Nationalism & Imperialism
Alsace, despite being drastically outnumbered, did not lack in spirit. The Alsatian army did not hesitate to march on Metz, even if it spelt their doom when France and Lorraine wiped them out. They further proved their resistance when the French general in charge of the siege, who was never identified, ordered an assault on the fort in Elsass. It proved disastrous, with over 20,000 men dead and only about 1,500 casualties amongst the defenders. The man would have been court marshalled if he had been found. Many said that the Emperor ordered the assault, but no evidence could be found of such a claim. ((I tried to take Elsass as quickly as possible because I wanted to add it to Lorraine before they were annexed in several months.
))
Palermo fell in April of 1813, bringing the Sicilian war much closer to an end. Now only Messina remained. The Emperor had tried to knock Frankfurt out of the war, but their government had fled to Messina early on. Only with Sicily’s utter defeat could both enemies be dealt with.
Despite its recent independence from Italy, Greece followed in its previous ruler’s footsteps and smacked around the Ottomans for good measure. Many cheered on the Greeks for taking on the corrupt Ottomans. The Ottomans had attempted a revolution similar to that of France’s, but it had failed miserably. Such people that could not keep a revolution alive did not deserve to live.
Emperor Jean did not neglect administrative reforms even with his focus on the military. The old tradition of blood mattering more than merit at court was done away with, much to the annoyance of many Feuillants. This revolutionary idea was applauded by everyone else though. The Emperor’s continued dedication to the Revolution was appreciated.
At the end of July, Messina finally fell and a peace could be arranged with Sicily and Frankfurt. Unfortunately, even in defeat the two powers were quite persistent. The Sicilian king, in an outrageous act of bravery or stupidity, refused to allow France to annex Frankfurt. He stated that if France did such to their coalition partner, Sicily would continue to fight French rule for many more years. Emperor Jean was not pleased with having to choose between either Frankfurt or Sicily. Ultimately, a small state in Germany that could easily be overwhelmed by neighbours or even overlooked wasn’t worth as much as returning Sicily to Italy. The Sicilian king wasn’t as brave when his nation was annexed.
Ghent fell in October, leaving Flanders with no more continental provinces and freeing up the massive French army there. That army marched on Elsass, where yet another assault occurred. This one proved successful though and Alsace found itself tied to Lorraine. This complicated the process of integrating the vassal state, but it would be managed in a few years nonetheless. It was certainly a less gruesome fate than the one Tripoli faced against Egypt, or even Switzerland against Sardinia-Piedmont. The members of the National Assembly were especially distraught by Sardinia-Piedmonts expansion north. They could not be allowed further into Germany or they’d interfere with the nationalist agenda there.
With Alsace and Sicily both dealt with, full attention could be put on Flanders. All of their allies had been fully occupied, although Flanders continued to resist due to the continued freedom of their colonies in the New World. Regardless, some of their allies could be dealt with. The Hansa was targeted first. They were to be annexed and their land given to Magdeburg to consolidate northern Germany. However, there was some confusion caused by the annexation. Magdeburg, while meant to receive the provinces once peace was obtained, saw Hansa’s annexation as a sign of aggression and an attempt by France to expand in the region. Despite claims against it, Magdeburg broke its alliance with France. Other states in Europe shared the same view, refusing to believe that France would conquer a country to help another. Either that or they didn’t approve of France conquering other countries at all. Tirol and Salzburg were first to object by forming a second coalition. Clearly they had not learned from Sicily’s mistake. Even so, there was universal recognition that the French army was stronger than anyone else in Europe. France was recognized for their mastery of military tactics and weaponry.
Flanders still refused to accept a suitable peace, even after Hansa’s annexation. An army was ordered shipped over to Greenland, one of the few colonial regions held by Flanders. They also has a coastal province on the east coast of North America, but Italy had thankfully sent an army there already. Others voiced their disapproval of this war as Sardinia-Piedmont and the Palatinate joined the coalition. Emperor Jean instead ignored this foolhardy coalition and arranged for a group of missionaries to attempt to bring the populace of Hamburg to the Protestant faith. It was the least France could due before handing the city over to Magdeburg. This somehow angered those farther east, with Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece joining the coalition.
At the start of 1814, the National Guard was finally operational. The new force would ensure the safety of French citizens from now on and prevent future revolts. Now focus could be fully placed on converting the heretics in Hamburg.
The coalition suddenly became more of a threat as Spain joined in. Some members of the National Assembly started to question whether France should be annexing more nations. Emperor Jean brushed such doubts aside. They would not let these old-fashioned countries stand in the way of revolution and nationalism. France would achieve its goals no matter what these countries thought. Knowing that more was inevitable, the Emperor scouted out the armed forces for a new general to lead and inspire troops. He soon found a young man who had risen through the ranks quickly through acts of sheer bravery and genius. This man, Jacques de Pellefort, had devised military strategies never before conceived and would make an excellent general.
