites that had happened in Spain in his absence and restoring the absolutist monarchy. This would eventually trigger a series of uprisings and conflicts that would leave Spain in a state of chaos for years.
Arthur Wellesley, later known as the Duke of Wellington
The country was destroyed by the war, 10% of the population died, the government had collapsed, foodstocks were empty and the local industry had been completely destroyed (both by the French and British. British soldiers sacked and burned multiple Spanish towns). The fleet was non-existant, the royal trasure had disappeared, most of the Spanish artistic legacy had vanished and the American possessions were in open rebellion. The country was ruined and thrown away from it's status as a premier world power, and it would take many decades before Spain's former greatness could be restored. That, if the empire survived the unrest in America...
The Revolution
While peace and prosperity roamed across the overseas Spain, the mainland had problems, but to understand this we must go back a little. 1775, a rebellion breaks out in British North America. The British found unable to quell the uprising in it's initial stage and the rebels rapidly assured control of the thirteen colonies east of the Appalachians. Even if the rebellion was relatively succesful and the rebels had stablished their own state, the "United States of America", if the war continued it would be doomed. In 1778 France, seeking to weaken the British Empire, declared support for the rebellion and assisted the rebels militarily and economically. Spain did the same a year later and in 1783 Britain had been effectively expelled from most of their holdings in North America except for the northenmost provinces. The rebellion had two great consequences, first it ruined the finances of France, but we'll go back at that later. Second, it created a precedent, a precedent in which colonists managed to break free from the metropole and succeed. The Revolution inspired many liberals in Spanish America who seeked to do the same and stablish their own state, with the greatest exponent being Francisco de Miranda, a man who seeked to create a contiguous empire from Tierra del Fuego to California called "Colombia" after Columbus.
Francisco de Miranda
Back to the first point, France was ruined. In the years after crops failed and poverty increased. In 1789 the king Louis XVI called for the General States to attempt to solve the problem with French finances, however the representants of the third state noticed how the nobility and the church always allied to block their proposals and left the meeting. The third state soon began to radicalise and recruit common people for their cause which resulted in the Taking of the Bastille and a revolution that installed a constitutional monarchy. Liberal ideas began to spread across Europe now that the greatest absolute monarchy had fallen. The prime minister of Spain, José Moñino y Redondo, the Count of Floridablanca blocked the border with France to impede the flow of liberal ideas to Spain. In 1792 the king was discovered while attempting to flee France for Austria and the liberals accused him of treason while all of Europe declared war to France. France managed to fend off some initial attacks and obtained a crushing victory in the Battle of Valmy on September 20th 1792. A day later Louis XVI was forced out of the throne and executed on January 21st 1793, which caused outrage across Europe. This caused the Spanish monarch, Charles IV to declare war to the French Republic and named the old general Antonio Ricardos as captain general of Catalonia. Ricardos crossed the Pyrenees on April 17th 1793. Ricardos was a brilliant commander who routed the revolutionary French multiple times, notably at Céret and then surrounded and captured the impressing Fort de Bellegarde. Due to the harsh terrain and the low number of troops Ricardos couldn't continue pushing. His subordinates were overall incompetent but Ricardos' interventions helped push the French all the way to the fortified town of Collioure on December 20th 1793. Then Ricardos left for Madrid to pledge for more reinforcements as king Charles refused to send them, he caught a cold in the travel and died of pneumonia on March 13th 1794 without receiving any reinforcements. His somewhat capable successor, Alejandro O'Reilly died ten days later leaving the Spanish army uncommanded or in hands of incompetent minds who caused the Spanish forces to get expelled out of France in 1794. France invaded Spain proper later on without much success due to the aforementioned reasons, capturing Roses on February 4th 1795 and the subsequent Peace of Basel by which Spain ceded the eastern half of Santo Domingo to France and the new Prime Minister, Manuel de Godoy, decided to ally with France against Britain.
