Part 7: The Fourth and Final Sinocentric War, Part 4: The Betrayal, and the War's End
The last hope of the British Empire, the British African Army, was now in full retreat, attrition having brought them to the brink of annihilation after an endless series of battles with Coalition forces (mainly from China and the Zambezian Confederacy).
The British Royal Navy was now nonexistent, and it was only a matter of time until every last colony fell to the Lhasa Coalition forces. Bermuda was the latest to fall, to a Somali invasion force.
As for the Dutch, all that was left was a handful of holdouts, almost all their lands were under Coalition control.
And yet, Britain obstinately refused to agree to China and Germany's totally reasonable demands - for the Dutch to cede Sumatra to China, and cede Gelderland to Germany, and for Britain to acknowledge Indian independence. The Dutch government in exile, hiding out in London, similarly refused. Empress Dowager Cixi was growing increasingly impatient, as was the German Empire's leadership.
Meanwhile, back in China, the Beijing Stock Exchange opened its doors. The Qing regime had initially banned stock exchanges, distrusting such a high concentration of merchant and capitalists, but as the Qing economy grew and such an exchange became more and more necessary, capitalists were finally able to persuade the regime to legalize the practice on the grounds that a tightly monitored stock exchange would make tax evasion by capitalists more difficult. The Beijing Stock Exchange would soon grow to be the world's largest.
Insurance companies also grew to be a booming market.
Meanwhile, with the war effectively won, Cixi reluctantly gave in to the growing power of Beiyang and agreed to reshuffle the upper ranks of the government with Beiyang members, effectively giving up Conservative hegemony. Henceforth, Cixi would largely align herself with Beiyang as her new power base (though much of her old power base had already defected to Beiyang).
Meanwhile, with the Indian dye industry in ruins from the war, China's virtual monopoly on synthetic dyes had allowed China to gain total market dominance of the entire world's textiles industries. Since the war's start alone China's industrial economy had grown by over 30%, in barely over a year. It was a massive economic miracle, prompted by the collapsing textile industry of China's biggest rival in the market, the British.
Faced with an obstinate Britain, Germany and China decided it was time to force the dutch to a peace - one way or another.
The Coalition forces moved to take over the entire Dutch Empire and force a unilateral peace, replacing the Dutch government in exile with a new one.
The Dutch were totally exhausted from the war, and eager for peace. (100% war exhaustion)
When Germany held new, free and fair elections in the Netherlands for a new government, pro-surrender politicians won in a landslide, and the Dutch agreed to both demands. (i.e. I consoled in as them and forced them to agree, as I had 100% occupation; they refused otherwise because Acquire Gelderland alone costs over 100 warscore)
Britain was all alone now, but still refused to surrender.
The war weary country, with famine on the rise, proved an ideal breeding ground for a new ideology - Communism, which soon spread to China as well.
The Ottoman Empire launched a naval landing near London, establish a beachhead.
Tired of Britain's obstinance, and with rising feeling within China favoring massive territorial changes, Empress Dowager Cixi bluntly announced to the international community that if China was forced to mount a bloody invasion and occupy every last portion of the British homeland for Britain to surrender, China would annex/liberate the entire British Empire, including the islands.
Shocked and horrified, the non-German European great powers, who had thus far been quietly in awe of China's shocking victories, could no longer stand by. All of them joined in one to protest the move, and threatened military intervention.
Empress Dowager Cixi and the German government knew they could not risk facing such a vast coalition - it would truly be the war to end all wars if it were to occur. So in reply, the Lhasa Coalition offered to resolve the matter via a conference - to find a solution to the matter of Britain and secure a peace.
And so, in Berlin, all the warring parties, all the European great powers, and the USA met to decide the fate of the war, including a British ambassador.
The powers were all eager for peace; none wanted such a colossal war to end all wars. After weeks of dialogue, everyone except Britain agreed to the following compromise:
1. All the attendees would recognize Indian independence, and the territorial gains of Germany and China at Dutch expense.
2. The Princely States of India would be able to choose between continued vassalage under Britain (without penalty for their neutrality in the war), or forfeiting their titles and being annexed by India. (with the knowledge that most would probably choose the former, not wanting to lose their titles)
3. The rest of the British Empire would be left intact.
4. Queen Victoria would formally go to Beijing, kowtow before the young Emperor Guangxi, and there formally renounce all Imperial claims, titles, and regalia regarding India, so that China might deliver them to whosoever India chose to be its new monarch or other leader.
5. Coalition forces would withdraw from the rest of the British Empire and leave it intact.
The peace terms seemed quite reasonable to all the participants, especially considering the scale of the Chinese and German victory, and the agreement, known as the 1890 Treaty of Berlin, passed with with only one negative vote.
The negative vote was Britain's.
The British ambassador stood up and made a furious speech, prepared in advance by the British government in case of this eventuality. In the speech, the British berated their fellow Europeans, accusing them of betrayal - with references to the Yellow Terror, the ambassador declared that the Chinese were an uncivilized menace that would consume all the world and that through their betrayal of Britain in its time of need, the Great Powers were dooming themselves. Such racist rhetoric, however, did not sway the participants in the slightest.
The ambassador then stormed out, and Britain refused to abide by the terms of the agreement despite a unanimous international demand.
The only terms Britain would accept was a "white peace," with India annexed anew by Britain. The suggestion was ludicrous.
Unfortunately for Britain, the Treaty had enforcement provisions, and their fellow Europeans wanted the catastrophic economic shockwaves coming from the total blockade of Britain to end.
London fell swiftly to the Ottoman Empire, with German, French, and Italian armies soon joining the fray.
Finally, with Coalition forces heading north towards their exiled base in Glassgow, the British government ratified the 1890 Treaty of Berlin.
The Fourth Sinocentric War, also known as the War of Indian Independence in India, was over at last. Britain remained furious at being the victims of "betrayal" by their fellow Europeans, never mind that their intervention was the only thing that stopped China from annexing the very British Isles themselves. This fury would one day manifest itself in the rise of English fascism, but that was a story for another day.
The Lhasa Coalition had won a total victory. And moreover, cementing the nation's power, China had secured alliances with several European powers who had decided it was better to be with China than against China; though none joined the League of Universal Prosperity.
And to cap it all, Queen Victoria formally arrived in Beijing, kow-towed before Guangxi, and handed over the Indian Imperial regalia to China. She stayed for the coronation ceremony - India had elected a new ruler, Peshwa Nana Sahib. As adoptive son of the former Maratha ruler, the tyrannical British had used the Doctrine of Lapse to strip him of all his inheritance. Filled with righteous anger, he had gone on to distinguish himself with heroic military leadership in the Sepoy Mutiny, and had been one of the founding leaders of the Indian National Congress. It was only right that he reclaim his inheritance, and more; the Peshwas had traditionally functioned in a manner akin to a Prime Minister, serving under a nominal Emperor while the Peshwas held the real power. But no more - Nana Sahib was given the formal Imperial regalia, crowned by Cixi herself on behalf of the young Guangxi Emperor.
The Maratha Empire was restored at last, as a new Indian Empire, under Peshwa Nana Sahib's courageous leadership and China's protection.
India was free. The Concert of Europe was over. Britain had been humiliatingly defeated like never before. And so began a new, Sinocentric world.
(aaaand going on hiatus again, this seems a great stopping point. Be back in, let's tentatively say early June? I just need to take a break)
