The next few years will see the TL radically change, setting the pattern for the overall future.
Why the Chinese play cricket (an Imperial Federation timeline)
- Thread starter Miss Construction
- Start date
Oct-Dec 1901: Chinese Junk
~Oct-Dec 1901: Chinese Junk
October 1901: As part of Lord Salisbury's government's commitment to 'Tory Democracy,' Home Secretary oversees the passage of the Factories and Workshops Act. The new act is the most substantial alteration to factories legislation since the Factories and Workshops Act of 1878. The new law introduces a raft of safety provisions, reduces the maximum allowable working hours from 60 to 50 over six days, and prohibits the employment of anyone under the age of 15. The act also increases the number of compulsory public holidays from two full and eight half days to three full and ten half days. However it also includes provision for workers to surrender one full and two half days in return for a penal rate of time and a half pay.
October 1901: Since 1880, responsibility for regulating education in India has fallen to the Provincial Assemblies. This has resulted in a vast difference in the level and quality of education in the various parts of India, particularly in the Princely State, with the situation in the Princely State of Hyderabad being particularly dire. In an effort to provide a more consistent system while retaining the autonomy of the Provinces in this matter, Viceroy Lord Curzon calls a conference to discuss the matter. The conference will include representatives from all provinces, the 42 major Princely states and all leading Indian educational institutions. The conference will result in a set of guidelines known as the Curzon Code intended to provide a framework for education throughout India. The guidelines include free compulsory education to the age of 11, subsidised education until 15, decreased reliance on entrance examinations for higher education along with less adherence to British norms in such examinations, a commitment to secular education in government schools, and compulsory teaching of English until the age of 11. The conference will result in a major improvement in the quality of education throughout much of India.
October 1901: With the additional troops now being deployed to the theatre from the Philippines, the US finally begin to gain the upper hand over the insurgency in Cuba. However fierce opposition to US control remains with both the Cubans and US committing atrocities in the conflict.
October 1901: While the Royal Navy has been well aware of the military potential of submarines for some time, they have deliberately avoided embarking on any program of submarine development, fearing any such program might encourage other nations to develop such vessels. However with both the French and US now commissioning effective operational submarines the Admiralty feels there is no choice but for the Royal Navy to develop their own submarines. With no British company having any experience in submarine construction Vickers licences the design of the Holland type from the Electric Boat Company in the US, with pans to build five such submarines. The design is a slightly improved version of the USS Holland, seven of which are also being constructed in the US as the Plunger class.
November 1901: In order to meet the requirements of the Melbourne Doctrine, the Australian Immigration Restriction Bill is modified removing any specific mention of 'race.' Instead a 'literacy' test may be imposed on potential permanent residents and a new five year temporary residence visa is introduced. The literacy test may be imposed on any potential permanent resident within a year of entry into Australia and require them to say a 50 word phrase in any European language. However the test will be a deliberate trap, with the test administered in a language it is known the person being tested will fail, therefore excluding any potential migrant the government feels is 'unsuitable.'
November 1901: With the the Southern Qing now having a desperate need to train and equip a new army, the Emperor has issue a personal appeal to the Great Powers for assistance. While most are completely unwilling to assist, the British agree to significantly increase their training mission in China, with many instructors being veterans of the Boer War and bringing the latest tactics with them. Additionally the British agree to supply 35,000 captured Boer and Ottoman 7mm Mauser rifles and 1,000 rounds of ammunition per gun for £50,000 {£50,083}. This will be followed by the US supplying 20,000 captured 7mm Spanish Mausers plus ammunition for $150,000 {£31,061}.
November 1901: The British and Dominion armies begin implementing the recommendations of the Elgin Commission. While the vast majority of the Commission's recommendations are accepted, the one noticeable exception being the increase in numbers of machine guns, which is rejected on economic grounds. Instead it is believed increased training in musketry, both in regards to accuracy and rate of fire will suffice. To this end, the allocation of rounds per man for musketry training is increased from 32 per year to the massive amount of 300 per year, a number six times greater than any other nation. However the recommendation of a separate machine gun corps is accepted with the formation of the Machine Gun Regiment taking over the current Machine Gun Troops of the Royal Artillery.