The attempts to convert Hamburg did not go without difficulty. Traditionally a trading city, Emperor Jean tried to tap into its wealth. Some more hardline Protestants saw this as heretical. Despite all that the Revolution had done, faith was still strong. Jean claimed that it was all to ensure France’s economy continued to flourish to support the war.
General Maximiliem de Rieu’s latest campaign was certainly his strangest. He landed in the desolate lands of Greenland and attacked Flanders’ army in Eiriksfjord. They were ill-prepared for a French offensive on their colonies and fell rather easily. Greenland was open to siege, and word had arrived that their other colony of Conoy was already under Italian control. Hearing that Flanders would soon fall, Liege finally gave in and accepted their fate. In Central Asia, the Timurids, after centuries of struggle, also succumbed to the might of Bukhara.
With both Norway and Denmark in shambles, the tiny African nation of Kongo took revenge. Some in France laughed at such an occurrence, but it made others worry about France’s oversea colonies. Attempts to sell them off had failed and seemed impossible now. France would just have to accept that they had duties overseas as well as in Europe. When a discussion of a tax on sugar was brought up, it was promptly dropped to avoid antagonizing the colonies. Kongo’s peace also gave Sweden the advantage over Norway and Denmark. After losing so much, they were finally able to reclaim all of Denmark and even take the former Norwegian capital. They were well on their way to dominating Scandinavia once again. However, that did not distract them from what France was doing. With their war over, both Sweden and Great Scotland joined the coalition against France. The amount of nations who misunderstood France’s intentions was staggering.
Emperor Jean did not let foreign opinion interfere with his plans. After Vestbygden fell, he arranged for the annexation of Oldenburg, removing Flanders’ final ally and cleaning out most of northern Germany. When Eiriksfjord fell in August, the job could finally be finished. Complications soon arose though. Due to Italy’s occupation of Conoy, Flanders refused to accept any attempts at annexation by France alone. Unable to seek a compromise, the Emperor instead stripped Flanders of its colonies and took Ghent for France. He well knew that their independence would not last long once the truce was over.
France was finally at peace. With war no longer distracting the administration, France could dispense of its conquered provinces and give them to the deserving party. Messina and Palermo were given to Italy. Magdeburg, despite the tension that had arisen with the annexation of Hansa, was given Lubeck, East Frisia, Oldenburg, and Bremen. Hamburg was held onto for now, since efforts to convert the population were quite extensive and required French administration to rule over the province until completion. Flanders’ former colonies in Greenland were another matter. No one in the National Assembly wanted to keep such colonies, and Emperor Jean had only taken them to weaken Flanders. Fortunately, Canada was willing to take them off France’s hands, which was favourable to all the members of the National Assembly.
All these efforts to establish goodwill with neighbours by handing over provinces did not sit well with all. Saxony cancelled their alliance with France. Bitter over the dismantling of the HRE, having France meddle in their former domain did not settle well with them.
Something needed to be done to get back in the good graces of so many nation. Emperor Jean decided it was a good time to bring back an old debate. Before the National Assembly, the Emperor proposed that now that all but Flanders’ sole province within the Low Countries now belonged to France, a new nation should be founded for the Dutch and Flemish people. The Girondins eagerly agreed to such a proposal, while most of the Feuillants were only willing to accept it if the new nation was a monarchy tied to the French throne. After much debate, the new nation would be named the Netherlands and would be ruled by a relative of Jean. The ideas of nationalism were finally put to the test within France as the Dutch and Flemish people were granted their own nation state.
This was just the first step to repairing France’s tarnished reputation. An embassy would be built in Paris where foreign dignitaries and diplomats could meet. An old one had been built in a Dutch province, but that was graciously given to the Netherlands. The Netherlands were also granted over a thousand ducats from the treasury to help fund their efforts to create their own bureaucracy.
The theologian hired by the Emperor earlier, Joseph de La Mothe, continued to impress many with his liberal and even revolutionary views on religion. Jean did his best to spread these ideas beyond France, hoping that winning over fellow Protestants would endear them to France too.
Emperor Jean may have been doing his best to keep the rest of the world happy with France, but that did not mean he had abandoned the Revolution and his plans for nation states across Europe. This time though, he wanted to focus closer to home. Decades ago, Venice had conquered the kingdom of Provence. The region more closely identified with the French than the Venetians. Under the idea of nationalism, those provinces should belong to France. While Jean was hesitant to take anything for France with so many hostile nations nearby, he did realize that if he did do so he had to do it sooner rather than later. Venice had not yet joined the coalition, but who knew how long that would be for. France had retained fairly good relations with Venice, but that wouldn’t last long. Venice was a desirable target for more than just France’s interests. Venice was allied with Tirol and Sardinia-Piedmont, which meant that all the nations of northern Italy would be drawn into this war. This was a perfect opportunity to unify the Italian people once and for all under Italy’s rule, while also claiming mostly French lands for France. The Emperor brought this before the National Assembly, but such an action proved unnecessary. Almost everyone fully supported the war. Nationalism would prevail once more.
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