World War 1845

I am finding it somewhat ironic though not necessarily implausible that Wellington is so keen on a punish America. In OTL he was less than enthusiastic about the much discussed possibility of being used in the War of 1812 and threw some decidedly cold water on what he could reasonably hoped to accomplish. This attitude contributed to the softening of the British negotiators (yes, yes there other reasons as well).

As far as Russia and Alaska, I always had the impression that the Russians viewed it as a very low hanging fruit just barely edible so having it as a major factor in their view on the conflict doesn't sound right.

Otherwise much of this is impressive and I have no other top of my head contribution to make.
 
Nice pictures,

Thanks, they come from the website on NapoleonIII OTL navy I indicated earlier.

I reckon the larger sort of frigate would be the reinforcements since France is trying to affect the balance of forces in the region

That makes them quite modern ones by ITTL 1845 ( OTL, the first pair of thec lass began fleet service in early 1856 ). I suppose ITTL name would be Audacieuse class ( Imperatrice Eugenie doesn't really apply )

Here are a few characteristics from OTL, if you're interested ( the picture was from Impetueuse )


dimensions 72.21 x 14.72 x 6.63 m


déplacement 1 690 tx ; 3 765 t

vitesse 12.10 kn

effectif 530 h


propulsion (hélice, machine, voilure) 1 hélice à puits - machine à 2 cyl. Mazeline ou Creusot de 800 chn, 2 228 che rayon d'action : 2700 N à 10 n


armement 1856 : bat : 6x22cm + 30x30 N°1 - gaill : 18x30 N° 3 + 2x16cm



Yes, I am thinking the largest Egyptian ships are still sail-only,

That and the fact I'm not sure anyone ever made a steam propelled 120 guns ship. The picture I proposed was from the last sail only french 'trois-pont' OTL. I supposed Egyptian designs would be influanced by the french ITTL.
 
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1847

1847 brings convergence

The peace between France and Spain has been simply too difficult to maintain, and the combination of events in the Caribbean and the French victory at Montevideo bring events to a head

Madrid demands an apology, whilst France is secretly already in talks with the United States in anticipation of war with Spain

When Spain declares war, a French fleet descends upon Campeche and burns it, sailing away even as a lone British frigate comes to investigate

French naval support allows General Taylor to break through General Seguin's defences and advance on Campeche. The Viceroy and government flee to Matamoros, whilst the weakened defenders put up a valiant defence as General Worth digs in to starve them out

French support for the USA decides Russia, which suddenly launches a massive assault upon and from the Southern Caucasus, designed to coincide with the Franco-Egyptian relief army marching to the aid of Acre

As the Ottoman Empire wavers and sways, Austria calls once again upon the German Empire for help, but a French invasion through Northern Italy brings the war to Venice, threatening the source of Austrian naval power in the Mediterranean

In London, Wellington's government is rocked by developments, but holds firm. News from the Caribbean that French warships are stopping British merchantmen trying to enter Caracas, Havana and Campeche drives the Prime Minister to call for a vote declaring war on France. The issue is close, but the speech of the second Earl Nelson in the Lords sways enough voters to endorse the government's position

Britain is at war with France, and a month later also with Russia

The two wars have converged, and a true World War is upon us. 1847 will forever be remembered

- - -

A Franco-American fleet, with a few Russian units, confronts the British Pacific fleet in the mouth of the Colombia River

Since winning a victory over the Trans-World fleet, the British had established a base from which to send out patrols and expeditions demanding Indian recognition of their position, and Indian abandonment of agreements with the Russians or Americans

There were those amongst the fleet who point out that Indian statements are irrelevant, that the leadership will agree to whatever the most powerful force on the ground demands, and then renege on it as soon as it is gone

But in the absence of any other policy, and with news of the British success in turning the Sioux eventually filtering through, the fleet had acted as London's representatives in Oregon

So the attack of the Combined Fleet came as a shock, even though the British were aware of rumours of American warships harassing Spanish traffic off Mazatlan, and of French warships visiting Chile. Their unification, and the arrival of a couple of Russian frigates from Hawaii, had caught the British by surprise. Victorious, they had assumed that their enemies would make no serious attempt to seize control of the seas from them

Instead, the British force was attacked and destroyed in the Colombia estuary, and the Combined force took control. It would be many weeks before Europe learnt of this news

- - -

The explosion of war into the Mediterranean threw all British strategic considerations into touch. Suddenly allied by circumstance to the Austrians and Ottomans, the British had only a ghost fleet to hand after the despatch of the main body to the Americas.

Commodore Hope's shadowing of the Russians suddenly turned around into a far more deadly game, but the British acquitted themselves well, beat off the superior strength of the Russians and split between a return to Tripoli and an attempt a la Nelson to bring the Two Sicilies into the war

With the French-allied republics of Liguria, Cisalpina and Etruria all declaring war on Austria, and supplying and aiding France, the British force which retired on Naples argued vehemently for that country's accession to the anti-French alliance, even pointing out the danger the Pope was in, for all that Wellington's government was as anti-Papist as the best of them

- - -

1847 is a year when events see a growing American preponderance in the West, but an opposite force growing in the East

Kearny's occupation of Santa Fe succeeds in beating off both the Apache and General Canales' attempted relief effort. With Fredonian reinforcements, Kearny is able to return to the offensive and succeeds in severing the path between Tejas and the Californias

The Franco-American victory off the Colombia River allows forces to be brought up by sea from Manzanillo, in SW Mexico, a combination of American and Mexican units, soon reinforced by French marines from Indo-China