Portait of Antonio Ricardos, by Goya
Betrayal and national awakening
Pursuiting his goals of maintaining the alliance with France, Manuel de Godoy declared a short war with Portugal called as the "War of the Oranges" due to some oranges she sent to the queen (some say the queen cheated the king with Godoy) and Spain annexed Olivença while forcing Portugal to stablish a blockade on British trade, though they never did. That's why Napoleon proposed a second invasion of Portugal in 1807. Charles accepted French troops to enter Spain to prepare for the invasion and Portugal was swiflty conquered and divided into three kingdoms, one for Godoy himself. However the French troops began to place themselves in strategical parts of Spain and went to directions opposite to that of Portugal such as Zaragoza. The French forced their entrance on fhe fort of Pamplona and the city of Barcelona. Many began to question what Charles and Godoy had done. Charles finally noticed that the French were not here in a friendly mood and tried to leave for America just as the Portuguese royal family did. His son, Ferdinand, an ambitious and mentally handicapped man noticed this and led the people to the town of Aranjuez where Charles was preparing to leave. The mob surrounded the palace and Ferdinand insisted that his father was responsible for the French presence and Charles was forced to abdicate. Godoy was found rolled in a turf in the upper levels of the palace on March 19th 1808. Ferdinand relied on Napoleon for support and agreed to meet with him on Bayonne. His father was also going there, along with most of the family, except for the young prince Francisco de Paula, who was a kid back then. In Bayonne, Ferdinand re-abdicated on his father and Charles abdicated on Napoleon who ceded the throne to his brother Joseph.
Godoy during the War of the Oranges, by Goya
The French Army entered Madrid on May 2nd looking for Francisco de Paula, however the people refused to let the French soldiers enter the palace, so the French fired on the crowd and a brutal street battle ensued on the streets of Madrid in which the Spanish Army decided to ignore the events. The people were massacred the day after, the same day that the mayor Móstoles issued a proclaim in which he stated "War with the French! War without truce, people or king!". All of Spain shaked against the French rule with the imperial soldiers being forced to fight civilians to take each town. Murat ordered his army to march south to Andalusia, being ambushed in the way in the town of Valdepeñas, in which the women of the town led a charge against the French forces, managing to repel them but the French eventually got the upper hand and burnt the entire town. In the meantime, as Spain had no official government several Juntas were formed all across Spain. Floridablanca took control of that of Murcia and led a coalition Junta in Seville, who scrambled to build an army. In the north the French were defeated in Valencia after a popular uprising, The Bruch and laid siege to the fortress of Zaragoza. Again, the population sided completely with the defenders and the French failed to take the city and retreated towards Navarre. In Andalusia, the general Francisco Javier Castaños manaed to trap the French in the hills of Bailén, and after three days of combat marshal Dupont was defeated and captured. That was the first time an imperial army was defeated, and not only defeated, but completely anihilated. Castaños entered Madrid, abandoned by Joseph and pulled all the way to the Ebro river.
Defensa del parque de Monteleón
Napoleon could not stand such an humilliation and decided to led the army into Spain personally. The forces of Castaños and Palafox (commander of Aragon) had placed themselves in Tudela and the banks of the Quelles river. Castaños expected to lure Napoleon into thinking his army was in a bad shape and allow the French to cross the river, and then Palafox's army would strike the back of the French army from the other side. Palafox refused to accept that plan, insiting in that a defeat would result in the fall of Aragon, to which Castaños replied "Spain! We must defend Spain!" Palafox's stubborness to accept Castaños' orders continued for days until the French surprised them and routed them both. The French went south towards Madrid and in November 30th 1808 the Polish cavalry managed to cross the range of Somosierra and Napoleon entered Madrid on December 4th. Sixteen days later Zaragoza itself was besieged again, with Palafox trapped inside. He refused to surrender and the battle became the most brutal Europe had seen in centuries. This is how marshal Jean Lannes described it:
"I've never seen such bitterness as that proven by our enemies in the defense of this place. Women let themselves be killed in front of the trenches. It's necessary to organise an assault for each house. The siege of Zaragoza has nothing in common with our previous wars. This is a terrifying war. The city burns from it's four corners right now, and hundreds of bombs rain over it, but nothing is enough to intimidate it's defenders... What a war! What a men! A siege in each street, a mine under each house. Being forced to kill so many brave, or better said so many furious men! This is terrible. Victory is not worth it."
