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1855:
January:
After arriving in Egypt, King Alfred and his retinue from India enjoyed the hospitality of Ibrahim Pasha who was delighted to show the King the great wonders of Egypt. It was a short break while on the way back to Britain but one which would make King Alfred more aware of the regional politics in North Africa. Although Egypt had been established as a sovereign nation several years ago, rivalry between it and the Ottoman Empire had not gone completely. Although the Ottoman Empire was restricted from expansion by Europe to the west, Russia to the north and Persia to the east, it still saw Africa as its area of influence due to its Muslim population.
To that extent, Ottoman agents had been going undercover to remind the various Islamic groups of the region of their duty to their Caliph above all. It had been minor at first but soon became a major sticking point in relations between to the two Islamic powers that would only get worse. With this in mind, Alfred wisely decided to excuse himself from Egypt as fast as possible, knowing that he had enough trouble facing him at home in Britain without taking a side in this ‘Un-fought-War’ as the term would be called later on to this and various other conflicts after it. Alfred and his Indian entourage left Egypt at the end of the month after preparations had been made, leaving behind them one of the most monumental moments in African history.
February:
On February 9th, Kassa Haile Giorgis was crowned as King Tewodros II of Ethiopia, a man who had much ambition regarding where he wanted his nation to go. Believing that what Ethiopia needed more than anything else was a strong, centralised and modern state, Tewodros II was however confronted by a powerful Egypt to the north which wanted nothing more than to see Ethiopia gobbled up as a vassal. Needing help but believing Alfred’s visit to Egypt would cancel any European interest, Tewodros turned to the only other nation that seemed possible to help him, the Ottoman Empire.
Knowing of the rivalry between the two states, Tewodros II appealed to the Caliph, Abdulmecid and asked him for aid against their mutual foe, asking for engineers and other specialists to help modernise Ethiopia. Seeing an opportunity when he saw it, Abdulmecid instantly agreed to the offer, sending engineers, Army officers and other advisors to help Tewodros II in his attempts. With this help, the efforts to bring Ethiopia to the status of a modern nation were multiplied, much to the ire of Egypt.
With Ethiopia firmly in the Ottoman camp and the way to southern expansion now sealed off at the shortest route, the only way to further expand Egypt’s power was to turn to the west and bring other North African Muslim regional powers, stretching as far as those in the Mali region, finding those most against Ottoman influence and elevating them with aid against their enemies, making sections of North Africa under its domination, only clashing in Algeria where encroaching French influence soon made it a no go area for either Ottoman or Egyptian attempts to influence the region.
The Egyptian counter to Ottoman influence was in turn countered by the Ottomans themselves, bargaining with Ethiopia, and Britain to aid them in order to prevent Egypt from turning into the dominating force in Africa. Directly annexing a specified location would just lead to a land grab by all sides. It was determined that the best course of action would be to build up Allied states within Africa to counter Egyptian influence and prevent an all out conflict. This would lead to an almighty upheaval in Africa itself, as Egypt gained its Allies and dominance in the north and Ethiopia, aided greatly by the Ottoman Empire and to a lesser extent, Britain sought out Tribes and nations who would be open to modernisation guided by foreign powers.
The only nation to pay attention to this other than Britain was France as the shift in Africa’s politics threatened to interfere with French ambitions in the region. Although Algeria looked to be a secure region for French domination, the rest of the north was in doubt as any overt threats would lead to conflict with Egypt. For now, Africa was too hot to handle outside areas France had already claimed unless a conflict with the Ottoman Empire or Egypt was in its ambitions.
The furthest south the affects were shown regarding the changes in Africa was that of the Zulu Kingdom and that of Mandla, son of the great Shaka Zulu. Mandla had worked hard building on his father’s work to turning the Zulu Kingdom into a power within South Africa. He had established previous relations with British South Africa and had made friendship with the growing Irish population as a counter to the more established Boers. More receptive to European methods than his father, Mandla had made previous attempts to bring European technology into his domains and now saw his best chance to do it with the utmost amount of British support and negotiation.
Offering the British a deal, Mandla propositioned that in return for supporting Zulu expansion along the coast and modernisation efforts, he would remain a firm British Ally and bring other Tribes in the region to his line of thinking. British authorities in South Africa agreed to this deal, believing a strong state in Africa would prevent them having to take on the role of conquerors as they had done in India. Mandla would get his aid and the Zulu Kingdom would prosper, to the cost of other nations in Africa.
