XVII: Alsatians & Eagles
Clockwise from Top Left:
Chancellor Hermann von Hatzfeldt, Emperor Napoleon IV, Tsar Vladimir I, Foreign Secretary Lord Granville
Otto von Bismarck’s resignation as German Chancellor in 1879 caused a sea change in European geopolitics. Plagued by wounds received from a would-be assassin the previous year and increasingly isolated over his opposition to colonialism, Bismarck’s retirement was made permanent due to the influence of Crown Prince Friedrich and by his successor, ally turned rival, Hermann von Hatzfeldt. Dominated by Johann von Miquel, leader of the National Liberals, Hatzfeldt managed to isolate Germany on the continent with impressive speed. The new regime ended Bismarck’s effort to rekindle the League of the Three Emperors, leaving Russia open to diplomatic overtures from Paris. The Austro-German Dual Alliance was weakened too when Hatzfeldt failed to offer support to Vienna during the brief Tyrolean War of 1880. Though Germany was under no obligation to declare war on Italy [1], her efforts to court the Italians for an anti-French coalition deeply offended the Austrians. Spurred on by the National Liberals, Hatzfeldt sought to challenge Paris, with competing claims in East Africa and in Alsace-Lorraine, where Berlin encouraged demonstrations by ethnic Germans, demanding unification with the Fatherland. Following the bloody nose given to them during the Franco-Prussian War, the French military and government had seen serious reforms implemented by the young Napoleon IV.
The Second Empire was increasingly confident in itself, with the occupation and establishment of an independent state in Cyprus in 1878 being highlighted as France’s return to international prominence. Foreign Minister Prince Henri d’Auvergne was keen to capitalise on the fall of Bismarck with diplomats sent scurrying through the palaces of Vienna and St. Petersburg. In the former Austria-Hungary was given assurances France would respect her influence in Bosnia. In the latter the new Tsar Vladimir [2], a liberal and stern Germanophobe, warmly received offers of friendship, with Napoleon’s uncle, Prince Louis, a member of the Russian Imperial Guard and close advisor of Vladimir. In 1881 this led to the secret Franco-Russian Alliance, which was aimed squarely at checking Berlin’s influence in Europe. The impetus for the treaty was the increasing tensions in Alsace-Lorraine, particularly around the city of Strasbourg which had triggered similar protests by pan-Germans in Belgium and Congress Poland. Efforts by Lord Granville, the British Foreign Secretary, to organise a continental summit on the issue in London failed to garner interest as jingoism spread through Paris and Berlin. While Hatzfeldt and Miquel coveted Alsace-Lorraine, Napoleon IV and his ministers wished to remove Luxembourg, the “Gibraltar of the North”, from German control.
The Road to War
There was also a feeling amongst nationalists on both sides that the Franco-Prussian War had failed to decide which country truly dominated continental Europe, necessitating a second round. In February 1882 demonstrations in Strasbourg turned violent with French troops brutally cracking down on the city’s German inhabitants. As riots spread across the province, Napoleon IV declared martial law, disarming citizens, imprisoning community leaders and executing those found resisting. As refugees fled across the border, Chancellor Hatzfeldt supported by a bellicose Reichstag, ordered troops into Alsace-Lorraine on March 3rd in order to protect the German minority. A French declaration of war was forthcoming and much to the horror of Berlin the Russians followed suit on March 6th. Despite pleas for support in the now two-front war, Austria-Hungary declared total neutrality. Behind the scenes Pavel Ubri, the Russian ambassador to Vienna, had bought the Dual Monarchy’s inaction by accepting her right to annex Bosnia, at the time still officially a province of the Ottoman Empire. That summer Austrian troops entered Sarajevo without a shot fired. Protestations from Belgrade and Constantinople fell on deaf ears as the Great Powers were immersed in the largest continental war since Waterloo. The Italians followed the Austrian example and marched into Tirana two months later, forcing the Turks to accept Rome’s “special interests” in Albania, in effect turning the province into an Italian puppet state.