Batalla en el convento de Santa Engracia
Revolution under siege
After that last stand most of Spain gradually fell to the French offensive. The Junta of Seville absorbed all others to form the Junta Suprema Central (Supreme Central Junta), but were forced out of the city and retreated to the port of Cádiz, and then to the Island of the Lions. There the Junta decided to stablish a full government organism and began to write a constitution, which was published on 1812. The constitution essentially stated that Spain was to be a constitutional monarchy in which the people received the right to express freely. The constitution also stated that "Spanish of both hemispheres are equal and shall be considered as thus", which essentially meant that Spain further integrated the colonies into the mainland (they already were, as the American territories were kingdoms within the Hispanic Monarchy with the same rights and duties as those in Iberia and not colonies in the English way, but oh well, it's easier to explain it this way). However there was no monarch to rule as Charles moved to Parma, the land of his wife, and Ferdinand was trapped by Napoleon in Valençay. There, Ferdinand enjoyed a great life, he organised parties and dinners. Ferdinand deeply admired Napoleon despite all his subjects had declared war to him, if at least the Spanish knew for what kind of king they were fighting...
¡Viva la Pepa!
Spain did not fight alone as a British army commanded by Arthur Wellesley landed in Portugal and cleaned the country of French troops in 1808 and then again in 1810. The Royal Navy helped the Spanish in Cádiz by impedint the French to assault the city. Wellesley's forces, along with Portuguese and Spanish forces managed to inflict a half-victory in Talavera de la Reina despite the Spanish reticence to fight in Sunday, however Wellesley decided to retreat and give up all progress maden in 1811. When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 the Coalition troops managed to push back the French, capturing Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca and Badajoz, while the French captured Valencia after two sieges and annexed Catalonia into their empire. When the French invasion of Russia turned out to be a disaster the French found themselves in an unsustainable position in Iberia and began to lose ground through the rest of 1812 and 1813, culminating with the Battle of San Marcial on August 31st 1813, which saw the Coalition forces reach the Pyrenees. While the French Empire was collapsing Napoleon signed with Ferdinand VII the Treaty of Valençay, which recognised him as king of Spain and promised that all French troops would leave Spain, but they didn't. Ferdinand reached Spain through the port of Valencia on May 24th 1814, where he published the "Manifest of the Persians" in which he declared void all political activites that had happened in Spain in his absence and restoring the absolutist monarchy. This would eventually trigger a series of uprisings and conflicts that would leave Spain in a state of chaos for years.
Arthur Wellesley, later known as the Duke of Wellington
The country was destroyed by the war, 10% of the population died, the government had collapsed, foodstocks were empty and the local industry had been completely destroyed (both by the French and British. British soldiers sacked and burned multiple Spanish towns). The fleet was non-existant, the royal trasure had disappeared, most of the Spanish artistic legacy had vanished and the American possessions were in open rebellion. The country was ruined and thrown away from it's status as a premier world power, and it would take many decades before Spain's former greatness could be restored. That, if the empire survived the unrest in America...
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So the world ends up with 2 South Americas instead of just one?The life of Juan Fernández was an exciting one. Born in Cartagena, Murcia between 1528 and 1530. Being born in the major port of Castile in the Mediterranean he promptly grew an interest in sailing. He was promoted to captain and major pilot sometime in the 1550's and in the 1560's he was sent to the Vicerotalty of Peru, where he was destined to the Captaincy General of Chile to serve as a member of the navy along with Juan Jufré and Hernando de Lamero. Fernández's first success was the discovery of a route that avoided the Humboldt Current in 1574, shortening the time needed to sail from Lima to Valparaíso from six months to thirty days, being unofficially nicknamed as "The wizard of the Pacific" after this. By that time his collegue Juan Jufré had conquered the region of Cuyo (westernmost central Argentina), assuring it for the Captaincy General of Chile under the rule of Melchor Bravo de Saravia.
