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
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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
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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