The latter have seen the French Indies fleet defeat and destroy the British modern, but small, China fleet, and the Qing surge back into Shanghai and towards Hong Kong in their wake. But with French intrigues within India blowing imperial rivalries into full-fledged war, France is able to devote a section of its forces to aiding the Americans in the NE Pacific

The Nez Perce and Shoshoni back down and ratify US treaties as the Franco-American expedition advances from the W coast. Hudson Bay traders retreat before them, and Fremont is able to at last effect a unification of forces, driving the last British irregulars over the horizon

Although slow, word eventually gets back to Washington of the Sioux's "betrayal" and President Houston outfits a relief expedition under Major Jefferson Davis, a veteran of the fighting around Detroit

- - -

Within Europe, 1847 would see French armies take Venice, and advance to the gates of Vienna. The Two Sicilies would refuse to help Britain, and the British fleet would be forced to fall back on Spanish Oran for succour

The German Empire would remain paralysed, even as Russian armies advanced into the Ottoman Empire both from Anatolia and through the Principalities

The Franco-Egyptian armies, supported by their combined fleets, would begin to fight back and retake the initiative

In London, Prime Minister the Duke of Wellington would find himself increasingly isolated

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
18

What makes of 1848 the year to remember above all others ?

Is it Britain's final appreciation that it was at war with Russia ?

Was it Austria's last-ditch defence against the armies of France ?

Was it the rapid collapse of the Ottoman centre ?

No, it was more likely the revolutionary events within Europe, events that seemed to emerge from the flanks and refuse to go away

---

Even as British naval forces ravaged the Baltic, British marine contingents landed at Reval and at Kronstandt, fighting the defenders to a standstill, even as this happened, the major uprisings were beginning in cities across the continent

Frankfurt, Dresden, Leipzig, Kassel, Brunswick, Hannover all fell in a matter of days. German Empire forces were paralysed, the emperor a prisoner of his own people, the Electors plunged into chaos by revolution. Frankfurt had failed, and the people were taking things into their own hands

---


But 1848 was a year of many different events

Russian armies advanced on Erzerum even as British naval forces bombarded Saint Petersburg

Franco-Egyptian armies took Smyrna and advanced on Istanbul, even as British forces from Tripoli laid siege to Alexandria, despite French raids on Tripoli itself, and upon Oran the Anglo-Spanish supply base in the West of the Mediterranean

The Battle of Adrianople would prove decisive, an Ottoman rout, a Russian victory, but neither Britain nor France able to come to the aid of their allies as they were in their own turn wracked by social revolution

Social Democrats would march through Westminster, force Wellington to flee to Oxford but Queen Charlotte I to agree to sack him and form a new government headed by Cobden


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Even as events moved quickly in Europe, the war continued in the Americas, the British navy unaware of the momentous changes afoot

Winning for itself command of the seas in the North-East, British forces, reinforced by the Duke of Cambridge's "Canadian" veterans, descended on the US coast. Boston, Portland, New Bedford were fought over, entered in triumph by the Redcoats and burnt

Hordes of refugees fled South and West, whilst President Houston, already mired in a tight electoral contest, sent army commander-in-chief Winfield Scott himself to restore American pride. But the British had learnt of the changes at home, and retired in confusion to Canadian ports. Scott could halt the tide of refugees, help them with their immediate needs, and order the state militias under his command to begin the rebuilding of the cities. He could erect and garrison forts, but with the British no longer attacking, he could neither meet them in battle, nor defeat them

Houston's broad coalition had been brought to breaking point by the events of recent months, and though neither Secretary of State Webster nor Vice President Crawford stood against him, neither man gave his full backing to the "encumbered incumbent", as the New York Times called him. The Democrat-Republicans had renominated Lewis Cass and with the breakdown of Houston's "New South" he swept the board, even winning in Vice President Crawford's home state of Georgia.

But the Whigs had adopted General Taylor as their candidate, even whilst he was busy overseeing the conquest of Campeche. Leaving General Worth in immediate command, to liaise with Kearny further West, Zachary Taylor took himself back to Washington, "on leave" as he bitingly told a reporter who questioned his absence from the army

With the voters split three ways, New England in uproar over the British raids, and the South lost, the contest became obne for the remaining states, most especially the increasingly populous "Trans-Mississippi three"


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
So this was it! Sam Houston cursed the telegraph as it brought the returns faster than ever back to the capital. Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, had already been keeping away from the White House these last few days, and Houston did not doubt that the wily old campaigner was trying to do a deal. It was definite now, it had been growing increasingly obvious all week. Huston had lost, the Third Way was dead, and Zachary Taylor, the general-turned-presidential-candidate was now the Whig president. New England and the Trans-Mississippi states had won it for him. Houston had held onto the NorthWest, if barely, but the more populous states had gone Taylor's way

Now they were entering unknown territory - an outgoing administration fighting a war, an incoming one still over three months away, but led by a former theatre commander of that war

- - -

And with Cobden now Prime Minister of Great Britain, what would British policy be ? The little news that had reached Washington from London indicated that the Radical was having his own difficulties exercising the power of his office, and that even those inclined at first to support him were become increasingly wary as his relative weakness in the face of mob rule became obvious. Neither fellow Radicals such as Bright, nor Reform-minded Tories such as Peel and Disraeli, wanted to be associated with a lame-duck administration, and Cobden was increasingly forced to trade political favours, even offices themselves, to gain the necessary support within parliament to enable him to govern


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Austria, the "biggest mess in Europe" as the London Times called her. Viceroy Josef Franz, acting as Regent with the collapse of the Imperial government, and the flight of Emperor Ferdinand and the parliament to Agram, chose to stand and fight at Vienna. With the Duke of Teschen taking on personal command of the army, sufficient force was found to prevent the French from completely encircling the capital, though General MacDonald's troops punished the defenders heavily for their success

But Vienna was not the entirety of empire. An uprising in Prague had seen Bohemia lost to the empire, a civil war raging across its towns and fields between a nationalist army, largely led by the lower nobility, and a revolutionary army, carved from the dregs of industrial society in the major cities.