However his discoveries would not stop there. While in a talk with Jufré, he proposed him to send an expedition to some islands that he discovered during his trip from Lima to Valparaíso (named Juan Fernández islands after him), however Fernández was far more interested in the theoretical Terra Australis Incognita, a landmass that supposedly existed to counterbalance the unequal distribution of the continents in both hemispheres. Jufré supported him and talked with the Captain General of Chile, which agreed to support him. However the Viceroy of Peru, Francisco Álvarez de Toledo refused to find an expedition there and only allowed the expedition to reach the Juan Fernández Islands. Fernández and Saravia secretely kept funding an expedition to sail further beyond the islands without the consent of the Viceroy.
Portait of Juan Jufré, sadly there is none of Juan Fernández
The expedition set sail around late February 1576 and by April, after a single month of travel using southern currents, Juan Fernández reached an island of considerable proportions, that he described as "mountainous, fertile, with strong-flowing rivers, inhabited by white peoples, and with all the fruits necessary to live". His interest grew and decided to try to surround it and check if it was truly the Southern Continent or just an island slightly bigger than those he sighted in Polynesia. He surrounded the entire North Island of New Zealand and while doing so he contacted the native maoris (or Maoríes in Spanish) and traded some goods with them, proving that natives were more advanced than those sighted in other islands or even in some areas America proper. The island he found turned out to be huge, in fact, bigger than the whole of Polynesia put together, and he sighted another island which seemed as big as the North Island right south of it. The natives called the island Aotearoa, which the Spanish deformed into Ateroa, and claimed it for the Spanish crown.
Fernández set sail back to Chile in August 1576 with a reasonably well-made map of the island and how to reach it. When he came back he met with the new governor, Rodrigo de Quiroga and Jufré, with the latter initially refusing to publish the discovery out of fear for reprisals coming from Peru as the expedition was not allowed by the Viceroy. Fernández showed him some of the items he took from the island. He accepted to publish it, but not before the Viceroy of Peru was quietly informed of the discovery. Fernández announced the discovery and the viceroy ordered him to go to Lima for an audience with him. In the talks, the viceroy stated no interest in the island, even with the gifts Fernández brought to him. However during his time in Lima he gained the confidence of some nobles, including that of Martín Enríquez de Almanza, which was promoted to Viceroy after de Toledo's death in 1581.
De Almanza agreed to finance an expedition and to fund a colony in the island while Juan Jufré, who had died in 1578 in Santiago expressed many times his intentions to support Fernández, and thus he reserved a part of his fortune to lend it to him should a second expedition happen. Fernández agreed to incorporate whatever he discovered to the Viceroyalty of Peru, but due to the alleged sheer distance he would be granted the tittle of Captain General and ownerships of the territory subject to the Viceroy and the King. The expedition set sail sometime around March and April 1582, and it reached the island in July. Fernández and his expedition sailed northwards until they found a bay [1] which could be suitable for a colony. He landed there with 50 colonists and 120 indians and named the colony as Medina de Ateroa [2], after Jufré's home town, Medina de Rioseco.
The colony thrived as the climate allowed for crops to grow normally and the native maoris were initially receptive to trade, even if relations deteriorated as time passed. In November, Fernández sent a ship back to Lima stating that the colony had been successfully founded and the location could be suitable for a permanent presence. The Viceroy of Peru died in 1583 before he had news of the expedition and was succeded temporarily by Cristóbal Ramírez de Cartagena, a member of the Audiencia which proved very supportive of Fernández's expedition. He was quickly replaced by a new Viceroy, Fernando Torres de Portugal y Mesía, another of Fernández's friends in Lima which sent an expedition in 1586 to stablish permanent contact with Fernández's colony, which had reached a total population of 150 people (initial deaths had stopped and it had started to grow again sometime around 1585). The expedition also brought needed materials and 30 furhter Indians to assist in the expansion of the colony.