Alone and greatly outnumbered the Germans focused on a defensive strategy. In the West this was based on the Kaiser Line, a string of fortifications along the French border which Napoleon’s generals struggled to overcome. Meanwhile in the East a war of manoeuvre saw vast cavalry battles across the Polish plains, yet it only delayed the vast Russian armies bearing down on East Prussia. Suffering heavy losses against the Kaiser Line, in July the French took an incredible gamble. Keen to surround Luxembourg and confident the British government were distracted by their controversial invasion of Egypt, Paris requested military access through Belgium. Following a blunt rejection by King Leopold, 100,000 French troops crossed the border 48 hours later. It was a propaganda coup for Hatzfeldt, who immediately accepted Leopold’s reluctant plea for aid, painting the Germans as defenders of ‘Little Belgium’. The invasion also complicated Britain’s position. Guarantors of Belgian neutrality since 1839, the Gladstone Government struggled over what to do. Public opinion, angry over Granville’s foreign policy and deeply supportive of Brussels, eventually tipped the balance and Queen Victoria signed the declaration of war against France and Russia on August 1st.
Clockwise from Top Left:
Cossacks invade East Prussia, German infantry march on Strasbourg, HMS Devastation, King Leopold II
Westminster’s involvement escalated the Alsatian War into a truly global conflict. Soon British and French colonial forces were battling in Africa and South-East Asia, while naval engagements took place from the North Sea to the South Pacific. The Royal Navy bested its opponents but at terrible cost with French raiders terrorising shipping lanes across the planet. On land the Alliance held the advantage with Russian soldiers reaching the Elbe by November, while the British expeditionary force struggled to defend Antwerp from Napoleon IV who personally commanded the siege. As the war devolved into a battle of attrition, American armouries were inundated with orders. Looking for some advantage both sides purchased Gatling guns and other proto-machine guns in their thousands. Overall the United States benefited from the war with banks handing out major loans to both France and Germany, while fighting in the Ruhr triggered a spike in coal and steel prices. The public was divided in the sympathy with both sides being painted the aggressor by various elements of the American press. Brawls and standoffs between German and Russian immigrants took place in New York, Boston and Philadelphia. Several American merchant ships fell victim to searches by British and French warships causing national outrage and leading to several chilly receptions for the respective ambassadors at the White House.
Nether the less there was little the President could do beyond formal letters of complaint. Noyes and Secretary of State Blaine had no interest in involving the United States in the war, while the military was happy to observe, paying close attention to evolving technology and tactics on land and sea. By mid-1883 the combatants were exhausted. Belgium had been turned into a wasteland, most of German industry was occupied or destroyed and the French economy was being strangled by British blockade. The world was horrified by the carnage which dwarfed the American Civil War with over a million casualties in little more than a year of conflict. Napoleon IV and Vladimir were determined to march through Berlin but June saw several upsets. Konigsberg was relieved by German forces after ten months while an Anglo-Belgian army ejected the French from Brussels for a second time. The reversals triggered demonstrations in Paris with the noted radical Louis Blanqui leading protestors up the Rue Voltaire [3]. The failure of National Guardsmen to arrest Blanqui triggered a crisis in government leading to the fall of Prime Minister Jules Ferry. Fearful of socialist revolution, the Emperor reached out to Washington to organise peace talks.
Clockwise from Top:
Copenhagen Palace Embankment, Secretary of State James Blaine, Foriegn Minister Prince Henri d'Auvergne
Blaine had been quietly offering his services as a peacemaker for a year at this point and after gaining the White House’s agreement, he began sending word of Napoleon’s offer via the embassies in Berlin and London. An armistice was agreed to in August and in October Blaine set sail for Europe to host talks in Copenhagen. Both sides, drained of blood and money, proved impressively stubborn to Blaine’s efforts of reconciliation. A clause demanding no territorial concessions was bitterly opposed by the French led by Prince Henri d’Auvergne who wished for Luxembourg and border changes with Belgium. Lord Granville sided with Blaine however and with British troops occupying French Guiana, Saigon and Cyprus he provided a strong incentive. In return the Franco-German border would be demilitarised and Luxembourg made a neutral, independent state with Cristina Bourbon, the thirteen year old daughter of Francis II, former King of Two Sicilies, chosen as monarch. Prince Henri also agreed to remove direct French control of Cyprus, creating a neutral state guaranteed by all the signatories as well as Italy, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. Britain returned all French colonies, save the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon off the Newfoundland coast, and agreed that neither power would directly intervene with the native kingdoms of the Ivory Coast, an area of serious contention for London and Paris [4].