November 1901: Moderate Chinese reformer and supporter of the Guangxu Emperor Li Hongzhang dies. His position as Commander in Chief of the Southern Qing Army is assumed by his deputy Xu Yingkai. Xu almost immediately declares for the Dowager Empress Cixi, fatally undermining the Emperor's position in Northern China. Xu's defection will hand Hebei, Henan and Shandong Provinces to Northern Qing, forcing the Emperor to return to Nanjing. In an effort to stabilise the situation, the Emperor calls up additional forces from his stronghold in Southern China. However these reinforcements weaken the Emperor's position in Hubei Province allowing Northern Qing forces to seize control of the vital Hanyang Arsenal.
November 1901: After the failure of the earlier treaty regarding a canal linking the Caribbean and Pacific, US Secretary of State John Hay and British Ambassador Julian Pauncefote have attempted to work out a compromise. The news Hay-Pauncefote Treaty will retain the concept of the neutrality of any canal but allows the US to fortify the canal providing there are no more than a single fort at each end of the canal. The treaty also guarantees the British equal access to the canal in peace and war. While the new treaty will again face fierce opposition in the US Congress, it will be narrowly ratified as is in December.
December 1901: In a major blow to the Cuban Rebellion, insurgent leader Bartolomé Masó is killed in an ambush by US troops. With the death of the last remaining major leader from the Cuban resistance to the Spanish, the remaining rebels begin to fragment into various factions, making it far easier for the US to deal with the uprising.
December 1901: To meet its commitments under the Melbourne agreement the British Army needs to increase its pre Boer War strength by five cavalry and twenty three infantry battalions. As three new cavalry and eighteen new infantry battalions were already authorised in 1900, this only leaves two cavalry and five infantry battalions required. The new units are to be the two battalion King Edward's Horse, as the sixteenth regiment of line cavalry, a two battalion regiment of Welsh Guards as the fifth regiment of foot guards and four battalions of the Royal Marine Light Infantry. These RMLI battalions are to receive specialist training in amphibious warfare and are intended to form part of the Imperial Army Corps to be based in Egypt.
December 1901: The Anglo-French conference on colonial affairs is held in London. The two nations however see the conference in very different lights. French Prime Minister Waldeck-Rousseau views it as the first step in bringing the British into their Entente with Russia, while Lord Salisbury regards it simply as an opportunity to reduce the number of threats to Imperial security. Lord Salisbury's refusal to make any Imperial commitment regarding Europe results in the conference focusing solely on colonial matters. The conference is however successful in reducing colonial tensions between the two Great Powers. France agrees to support the Anglo-US 'Open Door' policy in China, recognise Siam as an independent buffer state between British India and French Indochina, and acknowledges British control of Egypt. In return the British agree to support French claims in North Africa, as well as dropping their reservation which has prevented the Suez Convention from taking legal effect.
December 1901: With the capture of Filipino resistance leader Emilio Auginaldo, the US had been expecting the Philippines Rebellion to simply petter out. This has not proved to be the case and with many US troops withdrawn due this expectation, fighting the remaining insurgents is proving difficult. In an attempt to curtail the guerillas, the US will begin establishing British style concentration camps, termed 'Protective Zones,' for the internment of Filipino civilians. While as with the British camps these will ultimately prove effective in reducing guerilla operations, they will also create similar suffering among the local population.
October 1901: As part of Lord Salisbury's government's commitment to 'Tory Democracy,' Home Secretary oversees the passage of the Factories and Workshops Act. The new act is the most substantial alteration to factories legislation since the Factories and Workshops Act of 1878. The new law introduces a raft of safety provisions, reduces the maximum allowable working hours from 60 to 50 over six days, and prohibits the employment of anyone under the age of 15. The act also increases the number of compulsory public holidays from two full and eight half days to three full and ten half days. However it also includes provision for workers to surrender one full and two half days in return for a penal rate of time and a half pay.
October 1901: Since 1880, responsibility for regulating education in India has fallen to the Provincial Assemblies. This has resulted in a vast difference in the level and quality of education in the various parts of India, particularly in the Princely State, with the situation in the Princely State of Hyderabad being particularly dire. In an effort to provide a more consistent system while retaining the autonomy of the Provinces in this matter, Viceroy Lord Curzon calls a conference to discuss the matter. The conference will include representatives from all provinces, the 42 major Princely states and all leading Indian educational institutions. The conference will result in a set of guidelines known as the Curzon Code intended to provide a framework for education throughout India. The guidelines include free compulsory education to the age of 11, subsidised education until 15, decreased reliance on entrance examinations for higher education along with less adherence to British norms in such examinations, a commitment to secular education in government schools, and compulsory teaching of English until the age of 11. The conference will result in a major improvement in the quality of education throughout much of India.