The Spanish had effectively assured a grip on a new territory, the real magnitude of which they only started to imagine.
From now on the TL will be more general, as the colonisation progress is rather slow and the POD doesn't really affect much of the world until some decades to a century pass. Next update will focus in other Spanish expeditions in Oceania.
[1] OTL Plenty Bay
[2] OTL Tauranga
A day in Santiago de Chile
First of all sorry for being late. I had university stuff to do and lost momentum on this TL. I will experiment with a more conversation-like chapter this time.
-Gentlemen, as you all know the occupation of Chile has continued despite our valiant efforts to fight for our freedom. When that damned Osorio took Santiago many of us crossed the Andes heading to the invicted Buenos Aires, among them our liberator, Bernardo O'Higgins, which seems to have found a good friend in a Platinean caudillo which also happens to be a member of this Lodge, José de San Martín. I've heard news that an army is amassing in the east side of the Andes and it will march all the way from San Juan to Santiago, probably in January next year.
Tomás Guido continued.
-As my companion said, San Martín's army is ready to cross the Andes. As far as we know his army outweights the Spanish one in Chile and he plans to cross the mountains from different points to confuse and further disperse the Royalists. They will stand no chance unless a miracle of some sort happens.
-A miracle, huh? - Said Pedro de Luna - I guess our friend Henríquez knows about them. Isn't he a priest.
-Indeed I am, Luna - Henríquez replied -. Once upon a time the Spanish were stuck in a little island known as Empel, isolated and surrounded by the Dutch Fleet. While building some trenches a soldier found a portait of Mary of the Immaculate Conception. They thought it was a divine singal. During that night the river froze and the soldiers defeated the Dutch navy, to which the Dutch commander replied "I have no doubt that God is Spanish". However these times are over. If God supports someone, it is definetely our side. We are Spanish after all. Well, Spanish in Chile.
Balcarce then took a piece of paper from his pocket and opened it:
-This is a letter from San Martín. I'll proceed to read this proclaim as it follows:
Chileans, friends and compatriots!
The army under my command comes to liberate you from the tyrants that opress this precious ground. I entender when I think about the reciprocal joy of hugging so many families privated from the happiness of their fatherland, or for a violent expulsion, or due to a necessary emigration. The calm possesion of their homes is for me an interesting object. You can accelerate that sweet moment readying yourselves to cooperate with your liberators, which shall receive with most cordiality to those who want to join them for such a great enterprise. The troop is well disciplined and has respect for the religion, the properties and the honour of every citizen. It's not within our judge to examinate opinions: we know fear and afert start many times the most lost feelings of the heart. I swear in my honour and for the independence of our beloved fatherland that nobody will be repulsed when presenting. The soldier shall join our forces with the same distinction as those who form them, and with a special prize for those who brought arms. The hospitalarian countryman and auxiliator of the army will be greeted for his merit and will have the greet of his brothers...
At this point Luna's blood was boiling in anger. "Who do they think they are to decide over those who voluntarily sided with the king", he thought. Disobeying his impulses to leave the place knowing he would be executed at any time, he kept listening.
the smallest insult will be severely punished. I promise that none will happen under American flags, and he'll regret too late and without resource those who offends them. Those are the feelings of the Supreme Government of the United Provinces in South America whish sends me, throwing a principal part of his forces to break the bloodened chains that link you to the infamous carriage of the tyrants; it is mine and those of my brethren in the campaign. She (the campaign) starts to save you. Generous Chileans! Answer to the cry of those who defy death for the fatherlands' freedom!