Now came the news that Russian advances into Hungary had led to an uprising there, the Hungarian aristocracy leading the less-developed urban population in turning against Imperial forms, massacring that part of the Hungarian branch of the Habsburgs who had stood up to them in the viceregal palace, and declaring a National Revolution, that had Tsar Nikolai's tacit, if worried, support

But with his armies deep into Thrace and Anatolia, the Tsar could appreciate the turning of a hostile front into a potentially friendly one, and his ministers began to oversee a policy of friendly support for the Hungarians, arms and volunteers finding their way to Budapest to bolster it against any potential come-back at Imperial level

As 1848 drew to a close, the Regent and army commander, Habsburg cousins of the first rank, could hope that the New Year would bring relief, that the revoltys wracking France itself would weaken France's armies a long way from home. For hope was all they had...


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
1849

Jefferson Davis, promoted to General in view of hsi sterling work against the Sioux succeeds in the depths of Winter in securing the overland route between the American North-West and Fremont's position in Oregon. A series of battles fought in the most awful conditions sees the British-aligned Sioux take refuge North of the border, whilst pro-American elements agree a treaty with the US commander

With the retreat from Oregon, Hudson Bay Company and irregular British units have concentrated in the lands of the Assinboin, Mandan and Hidatsa, aiming to focus the allegiance of these Indian Nations whilst at the same time laying a skirmish line across the American Northern route to Oregon, but Davis' victories have secured the more Southerly route, and whilst the British action keeps their own Indian allies on side, it does nothing to impede the massive resupply for Fremont that President Houston orders as one of his last actions in government

And Fredonia is not content to stand and watch, either. President Mirabeau B Lamar wins another term in office, and recalling his Militia commander, Albert Sidney Johnston from co-operation with Kearny's American command, he outlines an ambitious plan for the conquest of the West. Replaced by Ewan Cameron as Fredonia's commander of the force operating with the USA, Johnston is free to form a second army, using French and American money to entice likely recruits, and to equip them from the US factories along the single-trackl railroad which have grown ever more as the war progressed

As Winter turns into Sping, Johnston completes his recruitment, outfitting and training. Purchasing horses from the US, and buying temporary allegiance of the Cheyenne through heavy gifts, he leads his new force West, into the Great Plains, his first task to break the Comanche and secure an opening for the white man in this theatre

And in the South, even as former theatre commander Zachary Taylor is inaugurated as president, General Worth completes the subjugation of Campeche and marches on Matamoros. Engineers under Robert E Lee survey the emergency capital of New Spain's defences and recommend a course of action that Worth is happy to agree. What could have been a long siege is turned into a stunning American triumph as Franklin Pierce's shock troops storm the defences, and the American army surges in

The Duke of Salerno barely escapes, but leaves his archives and treasury behind in his haste to abandon the city. Holing up at Monterrey, he comes under unexpected attack from a rejuvenated Mexican army under General Ampudia, and finds his haven a desperate fighting ground


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Life for the Duke of Cambridge was increasingly difficult, if not on the lines of his Spanish counterpart in New Spain. Prince Adolphus' main problem lay in the series of missives issuing out of London, and their exact legal status given the rumours that Cobden's was a government besieged by the mob.

The navy refused to undertake offensive action against orders from the Admiralty, even though the latter was headed by a non-entity and manned by second-raters who had agreed to work with the Prime Minister on promises of money. The Marines protested, the Redcoats demanded a return to the front, but increasingly the civilian infrastructure of Canada, so weakened by the supression of the revolts only a few years previously, was demanding a clear picture from London, and ignoring the ageing duke in his Ottawa palace

When news of the Sioux's defection to the American cause reached Ottawa, great was the call to heed Prime Minister Cobden's call for the beginnings of a negotiated peace to a war that the Radicals had never supported in the first place. Even though he resisted these claims, the Duke of Cambridge became clearly aware that the sentiment around him was fast changing, and was becoming dangerous to the British if they ignored what many were now openly calling "Canadian interests"

And with the Spring came Zachary Taylor's inauguration as President of the United States, and his orders to Winfield Scott to take the offensive against York, Congress voting through another huge war subsidy to this end. Lumbering and slow as he had to be, Scott took the war back into the Canadas, the Duke of Cambridge hard-pressed to meet him in battle as the latest round of government pronouncements from London were read by his troops, wearied of war and suspicious of their commander's intent

Before York, with the British slow and shallow, Winfield Scott won a dramatic victory and prepared to enter the city. Then came a telegraph from Ottawa, along the newly-expanded railroad. A ceasefire was requested, and given, though Scott would later have to answer for his actions before a congressional committee

Back in London, Cobden was becoming increasingly desperate, issuing proclamations and hoping that the recipients would obey them, even as Northern cities elected their own "Provisional Governments" and sent their representatives to London to create such a body for the whole country

Only in drawing the poison of these bodies could Cobden see any chance of saving the situation, and as their first priority was "Peace !" regardless of the cost, he bade those elements that form his government to work in that direction