October 1901: With the additional troops now being deployed to the theatre from the Philippines, the US finally begin to gain the upper hand over the insurgency in Cuba. However fierce opposition to US control remains with both the Cubans and US committing atrocities in the conflict.
October 1901: While the Royal Navy has been well aware of the military potential of submarines for some time, they have deliberately avoided embarking on any program of submarine development, fearing any such program might encourage other nations to develop such vessels. However with both the French and US now commissioning effective operational submarines the Admiralty feels there is no choice but for the Royal Navy to develop their own submarines. With no British company having any experience in submarine construction Vickers licences the design of the Holland type from the Electric Boat Company in the US, with pans to build five such submarines. The design is a slightly improved version of the USS Holland, seven of which are also being constructed in the US as the Plunger class.
November 1901: In order to meet the requirements of the Melbourne Doctrine, the Australian Immigration Restriction Bill is modified removing any specific mention of 'race.' Instead a 'literacy' test may be imposed on potential permanent residents and a new five year temporary residence visa is introduced. The literacy test may be imposed on any potential permanent resident within a year of entry into Australia and require them to say a 50 word phrase in any European language. However the test will be a deliberate trap, with the test administered in a language it is known the person being tested will fail, therefore excluding any potential migrant the government feels is 'unsuitable.'
November 1901: With the the Southern Qing now having a desperate need to train and equip a new army, the Emperor has issue a personal appeal to the Great Powers for assistance. While most are completely unwilling to assist, the British agree to significantly increase their training mission in China, with many instructors being veterans of the Boer War and bringing the latest tactics with them. Additionally the British agree to supply 35,000 captured Boer and Ottoman 7mm Mauser rifles and 1,000 rounds of ammunition per gun for £50,000 {£50,083}. This will be followed by the US supplying 20,000 captured 7mm Spanish Mausers plus ammunition for $150,000 {£31,061}.
November 1901: The British and Dominion armies begin implementing the recommendations of the Elgin Commission. While the vast majority of the Commission's recommendations are accepted, the one noticeable exception being the increase in numbers of machine guns, which is rejected on economic grounds. Instead it is believed increased training in musketry, both in regards to accuracy and rate of fire will suffice. To this end, the allocation of rounds per man for musketry training is increased from 32 per year to the massive amount of 300 per year, a number six times greater than any other nation. However the recommendation of a separate machine gun corps is accepted with the formation of the Machine Gun Regiment taking over the current Machine Gun Troops of the Royal Artillery.
November 1901: Moderate Chinese reformer and supporter of the Guangxu Emperor Li Hongzhang dies. His position as Commander in Chief of the Southern Qing Army is assumed by his deputy Xu Yingkai. Xu almost immediately declares for the Dowager Empress Cixi, fatally undermining the Emperor's position in Northern China. Xu's defection will hand Hebei, Henan and Shandong Provinces to Northern Qing, forcing the Emperor to return to Nanjing. In an effort to stabilise the situation, the Emperor calls up additional forces from his stronghold in Southern China. However these reinforcements weaken the Emperor's position in Hubei Province allowing Northern Qing forces to seize control of the vital Hanyang Arsenal.
November 1901: After the failure of the earlier treaty regarding a canal linking the Caribbean and Pacific, US Secretary of State John Hay and British Ambassador Julian Pauncefote have attempted to work out a compromise. The news Hay-Pauncefote Treaty will retain the concept of the neutrality of any canal but allows the US to fortify the canal providing there are no more than a single fort at each end of the canal. The treaty also guarantees the British equal access to the canal in peace and war. While the new treaty will again face fierce opposition in the US Congress, it will be narrowly ratified as is in December.
December 1901: In a major blow to the Cuban Rebellion, insurgent leader Bartolomé Masó is killed in an ambush by US troops. With the death of the last remaining major leader from the Cuban resistance to the Spanish, the remaining rebels begin to fragment into various factions, making it far easier for the US to deal with the uprising.