Everyone clapped. Luna reacted quickly and started to clap aswell. He proceeded to ask if someone knew the mountain passes San Martín's army was to use, to which he replied with an affirmative reply. The meeting continued for another hour in which Luna managed to keep calm enough. "If Osorio was here, no crossing would happen". He thought many times during the meeting. Close to the end of it Ignacio Centeno told him that it would be a good idea to liberate Australia and the Fernandines too once Chile and Peru fell. Luna stated that it would be marvelous, and he left the meeting saying "the extreme joy of this moment is threatening my emotions, I must depart". Luna walked away, convinced that no one noted he was a spy working for the crown. He proceeded to go to the palace of the governor, which at the time was Casimiro Marcó del Pont. He asked for a private meeting with him, which was conceded. In the meeting Luna told the governor about the Lodge and the plan to invade Chile. Del Pont was initially skeptic, but Luna had an hability to convince people into trusting him, he entered the Lautaro Lodge after all. Del Pont agreed to mobilise the army and place campaign artillery in the designated mountain passes. Luna also warned him of the place where the Lodge meeting took place and of the members that were in it, asking Del Pont to seize the building while most of them were in a meeting a week later, and so he did. The Lautaro Lodge in Chile was beheaded in a single hit.
Luna then proceeded to sent a letter to Osorio. While in Australia he had been preparing an army, at the moment he was at the Fernandines with an army of 20,000 men, and was ready to set sail to Chile. At the time Luna didn't notice, but his actions had changed the course of America's history forever...
Santiago de Chile, 16th November 1816
Pedro de Luna, son of Alejandro de Luna (founder of Nueva Andalucía in Australia) was invited to go inside the building. It was heavily guarded by paramilitary dressed as royalist soldiers. Inside were several members of the Lautaro Lodge, a clandestine organisation with diverse ideas, one of them was liberating South America from the Spanish yoke. If that meeting had happened a couple of years before Pedro would have fully supported them, but since the viceroy of Peru expelled Mariano Osorio (the man who re-conquered Chile for the Spanish crown) to Australia his political views switched. In his meetings Osorio told him about the importance of keeping Spain united and that dividing the empire would bring nothing but misery to the nations that emerged from it. He initially disagreed, having been in Buenos Aires, a city that seemed to have improved since the Revolution of 1808, but after months of discussion, he understood Osorio's point. During his time in Buenos Aires he joined the Lodge hoping to assist the rebels in securing their independence and maybe, one day, liberate Australia too. No one in the Lodge knew they were about to let a spy enter the spider web. The first to talk was Antonio José Balcarce:
-Gentlemen, as you all know the occupation of Chile has continued despite our valiant efforts to fight for our freedom. When that damned Osorio took Santiago many of us crossed the Andes heading to the invicted Buenos Aires, among them our liberator, Bernardo O'Higgins, which seems to have found a good friend in a Platinean caudillo which also happens to be a member of this Lodge, José de San Martín. I've heard news that an army is amassing in the east side of the Andes and it will march all the way from San Juan to Santiago, probably in January next year.
Tomás Guido continued.
-As my companion said, San Martín's army is ready to cross the Andes. As far as we know his army outweights the Spanish one in Chile and he plans to cross the mountains from different points to confuse and further disperse the Royalists. They will stand no chance unless a miracle of some sort happens.
-A miracle, huh? - Said Pedro de Luna - I guess our friend Henríquez knows about them. Isn't he a priest.
-Indeed I am, Luna - Henríquez replied -. Once upon a time the Spanish were stuck in a little island known as Empel, isolated and surrounded by the Dutch Fleet. While building some trenches a soldier found a portait of Mary of the Immaculate Conception. They thought it was a divine singal. During that night the river froze and the soldiers defeated the Dutch navy, to which the Dutch commander replied "I have no doubt that God is Spanish". However these times are over. If God supports someone, it is definetely our side. We are Spanish after all. Well, Spanish in Chile.