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Civil war raged across many of the German states, and within the Republic of France, the presidential government had need to have recourse to deals with many Provisional Committees in industrial cities up and down the country. But it retained its hold on power, and from the president himself came the proclamation - peace would be signed, but it would be a victorious peace

General MacDonald was ordered to take Vienna and drive the Austrians into negotiations, but orders were one thing, their execution a different case altogether

Arhduke Karl Ferdinand, second Duke of Teschen, and at thirty a younger commander-in-chief than the Austrian army had ever had, was proving himself in the only way that counted in the annales of war - upon the battlefield. His makeshift army had come through the Winter, and now faced with renewed French assaults in the Spring it counter-attacked. With Viceroy Josef Franz's stirring speeches ringing in their ears, the Austrians broke through the French cordon, and sent them reeling South in a near rout before MacDonald got a hold of his forces

In Paris the news was met with shock and disbelief, in a dozen cities of the Republic it was the last straw as the Committees seized power, a wave of revolution that swept towards Paris itself. The industrialised urban poor were making themselves heard, and the artisans and peasantry no longer trusted the centre to uphold their interests. National revolution threatened, and there appeared to be no one who could step into its sights and bring it to a halt

A Bourbon plot led by young Duke of Artois did not help matters, being beaten back over the border into Baden, but convincing many that the Committees had it right when they charged that the Republic had made too many compromises, had adopted the agenda of the aristocracy, and were ignoring the poor and downtrodden in their governance of privelege

The Duke of Teschen drove the French back upon Venice, and then proceeded to raise Venetia to the Habsburg cause as MacDonald abandoned one position after another and discovered for himself that Paris was no longer capable of sustaining the war. When the Austrians appeared before Venice itself, he agreed a ceasefire, handed over the city and went into exile in the Republic of Etruria

In Vienna, Regent Josef Franz continued to exercise the power of government, ruling in the name of Emperor Ferdinand until news reached the imperial capital that the emperor had been killed in a carriage accident in Agram, his conveyance overturning whilst attempting to flee before a vicious mob. Croatia-Slavonia was in rebellion, and Josef Franz was now Emperor of Austria

He was determined that it should not be an empty title...


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
The Duke of Cambridge bows to the inevitable in late Spring and signs an armistice with General Winfield Scott, an immediate ceasefire to be followed by a lasting peace to be determined later

Increasingly missives have reached Ottawa, informing the Duke of the desperate situation developing back in Britain, and showing Cobden's government for the paper tiger that it is. Queen Charlotte I has even been moved to write to her uncle and ask for advice, the populace upon the streets of London so full of vim and hate that it is not safe for the Queen, even with a Lifeguard escort, to venture onto its streets

This last especially decides the duke. Appointing envoys to the USA, he orders his elite veteran units to take ship at Halifax, and embarks himself. Canada can go as it will, but England itself is under threat. He will not stand by and hear of its demise at second hand. Taking his fastest and best ships he sets course across the North Atlantic

In Washington there is great rejoicing. Regardless of what terms are eventually agreed, everyone understands the British evacuation as being tantamount to an acceptance of defeat. Although General Scott withdraws from York back to Buffalo, within US territory, it is with the knowledge that the Canadas cannot put up any sort of substantial defence, and with the expectation of great gains at the negotiating table

- - -

At the same time, Fredonia has not been idle

President Lamar orders General Johnston to advance, and the first task of the army is the breaking of the Comanche. It proves a long and hard campaign, even with the buying of the support of the Cheyenne for one season, and Johnston advances no further than the foothills of the Rockies, his army fighting innumerable actions against the fiercest Indians on the Great Plains

Spain itself is rapidly collapsing. Revolt in Iberia has weakened Carlos V's government, whilst New Spain is denuded of new troops and supplies because of the home country's need to concentrate on its own defence. General Worth's advance to Tampico has cut off the last remaining Caribbean port, whilst Mexican General Ampudia has besieged the Viceroy in his last bolthole of Monterrey

- - -

French forces aid the revolution upon Cuba, France's fleet now pre-eminent in the Caribbean with the Duke of Cambridge's command to the British to stand down.

But revolution in France soon brings its own woes to the French navy, a major mutiny seizing control of a dozen ships and establishing a Ships Parliament that the few remaining loyalist vessels are powerless to put down

But on Cuba the revolution cannot be stopped, Spanish forces are routed by the reinvigorated Cubans, and in May Havana falls to their forces, with much bloodshed, murder and plundering


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Even as the Duke of Cambridge signed a ceasefire with his American opposite and took ship for Great Britain, even as the French commander in the Caribbean handed over his sword, the USA was groping its way towards greatness

With no hope of relief, the Duke of Salerno requested a ceasefire, and though the Mexicans were intent on pushing their advantage, General Worth deployed his Indian Volunteer regiments against them and forced General Ampudia into seeing his point of view. Faced with fighting the Choctaw, Creek and Osage Volunteers, the Mexican saw sense though demanding a leading role for himself, all the glory of his previous victories having so far gone to boost President Santa Anna's regime, regardless of how unjust that was

The Duke of Salerno off hos own back agreed to cede Santa Fe and accept an international committee's ruling on Cuba, but American ambitions were much more than that and though the Duke eventually agreed to recognise Oregon as American, it still fell far short of what Washington was demanding

And in a sense it did not matter, anyway, for only Madrid had the power to cede territory and there Carlos V was engaged in a fight for his very survival. The twin forces of European revolution and popular dissatisfaction had come to a head when the Viceroy's surrender at Monterrey had been learned of. Now, the king's government, indeed his very survival as monarch, and perhaps even as a living being, was under threat. Civil war loomed, and there was little that Madrid could do to stop it