December 1901: To meet its commitments under the Melbourne agreement the British Army needs to increase its pre Boer War strength by five cavalry and twenty three infantry battalions. As three new cavalry and eighteen new infantry battalions were already authorised in 1900, this only leaves two cavalry and five infantry battalions required. The new units are to be the two battalion King Edward's Horse, as the sixteenth regiment of line cavalry, a two battalion regiment of Welsh Guards as the fifth regiment of foot guards and four battalions of the Royal Marine Light Infantry. These RMLI battalions are to receive specialist training in amphibious warfare and are intended to form part of the Imperial Army Corps to be based in Egypt.
December 1901: The Anglo-French conference on colonial affairs is held in London. The two nations however see the conference in very different lights. French Prime Minister Waldeck-Rousseau views it as the first step in bringing the British into their Entente with Russia, while Lord Salisbury regards it simply as an opportunity to reduce the number of threats to Imperial security. Lord Salisbury's refusal to make any Imperial commitment regarding Europe results in the conference focusing solely on colonial matters. The conference is however successful in reducing colonial tensions between the two Great Powers. France agrees to support the Anglo-US 'Open Door' policy in China, recognise Siam as an independent buffer state between British India and French Indochina, and acknowledges British control of Egypt. In return the British agree to support French claims in North Africa, as well as dropping their reservation which has prevented the Suez Convention from taking legal effect.
December 1901: With the capture of Filipino resistance leader Emilio Auginaldo, the US had been expecting the Philippines Rebellion to simply petter out. This has not proved to be the case and with many US troops withdrawn due this expectation, fighting the remaining insurgents is proving difficult. In an attempt to curtail the guerillas, the US will begin establishing British style concentration camps, termed 'Protective Zones,' for the internment of Filipino civilians. While as with the British camps these will ultimately prove effective in reducing guerilla operations, they will also create similar suffering among the local population.
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Pretty much inline with OTL though the Cav eas also improved as well since they were included in the rifle practice idea lead to a lot of debate and controversy at the time with the Cav though by 1914 they were up to a point they could easily be sloted in as infantry unlike the French and German Cavalry.
Though one thing I would change is a second NCO school maybe one in the larger dominions. It was done otl it didn't last too long but its influence did.
Again in line with OTL going off my memory but I don't think the amphibious training was there in OTL also I guess they are still thinking about forming the TA.
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The death of Li Hongzhang and defection of Xu Yingkai was a massive blow, basically handing Northern China to the Xi'an. But it is very early days yet.
And the US, way more imperialistic than the OTL, so don't expect a withdrawal soon.
It is very similar to the OTL, biggest change is the formation of the MG rgt. This didn't historically happen until 1916. It will have a major impact
There is stil the Esher report to come, with yet more changes. And it's main focus is imperial integration
Yes the most radical change from the OTL is the British focus on amphibious warfare. There is no parallel. Basically the fiasco at Gaza has replaced Gallipoli.
China as at August 1901.
Base maps from Free SVG Maps and used under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial 4.0 Intentional
Base maps from Free SVG Maps and used under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial 4.0 Intentional
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Very good updates.
So it's not only cricket that they cheat at.
Yes, but the term 'some version of' is very appropriate. The events which led to it are already in motion, stretching all the way back to the Triple Intervention after the Sino-Japanese War, the Russian acquisition of Port Arthur (though ITTL, it was outright ceded not leased) and the Russian occupation of Manchuria after the Boxer War.
Basically, the clash between the two is inevitable, their Imperial ambitions run directly counter to each other. The only reason it hasn't already happened is the risk France and Germany will come in on the Russians side. But the ITTL differences will soon begin to emerge (first big change comes next year). There's actually a spoiler in the Japanese Navy fleet list I posted awhile back.
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Yepers it is. Right at the same time as the Dominions start introducing racist policies which are so mindbogglingly blatant it beggars belief they got away with it.
Unlikely to much bother the Australians either, their treatment of their indigenous populations is one of the worst (and given the competition for the category 'worst' is intense, that saying something).
But you've hit the nail smack dang on the head. The Home Nations in the OTL had a rose tinted paternalistic attitude toward racism, which led to good intentions but little change. ITTL the Home Nations are far more radically liberal. Things like 'White Australia' and the mass disenfranchisement and blatant discrimation against 'civilised natives' such as Native Americans, Indians, Africans (at least mist of them), Maori etc just won't be accepted to the Imperial government.
This of course will run headlong into the Dominions fierce determination to maintain total internal autonomy. It's already come up once and nearly strangled the Imperial Federation when it was not even in the crib yet. It will take a lot of delicate work to balance and resolve this conflict.