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Chapter Eight- The Great German War
The storm was brewing. There was no stopping in it. In recognition of this fact, Napoleon III ordered the improvement of French small arms. Weapons were to be upgraded from flintlock rifles to muzzle- loaded rifles.
The French were the first major European power to invent muzzle loaded rifles
With the consistent Prussian refusals for peace, the Great Powers of Europe all allied themselves with France (except for the reactionary British). Prussia declared war on France on January 13, 1853. Sardinia- Piedmont, who had declared her support for France during the crisis, suddenly backed out of the agreement in the face of war. International respect was lost and Sardinia- Piedmontian prestige was diminished. However, the Great Powers of Hanover and Austria affirmed their allegiance to the righteous French cause and promptly declared war on Prussia.
Aren't the Prussians some foolish idiots?
The French General Staff used the Tellier Plan (modified to include Hanover). The Hanoverian military was tiny compared to the military might of the Prussian juggernaut so the plan called for Hanover to merely defend its borders. The French would push into Western Prussia and relieve the Hanoverian military. Meanwhile, the Austrians would make a diversionary attack into Silesia. The French military would push on to Berlin. The Austrians would meet up with France there. Then, the allied armies would siege the rest of Prussia.
Red: French troops, Green: Allied Troops, Blue and Yellow: Estimated advance of Allied troops
Regrettably, French troops were unable to help the Hanoverians
However, French armies began methodically sieging their way to Hanover. Prussia would need to act fast to defeat Hanover and then turn to defend against the French who possessed both numerical and technological superiority.
French troops at the Third Battle of Hanover
As the French continued their steady push into Prussia, Napoleon III declared Prussia was a threat to Europe as a whole. As such, it would need to be gradually weakened until it could no longer pose a threat to civilized nations. However, the reactionary British managed to spread vile propaganda about France that was full of lies. The nations of Europe were revolted by the disgusting lies posted in the British propaganda. The British Foreign Minister denounced the actions of France that he said would “live in history forever as a lesson to the world not to trust this country called France!” Fortunately, many people did not believe the lies the British were spouting so France’s “infamy” did not grow much.
Note the French troops rushing to assist our allies
In foreign affairs, the war- mongering Americans were routed in Mexico. On the Fifth of May, 1852, Mexican troops repelled numerically superior American troops. The overconfident Americans were shocked. The Mexicans defeated army after army until America agreed to respect Mexico’s territorial integrity for the next decade.
Manifest Destiny? What's that? Do you mean rightful Mexican taco clay?
In Prussia, the inexorable French advance continued. A corridor to Hanover was opened and it appeared Hanover would be liberated. A Prussian corps was soundly defeated in the city of Munster and French troops arrived in the capital of Hanover, Hanover. The Prussian garrison was decimated by the superior French troops. 42,000 French troops stood poised to liberate Hanover. But two Prussian corps appeared from the flank and engaged the surprised French army in bitter conflict.
Advancing Prussian troops
The brave, stout French liberators stood their ground and inflicted heavy casualties for each step they took back. Unfortunately, the French troops were finally overwhelmed. However, it was Pyrrhic victory for the Prussians. General von Blomberg was to have said: "One more victory and I am ruined!" For every French casualty, there were three Prussian bodies.
Apparently impaling yourselves into fortifications and barely eking out a victory gives you international prestige
French troops at the Battle of Hanover
Prussian and Austrian Hussars engaging each other at the Battle of Detmold
Nearly 30,000 Prussian troops were killed or wounded.
Austrian infantry and artillery decimating Prussian lines
Austria liberated Hanover and announced their intent to hold back Prussian aggression in the future by forcing Prussian disarmament. They also announced that Prussia would have to pay for Austrian war expenses.
The Prussians never stood a chance
The Prussian Army began disintegrating after losing so many men. Thousands began deserting while the French army continued winning victory after victory. The Prussian army acquired a reputation of cowardliness and running away as soon as they met the enemy.