March:
King Alfred finally stepped back onto British soil after nearly four years of travelling all over the World and visiting four other continents. With him came his bride, an entourage of hundreds with supplies from India including a dozen elephants and fifty tigers. Arriving in London on the 18th, King Alfred went straight to Parliament with his bride-to-be in his arms, announcing that he planned to marry her in Westminster Abbey in one year. To celebrate this, the King announced a massive Indian pageant to take place in Hyde Park as a way to celebrate the culture of India and to show the people of Britain the splendours of the subcontinent.
The speech was greeted with silence as these words were considered by the MP’s, each one considering the impact of this. In one forceful yet polite speech, the King had threatened to seriously destabilise the political position of the Government as he had undermined British authority in India and also brought further argument into the Federalism issue. Despite the silence, King Alfred went on, saying he would convince them in August with the Indian pageant and show all of Britain that a person was not to be looked down upon because of their heritage. After making such a speech, the King left, leaving the lines of battle drawn, it would be in August when the outcome would be decided.
June:
For 19th century philosophy, Germany was the corner stone which produced the most extreme of views. In particular, the Kingdom of Brandenburg was the real location for the majority of such extreme views, the bitterness after being almost destroyed in the Four Year War leading to the extreme political views that rose during the period. Teutonicism and the racist overtones of that had been the most popular one to be produced and Frederick Wagner enjoyed the bounty of his pamphlet being the most sold printed item in Germany apart from the Bible.
Another branch of political philosophical thought was due to come from Germany was that of Teuarchism as espoused by Arnold Ruge, a man who had compatriots like the later esteemed Socialist, Marx and various others who he had studied with. While many of these would preach a brand of Socialism to one degree or another, it was Ruge who broke away from that as nationalism stirred him and the way of the World appeared to be only injustice. The entire system needed to be destroyed and rebuilt. Like Wagner, Ruge looked to the past and saw the best Germany had to offer, in particular, the old Tribal way of life which the Germanics of old lived.
Calling this new way of political thought Teunarchism, a combination of Teutonic and Anarchism, Ruge believed that the total destruction of the state and the replacement of it by a Tribal system. There would be no other way to live other than the way of the old Germanic Tribes and the destruction of the state would be the only way to achieve this. Numerous pamphlets were printed throughout the year detailing this new idea of Teunarchism and it caught on in the fringes of German politics, attracting the extreme right and left. The idea of a communal life attracting the left and the destruction of the state (Which included France) greatly attracting the right.
Teunarchism would flourish in minor groupings throughout the nineteenth century and explode in popularity at certain stages of Global insecurity and chaos. Although its own influence would be very limited compared to that of Teutonicism and Latinoism that was rampant throughout German regions and the French Empire respectively.
August:
For London, the most extensive and unique celebration it had ever gone through took place on the 20th in Hyde Park. The Indian pageant filled the park with art, creatures, music and artefacts from India. Statues of the Hindu Gods were to be found and music played throughout the park was heard from chenda’s and rababs. These were almost drowned out from the noise of the elephants and tigers which the crowd lapped up. In a gazebo in the middle of the park, King Alfred and his bride Lavanya greeted and mixed with British nobility and upper class, the King’s prospective bride charming several of them as a crowd of 80,000 enjoyed the sights around them.
As the day wound up to a close, King Alfred, with Lavanya by his side, stood on a platform which had been erected especially for him and made a speech detailing his travels throughout the Empire and his relationship with Lavanya. He then made it known that his marriage would take place at Westminster Abbey and celebrations similar would follow akin to what happened that day. The crowd, largely glutted on the events of the pageant and rather receptive to Alfred’s popularity, cheered at this, his marriage largely being one of mild interest than scorn.
Parliament, although furious at the King’s manoeuvres, realised they couldn’t go against the King’s marriage without losing support from the populace. For that, Lord Russell gave Alfred a deal, Parliament would offer no objection to his marriage on two conditions, Alfred would shut up on any matter of politics outside his Palace and the Royal Assent would be forfeit as well, only the Houses of Commons and Houses of Lords would hold power over legislation. Wanting his bride more than anything else, Alfred agreed and the marriage was now set and Alfred kept his Throne.
October:
Problems in Texas increased as Californian sponsored Juntist groups started to cause trouble via striking at Government locations and buildings, trying to start a full scale Revolution. Texas still had the muscle to prevent inner problems getting the best of it, outward threats from California posed a problem still. Ferdinand Manta proposed a full scale take over of Texas would be best for California, strengthening its position in North America by making a minor Alliance with the Kingdom of Mexico, promising a minor split in territory in return for aid during any theoretical invasion. Out of the Juntist council, Josiah Norton was the one who protested against the prospective invasion the most, believing it to be a threat to the Revolution. His protestations were overrode however as the wish for greater influence in North America proved to be too tempting to many.