But the United States itself was not immune from the waves of revolution enveloping the Earth. Most especially in the industrialised cities of the South, in Virginia, in Georgia and in Mississippi, the cries of revolution rang clear. Taylor had stolen the presidency, they cried, the South had voted unanimously for the Democrat-Republican Cass, but what had it got? The Whig Taylor as president ! Something stank, and the urban populations of many cities rose as one as the Summer heat bore down

With regard to Oregon, the Russian ambassador to Washington was happy to oblige, agreeing with the Viceroy's people a final treaty transferring Spanish rights over Oregon to Russia, and then a second treaty confirming their subsequent relinquishing to the USA

But to Russia, the main front was in Europe, and momentous events were about to over-take the world


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Summer 1849 and Britain dropped out of the list of first-rate powers

Cobden's government proved unable to hold together the various furies from the multitude of fronts

When the Duke of Cambridge landed in Cardiff with a veteran force to restore order, Cobden sought out Queen Charlotte I and insisted on his resignation

For two days Britain had no government as the Commandant of London accepted orders from the Queen to defend the capital, and her uncle advanced on it with a veteran Canadian army

Then, just as things looked capable of being amicably solved by negotiation, the mob killed William, Duke of York and loosed onto the streets a revolution

- - -

The ensuring chaos was matched in Vienna, in Frankfurt and in Paris

In the former, an industrial/urban uprising in the rear of the Duke of Teschen's Venetian advance caused the commander of Austrian forces to fall back, to send some of his elite regiments hurrying back to the capital, and to give General MacDonald the chance to extricate the majority of French forces from the Adriatic city, burning the arsenal as they went

Frankfurt was a mess, a mass of rivalries, that came to a head as Europe descended into civil warfare

With Paris, London and Vienna in uproar, the Radical faction gained control of the Diet there, bringing together the popular movements from Bavaria to Hannover to Prussia. As this grouping met, so too did the monarchies attempt to come to an agreement with their revolutionary populace. Whilst successful in Hannover, this failed in both Munich and Berlin, and merged with events in Kassel, Heidelberg and Weimar, the revolutionaries began to enact legislation in the Diet

Elector Ernest Augustus of Hannover rejected the validity of this, and allied with the Swedes from Pomerania who had sent an army to ensure their control. With Danish elements agitating for Copenhagen's involvement in Holstein and Langenburg, a three-way alliance was signed between Hannover, Sweden and Denmark , establishing control of the North in the face of revolutionary uprisings all around

British forces, which in 1847 had laid siege to Saint Petersburg itself, had been withdrawn from the Baltic, leaving Swedish, Danish and Hanse forces as the arbitors there, and with the accession of Danzig and Lubeck to the Northern Alliance, the force took on a life of its own

Whilst the childless King Frederick William IV of Prussia cowered in retreat, his brother, the cold but effective Prince Karl brought his army corps into the Northern Alliance and agreed a common plan for the defeat of the revolution and the advance of the kingdoms' forces

Back in Frankfurt, Emperor Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel was slowly coming to an understanding with the revolutionaries. They desired a unitary government, and what was he but such a government in waiting ?


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
The death of the Duke of York threw London into outright civil war. Rejedcted as a move too far by the political opposition it nevertheless powered the undeclass into a full-scale rising, believing as they did that it signified the end of the grasp of the monarchy upon the country

Maybe it would have, so fierce were the sentiments, but the Lifeguards securing the Queen's person at Buckingham Palace stood firm and rebuffed a revolutionary mob

A day later, the Duke of Cambridge's advance guard entered the city, a combination of post-horses and railroads having brought them there ahead of the main body. They annihilated a revolutionary mob that dared to stand against them, and secured the person of the Queen

Two days later, by innovative use of the railways and superhuman effort, the Duke of Cambridge brought the bulk of his force into the capital, and the battle was won. There would be running street fights for many weeks, even longer terrorist campaigns, but the entry into the capital of the "Canadians" was to give Queen Charlotte a strong arm to beat her enemies with

After a fortnight of emergency rule, the Reformist Disraeli agreed to head up a government, one which would bring most of Cobden's cobbled-together administration into its ranks, and which could count on Peel, Bright and Irish support within the Commons

Its first act was to renew the commissions of the delegates to the peace talks in North America, its next to sign an alliance with their desperate cousins in Hannover


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
1849 sees Europe distracted by uprisings

Russia takes advantage of this, even the British siege of Saint Petersburg having failed to move the populace against the Tsar

As French forces drop away, and the Egyptians become bogged down by a strong Ottoman defence at Bursa, Russian forces break out of their containment at Adrianople and advance on Constantinople

Nobody can gainsay them their advantage, for nobody remains able to muster sufficient force in the face of internal revolution

Thus, as Summer 1849 sees internal battles fought in Austria, in Germany, in France, in Spain, and in Britain, it also sees Russian forces assault and take Constantinople

The following month, the Russians beat off an assault by their erstwhile allies the Egyptians, their mutual allies the French having abandoned the theatre for internal conflicts, and Russia taking the upper hand against its former allies

Mahmud II's body is found dead in the seraglio but the majority of the Osmanli royal family takes ship South, and with the Dardanelles under no fixed control makes a safe landing in Salonika


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Hi, I apologise for not writing the replies to people's very valuable comments, but I was not mentally present last night when I intended to type them; I read two novels instead, start-to-finish and still failed to get any proper sleep.