France has never met a defeat under Napoleon III!
On June 20, 1853, a great war council was held in Paris with top military leaders of the alliance along with Napoleon III meeting to discuss the inevitable end of the war and what should be done with Prussia.
As you can tell, the Tellier Plan did not work according to plan
Napoleon III publicly announced later of France’s ambition to take the Eastern Rheinland in the war.
Why did the Prussians not surrender earlier?
Napoleon III also declared his dedication to international freedom and declared that France and Mexico would be perpetual allies. Aggression by the Americans would no longer be tolerated by the peace- loving people of France.
France started importing burritos from Mexico
Sweden, Egypt, Bavaria and eventually Denmark all requested protection from France and France gladly agreed. French international influence had never been stronger.
New alliance #1
New alliance #2
New alliance #3
New alliance #4
Napoleon III also announced that a main reason of Prussian aggression was their pride. Therefore, France would cut down Prussian pride to make sure Prussia would never again be aggressive. The King of Prussia, Friedrich William IV, would be forced to pay homage to France along with the rest of the Prussian court.
Note Prussia's crushing defeat
As Prussia began negotiations to surrender, Spanish reactionary Carlists, aided and funded by Great Britain, staged a successful coup in Madrid. Governmental forces had been driven out of most of Spain so the Carlists successfully managed to overthrow the progressive Isabel II of Spain and replaced her with Carlos VI. An absolute monarchy was proclaimed. At the same time, pro- Bourbon, reactionary forces in the Two Sicilies overthrew the Royal Cabinet that favored France and formed a new one friendly to Carlist Spain. France immediately acted by sending warships and marines to the capital of the Two Sicilies, Naples. Ferdinand II immediately had the pro- Bourbon Royal Cabinet arrested and replaced with the pro- French Royal Cabinet.
Bah, more stupid reactionaries for France to enlighten. ((There was a bug where the Two Sicilies was sphered by Carlist Spain the day it was formed so i accidentally unsphered them when I could've waited a day and sphere them.))
Meanwhile, the Great German War had come to its natural conclusion. On October 11, 1853, the Prussian government formally surrendered to the allied coalition of France, Hanover, and Austria. Prussia was to disarm, pay war reparations to Austria, pay tribute to France, and cede the Eastern Rheinland to France.
Gotterdammerung
France and Austria had not suffered much damage during the war but Hanover was not so lucky. Its prestige was wrecked like its military. The soaring architecture throughout Hanover had been burnt to the ground by Prussia troops, its cities razed, and its culture almost extinguished. In the eyes of the world, Hanover would no longer be considered a Great Power.
Isn't this bully?
French troops were equipped with new muzzle- loading rifles that had arisen from France’s experience in the Great German War. Engineering units were being built to support the newly equipped infantry units.
Once again, France leads the world in military advancement
Research was now directed to improving the navy in preparation for a future conflict with the United Kingdom. Napoleon III ordered the development of fire control systems to be able to better direct fire against enemy ships. He hoped that the development of such a system would enable France to compete with Britain in naval battles.
France shall never suffer naval defeat again!
Egypt, France’s faithful ally, declared war on Ethiopia for horrendous abuse of Egyptians in Tigray. France, of course, honored Egypt’s call to arms. France assumed leadership of the war thanks to her unmatched military.
We must defend our allies against the African savages!
The Egyptian military was thought to have the situation well at hand in Ethiopia and would not require any French assistance. Napoleon III was a generous ally though and sent large amounts of subsidies to help Egypt pay for its bloody war.
France was helping Egypt westernize too.
On February 13, 1854, France successfully shuffled the Luxembourgian cabinet to align itself to France. Pro- French factions achieved control of Parliament.
Despite fierce competition from Austria, Prussia, and the Netherlands, France succeeded in influencing Luxembourg
Building where the Luxembourg negotiations happened
The Luxembourgish people began clamoring to join France while warring with their Dutch masters. The Netherlands were on the brink of going bankrupt so France decided to pay 300,000,000 pounds through the British banks into the Dutch government.