Hatzfeldt and the German delegation received little during the talks save recognition of their colony in Eritrea. Suggestions of a plebiscite in Alsace-Lorraine were shouted down by the other parties, with the Treaty of Copenhagen being signed by the sullen Chancellor in January 1884. The German Army had proven a fearsome foe during the Alsatian War but the final result had shattered the aura of Prussian invincibility, ironically thanks to the faithful adaption of their tactics by the French and Russian militaries. Berlin, stung by their own aggression, retreated into a brief period of isolationism, slowly rebuilding ties with Austria and Italy and with the death of Kaiser Wilhelm I in 1888 his son Friedrich would begin courting the British, who proved increasingly uncomfortable with the powerful Franco-Russian bloc [5]. The Americans walked away with a major boost to their international prestige and some serious lessons learned. Blaine was given a hero’s welcome on his return to Washington. Over a dozen military observers returned with him, delivering detailed papers on machine guns, bolt-action rifles and long-range artillery to the War Department. The reports, detailing the heavy losses inflicted by the weapons, were sober reading. General Sheridan initiated competitions to test modern weapons for the US Army, eventually leading to the introduction of the Norwegian Krag-Jorgensen rifle and the automatic Maxim Gun created by an American inventor living in London, Hiram Maxim.
Europe after the Treaty of Copenhagen - January 1884
1. Creation of an independent, neutralised Luxembourg
2. Demilitarisation of the Franco-German border
3. Recognition of the Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina
4. Recognition of Italian influence in Albania
5. Neutralisation of Cyprus under international observation and protection
Tactically their most important suggestion brought back was the creation of an American Expeditionary Force based on the hard-won lessons of the British Army on the continent. A highly mobile, well equipped corps ready to be quickly shipped abroad, the AEF concept was clearly intended for possible use in Cuba in the event of Spanish invasion, something deemed increasingly likely due to Madrid’s aggressive colonial expansion in Africa and Asia in the 1880s. The shambolic attack on Veracruz in 1876 also highlighted the idea’s value in any future interventions in Latin America, a notion coolly received by the USMC [6]. General Sheridan was supportive and quickly included the suggestion in his continuing reforms. Perhaps most controversial of these was the establishment of the United States Army General Staff. Based almost wholesale on the Prussian system, the USAGS was a permanent administrative staff corps to maintain the Army, organise war plans and oversee deployments. The plan alarmed critics, notably Vice-President Hoar who worried it would cut off the Army from civilian oversight, bringing the Prussian notion of the independent-minded military into American culture. Isolationist Congressmen attacked the General Staff on similar lines, fearing it would encourage jingoistic attitudes.
Many leveled accusations at Sheridan, the highest ranking officer in the Army for over fifteen years, that he wished to establish political power through the organisation. The Bourbon press went as far as to label him a would-be Caesar. Due to these criticisms and his own failing health, Sheridan turned down the offer of becoming the first Chief of Staff and nominated his lieutenant, the “Conqueror of Mexico City”, General William Rhodes who took the position in 1885. The Navy Department had also been busy looking over issues raised by the Alsatian War. The searching of American merchant ships had highlighted the nation’s lack of power projection on the open oceans. Combined with the vast range of sea battles and British dominance proving crucial in bringing France to the negotiation table, President Noyes assented to further increases in warship construction. The highlight proved to be the Texas-class, three modern pre-dreadnoughts intended to match the Royal Navy flagship HMS Camperdown. Alongside them a further four cruisers were commissioned and the Naval Department given the long-term goal of establishing a fleet within the world’s top three by 1900 [7]. The proposition though not binding would prove a source of heated debate between the isolationist and imperialist factions of American politics well into the next century.
Clockwise from Top Left:
New Dress Uniforms 1884, General William Rhodes, USS Texas
[1] The Alliance was purely anti-Russian while also calling for ‘benevolent neutrality’ in a war with any other European power.
[2] Vladimir is the brother of Alexander III, who died in a train crash in 1879 along with his wife and children ITTL. The grand imperial train the Tsar’s used had a habit of derailing on the poorly designed railways of rural Russia, its surprising none of them died IOTL.
[3] With no Paris Commune there are a lot more socialists wandering around the capital ITTL and Blanqui is still alive causing trouble for the Emperor.
[4] Something which will prove quite important down the line.
[5] Kaiser Friedrich III, as alternate history clichés demand, will avoid fatal illness ITTL, reigning into the 20th century.
[6] United States Marine Corps, the architects of the assault on Veracruz and as such definitely the least well thought of the armed services during this period.
[7] At this point the top two are Britain and France, with Russia a distant third so it’s much more impressive as a concept than in practice.
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