Russian interest in Alaska is not a MAJOR factor in their decision-making, but even a minor factor can be a decider if it is the straw that breaks the camel's back. As can hopefully be seen from everything I wrote Monday night and posted on Tuesday, Europe is by far the main concern of Russia, though it hopes to gain from an understanding with the USA in N America

I realise things have advanced beyond the end of the immediate war, but there are sufficient conflicts still going on to mean that no formal treaty has yet been signed, nor even agreed. That the war merges into an analogue of 1848 serves only to prolong the conflict

I have Russia and Egypt less affected by revolution, due to a combination of less widespread industrialisation on the one hand, and successful centralised rule on the other. It doesn't mean that things will stay that way permanently, of course

I do apologise that this is not as narrative or literary as I intended to be when first writing in this thread, but the Muse deserted me along with sleep, and only ideas remain


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Would Europe see the collapse of empires ?

Janina breaks away from the Ottoman Empire, the current son of Ali holding power, declaring his independence

Serbia declares itself independent, and marches on Nish

Mustafa V, son of Mustafa IV, declares himself Sultan upon his arrival in Salonika, but is immediately assailed by a Janinan army from the West

Egyptian forces finally seize Bursa after fierce Ottoman resistance

Russian forces beat off another Egyptian attempt to cross the Bosphorus, but the Egyptian navy moves to seize the Dardanelles and egress into the Sea of Marmara

Egyptian advances, however, are cut short by the news reaching them from Cairo that Mehmed Ali has died (a natural death). Said takes over as ruler, declaring himself Sultan of Egypt, and making a claim on the imperial throne in Istanbul

Hungary fights a war over Transylvania, both Wallachia and Moldavia sending forces into the former Habsburg principality in an attempt to seize it for themselves

Tsar Nikolai does nothing to stop this fighting on his flank, his advisors recommending to him to allow them to fight it out amongst themselves as a way of keeping them all occupied whilst Russian armies go about the business of completing the subjugation of the surviving Ottoman forces

From Athens, the Prince of Greece issues a grand proclamation and sends an army North to challenge Janinan control of Rumelia. It is soundly thrashed, and much of Greece rises in revolt against its own rulers

- - -

Within Germany, the Northern Alliance defeats a revolutionary army hastily brought together by the Radical Populists who now control the Frankfurt Diet

As Prussia throws its whole strength into the Alliance advance, Emperor Wilhelm (Elector of Hesse-Kassel) unites the various panicked factions within Frankfurt, and gains their agreement to his personal rule. Acting quickly, and with the backing of French forces from across the border, he brings Bavaria, Wurzburg and Regensburg fully into his orbit, and creates an army seemingly out of nowhere

Advancing separately and ahead of the main Northern Alliance body, Prince Karl's Prussians come upon this force and are checked, then thrown back. As the Swedish, Danish, Hanse and Hannoverian forces come up to their position, they have to do so through a morass of chaotic Prussians

With Winter beginning to fall, and aid from Britain falling off, the Northern Alliance digs in to hold the front, and a trench-like frontline crosses a swathe of mid-German land, with the mountains, hills and woods acting as more natural barriers on the flanks

- - -

Across the Atlantic, the United States was having its own troubles. The uprisings in the Southern industrialised cities had been suppressed by General Worth's veterans, but the fact that many of them were New Englanders, like the general himself, and that they were assisted in some places by returning Indian Volunteer regiments only added to the South's growing feeling of alienation from the Taylor regime

Meanwhile, in Topeka, the Fredonian assembly rejects any talk of annexation to the United States, hoping to argue for greater and better conditions than Zachary Taylor is first considering. However, Fredonian elections in the November elect Albert Sidney Johnson, a partisan of the outgoing Lamar, as president, and he immediately announces that Fredonia's future lies in the West, and not the East

With US forces in Tejas, and holding Sante Fe and a swathe of what had once been Northern Mexico, New Mexico and Louisiana are cut off from any recognised government. The Spanish Viceroy to the Philippines has sent a deputy to Monterey in California to erect a government there, but the sparsely-populated lands in between remain in limbo

- - -

A Spanish attempt to retake Havana fails disastrously as the revolution-wracked French warships, with their so-called Ships Parliament combine with their former foes among the Cubans to fire on the approaching Spanish transports, and decimate the only large Spanish force left in the Caribbean. When the Viceroy of Granada, back in Bogata, learns of the disaster he commits suicide

Venezuelan forces cross the border...


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
34

1850 opens with the death of the Duke of Cambridge, a combination of exhaustion and pneumonia guttering his candle in the depth of Winter

Emperor Josef Franz of Austria spends the Winter consolidating his hold on the Austrian duchies, Venetia and Dalmatia, focusing on retaining what he has in the campaigning season to come. He outfits a new fleet of steam frigates from the Venice arsenal, but the line fleet lies neglected due to privations of money, and the depredations of war upon the city

Meeting with allied leaders in Frankfurt, Emperor Wilhelm of Germany agrees that his leading supporters should be elevated to the rank of king, and the next rank down to that of Grand Duke. In agreeing to this, the Diet also votes Austria out of the Empire, an insult that Josef Franz is in no position to immediately respond to

Elector Ernst August of Hannover, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, follows suit by declaring himself to be King of Hannover, in a ceremony that Friedrich-Wilhelm IV of Prussia declares to be tawdry and ridiculous. But repeated use of his new title in despatches and proclamations, soon has the rest of the Northern Alliance agreeing to call him by it. After all, if Wurrttemburg, Baden and Wurzburg can be kingdoms, then so can Hannover