Dutch finances after the annexation of Luxembourg ((By god, it was hard translating in game pounds to real life pounds back then))
The Netherlands formally recognized French annexation of Luxembourg, forcing the world to do the same. Luxembourg, a French nation, was now within the glorious French Empire.
Welcome ,Luxembourg, to your mother country!
((Ah, clean borders.))
But where would France spread liberty and order to next?
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Sorry for the long wait! World update and poll coming up soon.
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Interesting that Mexico managed to defeat the United States, I have rarely seen that myself. But Napoléon III might get the same occasions in that are as historically.
Good that Luxemburg was annexed into the empire. No more ugly enclaves.
Good that Luxemburg was annexed into the empire. No more ugly enclaves.
I didn't understand this though. Who is this Adolf?
Great update; this is the first time I've seen Mexico beat the U.S. on 'even' terms (I saw them win once when the Civil War triggered extremely early, and the U.S. got bogged down fighting the CSA.) Very intriguing!
I smell infamy cheating in the air. 
Also the alliance with Denmark picture seems to be out of order, as we can see the peace-deal before the war ended.
Also the alliance with Denmark picture seems to be out of order, as we can see the peace-deal before the war ended.
Where do you see that? All of the infamy appears to add up to me, even the Denmark one as you can see it is further in the future than the one after it.I smell infamy cheating in the air.
Also the alliance with Denmark picture seems to be out of order, as we can see the peace-deal before the war ended.
I wasn't paying attention and the next thing I know, Mexico beats the US. No Manifest Destiny. I was really surprised. But of course, France is stronger than anyone so Mexico WILL fall to France when the time comes. And yes, clean borders
.Uh...
uh...
you saw nothing.
Yeah, I thought for sure Mexico would lose. I think they rolled a great general and the US rolled horrible generals. A 5 attack, 5 defense general is hard to beat, won't you say?
I am not going to cheat with infamy in this campaign. I ,particularly when I grow really strong, want to fight the international coalition that forms against me once i hit 35 infamy. Its going to get interesting. The reason I got no infamy for Luxembourg is because I didn't conquer them. I tag switched to them when I sphered them, used the console to do event 60120, and tag switched back to France. It represents the OTL Luxembourgian Crisis (thanks Attalus).I smell infamy cheating in the air.
Also the alliance with Denmark picture seems to be out of order, as we can see the peace-deal before the war ended.
Oops, forgot about that. Denmark offered the alliance really late and I like keeping things in order so I did four alliance pictures in a row. Didn't realize you could see the peace deal in the picture though. Oops.
Yep, good thinking there
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Why take land on the East side of the Rhine though? Surely it is better to create Westfalen land and create a puppet to manage that area. Now, the time to butt-heads with Austria will come over the annexation of Savoie & Nice.
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If you look at the First French Empire I think it contained the Eastern Rhineland.
But I might create a satellite there.
And yes, we might have to... deal with Austria later.
I find it hard to believe you were able to acquire territory, cut down to size, and humiliate and be below the infamy limit. And wouldn't the peace deal be way to big for the AI to accept?
No, they just owned west of the Rhine river.
I fabricated for Acquire State so I didn't get full infamy (when the crisis started, I immediately started fabricating on Prussia so it finished during the war). I did take the 3 infamy hit for humiliate and Austria did the cut down to size.I find it hard to believe you were able to acquire territory, cut down to size, and humiliate and be below the infamy limit. And wouldn't the peace deal be way to big for the AI to accept?
No, they just owned west of the Rhine river.
And thanks for the map. I might release a puppet or keep the land as a puppet state. But I know I am not expanding east into Prussia anymore unless I manage to fulfill the other territorial requirements.
This.
Of course it is! Why would it not be? In fact, a bit over the Rhine is also French territory!