Balcarce then took a piece of paper from his pocket and opened it:
-This is a letter from San Martín. I'll proceed to read this proclaim as it follows:
Chileans, friends and compatriots!
The army under my command comes to liberate you from the tyrants that opress this precious ground. I entender when I think about the reciprocal joy of hugging so many families privated from the happiness of their fatherland, or for a violent expulsion, or due to a necessary emigration. The calm possesion of their homes is for me an interesting object. You can accelerate that sweet moment readying yourselves to cooperate with your liberators, which shall receive with most cordiality to those who want to join them for such a great enterprise. The troop is well disciplined and has respect for the religion, the properties and the honour of every citizen. It's not within our judge to examinate opinions: we know fear and afert start many times the most lost feelings of the heart. I swear in my honour and for the independence of our beloved fatherland that nobody will be repulsed when presenting. The soldier shall join our forces with the same distinction as those who form them, and with a special prize for those who brought arms. The hospitalarian countryman and auxiliator of the army will be greeted for his merit and will have the greet of his brothers...
At this point Luna's blood was boiling in anger. "Who do they think they are to decide over those who voluntarily sided with the king", he thought. Disobeying his impulses to leave the place knowing he would be executed at any time, he kept listening.
the smallest insult will be severely punished. I promise that none will happen under American flags, and he'll regret too late and without resource those who offends them. Those are the feelings of the Supreme Government of the United Provinces in South America whish sends me, throwing a principal part of his forces to break the bloodened chains that link you to the infamous carriage of the tyrants; it is mine and those of my brethren in the campaign. She (the campaign) starts to save you. Generous Chileans! Answer to the cry of those who defy death for the fatherlands' freedom!
Everyone clapped. Luna reacted quickly and started to clap aswell. He proceeded to ask if someone knew the mountain passes San Martín's army was to use, to which he replied with an affirmative reply. The meeting continued for another hour in which Luna managed to keep calm enough. "If Osorio was here, no crossing would happen". He thought many times during the meeting. Close to the end of it Ignacio Centeno told him that it would be a good idea to liberate Australia and the Fernandines too once Chile and Peru fell. Luna stated that it would be marvelous, and he left the meeting saying "the extreme joy of this moment is threatening my emotions, I must depart". Luna walked away, convinced that no one noted he was a spy working for the crown. He proceeded to go to the palace of the governor, which at the time was Casimiro Marcó del Pont. He asked for a private meeting with him, which was conceded. In the meeting Luna told the governor about the Lodge and the plan to invade Chile. Del Pont was initially skeptic, but Luna had an hability to convince people into trusting him, he entered the Lautaro Lodge after all. Del Pont agreed to mobilise the army and place campaign artillery in the designated mountain passes. Luna also warned him of the place where the Lodge meeting took place and of the members that were in it, asking Del Pont to seize the building while most of them were in a meeting a week later, and so he did. The Lautaro Lodge in Chile was beheaded in a single hit.
Luna then proceeded to sent a letter to Osorio. While in Australia he had been preparing an army, at the moment he was at the Fernandines with an army of 20,000 men, and was ready to set sail to Chile. At the time Luna didn't notice, but his actions had changed the course of America's history forever...
That's quite the point, except Spain has a problem regarding that. The monarchs, since Charles IV all of them until the Glorious Revolution have been utterly terrible, having some kind of supernatural power to fuck things up (in the case of Isabella II, literally, she was nymphoman). However, I already thought a way to solve that ; )
Counter-AH: Drake's Disaster
This is an experiment of mine. Essentially a "what if?" inside a "what if'", or Counter-AH, for shorter. It's easy to understand. Tell me if you like, I have a second one regarding the Revolutionary Spain chapter. Oh, btw, I'm really procrastinating regarding the upcoming battle in the Andes, somehow writing about the wars in America is draggind me down.