- - -

Spring brings relief to some, and additional strains to others. The Duke of Teschen reconquers Croatia-Slavonia for his emperor, whilst Hungarian moves towards Agram are beaten off

Josef Franz's diplomats sign treaties of alliance with Wallachia and Moldavia, in effect agreeing to their territorial ambitions within Transylvania in an effort to get a concerted counter-attack against the Hungarians into place

In Paris, though, the Spring only brings fresh woes. Thiers, ill and sick of heart attempts to rally Guizot's Opposition to his government, but the revolution on the streets makes any such moves pointless. Neither man has the power that the mob has, and the Spring only brings it back onto the streets. Across France, the industrialised cities see riots, running battles and revolution, all over again

As the frosts thaw, the Northern Alliance resumes its attack upon what had once been an ill-matched alliance of monarchs and populists, but has now evolved into some sort of gestalt entity. Issuing a barrage of proclamations, Emperor Wilhelm is keen to term his armies "Imperial", his rule "Imperial", the Frankfurt Diet even "Imperial" for all that it is dominated by Radical Populists and jaded revolutionaries

Aid from France having fallen away, as surely as aid from Britain has for the Northern Alliance, the Imperial German forces stand first on the defensive. Neither the Prussian-led assaults of Prince Karl, nor the combined alliance attacks of the Duke of Brunswick can break through the trenchlines, and the Imperial counter-attack soon has Alliance forces rocking on their heels

In London, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli meets daily with Her Majesty, Queen Charlotte I, and with Prince George, Prince of Wales. Army control of the capital has given way to that of handpicked Militia, and special Veterans Guards whose ranks are immune from the revolutionary verbiage still swirling around the aura of Britain's industrial cities. In several in the North, and Midlands, national rule only has nominal writ, the control of the revolutionary committees remaining unbroken, even though their mouthpieces are adopting a quieter tone after the brutal suppression of several newspapers, and magazines as an example to all

- - -

The campaigning season in the Balkans opens with a mass of seemingly contradictory moves. Greek forces, driven back by Janina now engage in a civil war against rebels whose sole goal is the fall of the prince in Athens, and his replacement by..well, they cannot agree, except that he must come from amongst their number

Janinan forces before Salonika suffer a cruel defeat when an advancing Russian army, whom they had supposed to be on the same side as them against the Ottoman remnant, attacks them instead, and drives them off West before besieging the city

Serb forces have greater success, seizing Nish and agreeing an alliance with the Russians who are advancing West across Bulgaria

Montenegrin forces, not to be outdone, attack Northern Janina, whilst in an announcement that few people immediately notice, the Republic of Ragusa declares itself to be independent

A major naval battle occurs in the Sea of Marmara, the Russian Black Sea fleet being defeated, and to a large part sunk, by the Egyptian navy which proceeds North to attempt to blockade Constantinople, but is driven off by large artillery pieces that the Russians have moved up during the Winter

A Russian attempt to take Trebizond on the Northern, Pontus, coast of Anatolia comes unstuck when a Greek rebellion within the city first overthrows the remnant Ottoman government, and then declares itself independent and leads a strong, and unexpected fightback

At the same time, the Russian army struggling West from Erzerum runs into an entirely unexpected army before Erzincan and is routed. Back in Moscow, Tsar Nikolai I will later learn that this army is a mixture of advance Egyptian units sent over the mountains as soon as the Spring thaws started, Kurdish clans whose they loyalty they have bought, and remnant Ottoman forces choosing to believe Said's claim to be the true ruler of the empire

Held together by a combination of self-interest, desperation, and hatred for the Russians, as variously applied, the army advances North towards Trebizond


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Summer 1850

Fredonian forces advance to the Great Salt Lake and claim it for their republic

Meanwhile, further South Mexico has descended into civil war as General Ampudia's attempts to overthrow President Santa Anna result in failure after a close-fought battle

Only this sudden chaos, allows the new Spanish Viceroy in Granada to withdraw the bulk of the army based in the Central American provinces, and to repel, albeit with heavy losses on both sides, the invasion from the Republic of Venezuela

In the Yucatan, a nativist rising throws off Mexican control, and declares for an independent republic

The French Ships Parliament off Havana agrees a full alliance with the self-proclaimed Republic of Cuba, gaining access to food, credit and supplies that they desperately need in so-doing. Replenished, it makes little immediate move to keep its side of the bargain

- - -

Chinese forces finally take Hong Kong after a long siege, eradicating the last foothold of Britain within China

In Vietnam too, with a palace revolution having brought a new emperor to power in Hanoi, the reach of the Europeans is weakening. An alliance with Cambodia sees the joint force drive the French back to Cochin China, and Saigon come under fire before a French counter-attack drives the Vietnamese artillery out of range

- - -

Emperor Josef Franz of Austria agrees ceasefire terms with the Cisalpine Republic which agrees to stop supplying those French forces still based upon its territory. In consequence, the remnants of MacDonald's once-great army pull back even further, into French Piedmont itself

Bohemian rebels, long beset by internal differences between the revolutionaries and the aristocracy, agree a Great Compromise under which a member of a foreign ruling dynasty will be invited to be king, and rule as a constitutional monarch with two houses of the assembly acting as a check upon him, and upon each other

Initial approaches are made to the Prince of Conde, the former Duke of Enghien

- - -

Ever wary of his backside, Emperor Wilhelm of Germany negotiates treaties of friendship with the Helvetic Republic, and with the self-declared Kingdom of Bohemia. He even sends envoys to Vienna, but they do not return

With his now-royal Bavarian allies keeping the bulk of their forces focused on the South, just in case, Wilhelm orders the Imperial army to break through Northern Alliance lines

A Polish rising in Prussian Warsaw greatly helps matters as Prussia is forced to call off a substantial part of her autonomous army to put it down

The Duke of Brunswick attempts to mould the rest into a unified force, but increasingly severe differences of opinion between Prussia, Sweden and Hannover is making this harder by the day.

Battle is joined between Alliance and Imperial forces. It lasts for three days, but by nightfall on the third day, the Alliance withdraws the battered remnants of its army Northwards

- - -

With Comanche power broken by Fredonia, and the Apache similarly having been chastised by the US, the Southern Plains see a revolution of their own. Remnants of Kiowa and Pawnee unite with the great strength of the Cheyenne and Arapaho to declare themselves free of all Spanish controls, but free also of the white man.

Unable for the moment, and unwilling to risk provoking them, President Johnson of Fredonia signs treaties of friendship with the new Great Council at their temporary base on the North Platte river. He agrees that his republic will take action to keep adventurers and fillibusterers out of what is being termed the Great Plains Confederacy, and that any trading mission will carry documents identifying that it has Topeka's sanction and permission

Seemingly satisfied, the Confederacy turns its attention to the Sioux who, with American backing, have been raiding further and further to the South

- - -

Salonika falls to the Russians, amidst scenes of indescribable carnage as the victors massacre Muslims, Jews and many Greeks alike. Only Slavs are safe, and even then there is much pillaging, raping and rampaging through their quarters of the city

- - -

Wallachian and Moldavian forces succeed in driving Hungarian forces out of Transylvania, and announce their assumption of joint rule over the province

Foreign Minister Nesselrode works tirelessly through contacts in Bucharest and Jassy to get the Principalities to agree to a comprehensive treaty. At last, through bribery and blackmail, he succeeds and in September of 1850 the Treaty of Constanta is signed

This sees the annexation of the entire Dobruja by Russia, which goes on to lay claim to all of Bulgaria, Thrace and to Salonika, recognised by Moldavia and Wallachia

In turn, Russia not only recognises their joint rule in Transylvania, but agrees to work towards the formation of a unified Rumanian state, to be bound in perpetual alliance to Russia

Back in Vienna, Emperor Josef Franz receives the news in stunned silence, then orders the treaty of alliance with the Principalities torn up. The Duke of Teschen is ordered to cease hostilities against the Hungarians, and instead to open negotiations with them

At the same time, the Emperor also orders the German envoys released from prison and informs them that he is willing to make a deal with Emperor Wilhelm and Frankfurt

- - -

The French-backed Republic of Constantine finally teeters and falls before an all-out assault from Algiers

Abd-el-Kader declares himself to be Sultan, rather than Emir, recognising the obliteration of Ottoman power with the slaughter of the imperial family at Salonika. He immediately pays a mixed bag of international aides to pick over the Constantine railway and see what can be learnt, and what lessons applied to the rest of Algiers

- - -

King Carlos V finally regains control of the majority of Spain after many long months of civil war. Trouble still remains in the Basque provinces, and in parts of Catalonia, but the majority of the country is finally able to unite behind Madrid. He is shocked to see just how tattered, bankrupt and forelorn it is.

His hopes of sending a relief mission to the Caribbean collapse, and his advisors even wonder whether Granada or Lima ought to be asked to send their own relief mission to Spain itself !


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Only the complete disinterest of others has kept the British colony of Tripoli safe throughout the years of war and trepidation, but things are changed

With Mehmed Ali's death, Said has come to what is now a quasi-imperial throne, and whilst his ambitions range widely to Istanbul, to Trebizond, even to Baghdad, he also eyes the much closer provinces of Cyrenaica, Fezzan and Tripolitania with envy

British rule has brought stability and relative prosperity to the colony, but war and revolution at home have stripped the colony of all but a skeleton garrison and a handfull of corvettes and steam avisos left when the main fleet was withdrawn. Victualled in part from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Tripoli is vulnerable to blockade, and more open to conquest than at any time in its recent history

Sultan Said can do nothing else but order that part of the Egyptian forces remaining at home, or recently raised, to invade

- - -

Imperial German forces end the 1850 campaigning season by splitting the Northern Alliance in two. Busty in Poland, and having to focus on internal matters as much as external ones, Prussia allows its forces to be split from the rest of the Alliance by an Imperial drive towards the Baltic.

King Gustav V of Sweden orders his army to retire to Swedish Pomerania and hold it "at all costs". It does, but this division of forces sees the Imperial army take Rostock, isolating Swedish and Prussian forces to the East of the line, and seing a further Alliance collapse when a late-season assault carries the Hanseatic Free City of Lubeck

As if exhausted by all of this, King Ernst August I of Hannover dies on Christmas Eve, and is succeeded by his eldest son (in the ATL not blind) who takes the regnal name of King Georg V, despite much ridicule from Berlin

- - -

With his armies on the Baltic, and likely to stay that way until the following Spring, the 63 year-old Emperor Wilhelm agrees to re-open negotiations with Austria.

51 year-old Emperor Josef Franz agrees to accept Austria's banishment from Germany in return for a German treaty of friendship. He even drops his demand for the breaking off of German relations with Bohemia, on the condition that Wilhelm recognises his right to annex Salzburg

A treaty agreeing to this is signed at Innsbruck and both emperors finish the year satisfied with what it has brought them


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
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