After his success in the Panama raid, sir Francis Drake decided to start an adventure to circumnavigate the globe and start a corsair campaign on Spanish ships, primarily trying to attack the Spanish trade in the Pacific, which was expected to be totally unguarded. His fleet of three ships sailed around the southern tip of South America however the strong winds and overall terrible sailing conditions ended up wrecking one of the ships and forcing other to sail back to England, leaving Drake's fleet with a single ship, the Pelican. He insited on crossing into the Pacific and sailing north in search of potential trasure. Some time around October 1578 his ship pased by Mocha Island, where he was seriously hurt by the local Mapuches. He decided to attempt to sack the city of Valdivia at some dozens kilometers to the north. However luck would prove to remain constant during his voyage, as on October 28th he witnessed a fleet coming from the Fernandines. His only ship was fast, but without a proper knowledge of the currents and winds of the region he wouldn't scape. On the night of December 2nd he was finally reached by a single Spanish ship. Drake refused to surrender his ship and tried to fight, but the Spanish cannons proved too powerful for his own ship to hold and the Pelican sank after 40 minutes of bombardment. Drake would survive a bomb almost hitting him, but the explosion left him unconscious and he drowned with the ship. The English would only know about his deceased sailor in 1584.
Initially this had limited impact on the world compared to TATL (This Alternate TimeLine aka "Where the Sun never sets"). However everything changed in 1587. With Drake dead his expedition to Cádiz (April-July 1587) never happens. Without this attack the Spanish fleet doesn't lose a big amount of ships and supplies, enabling the Armada to set sail on 1587 as planned. The fleet, under the command of the unbeaten admiral Álvaro de Bazán succeded in encountering the English fleet in Plymouth and Southampton, scoring two decisive victories that cleaned the channel of English forces. Then he proceeded to sail to Calais to board the Army of Flanders.
I myself made a map regarding a succesful armada which describes the campaign, just change 1588 for 1587 and "Marquis of Medina-Sidonia" for "Álvaro de Bazán".
After his success in the Panama raid, sir Francis Drake decided to start an adventure to circumnavigate the globe and start a corsair campaign on Spanish ships, primarily trying to attack the Spanish trade in the Pacific, which was expected to be totally unguarded. His fleet of three ships sailed around the southern tip of South America however the strong winds and overall terrible sailing conditions ended up wrecking one of the ships and forcing other to sail back to England, leaving Drake's fleet with a single ship, the Pelican. He insited on crossing into the Pacific and sailing north in search of potential trasure. Some time around October 1578 his ship pased by Mocha Island, where he was seriously hurt by the local Mapuches. He decided to attempt to sack the city of Valdivia at some dozens kilometers to the north. However luck would prove to remain constant during his voyage, as on October 28th he witnessed a fleet coming from the Fernandines. His only ship was fast, but without a proper knowledge of the currents and winds of the region he wouldn't scape. On the night of December 2nd he was finally reached by a single Spanish ship. Drake refused to surrender his ship and tried to fight, but the Spanish cannons proved too powerful for his own ship to hold and the Pelican sank after 40 minutes of bombardment. Drake would survive a bomb almost hitting him, but the explosion left him unconscious and he drowned with the ship. The English would only know about his deceased sailor in 1584.
Initially this had limited impact on the world compared to TATL (This Alternate TimeLine aka "Where the Sun never sets"). However everything changed in 1587. With Drake dead his expedition to Cádiz (April-July 1587) never happens. Without this attack the Spanish fleet doesn't lose a big amount of ships and supplies, enabling the Armada to set sail on 1587 as planned. The fleet, under the command of the unbeaten admiral Álvaro de Bazán succeded in encountering the English fleet in Plymouth and Southampton, scoring two decisive victories that cleaned the channel of English forces. Then he proceeded to sail to Calais to board the Army of Flanders.
I myself made a map regarding a succesful armada which describes the campaign, just change 1588 for 1587 and "Marquis of Medina-Sidonia" for "Álvaro de Bazán".