El Imperio Muerto: A PDM IAAR

[Revan529]

((Private: Duke of Escalona))

A VE, el Duque de Escalona,

We find the proposed changes to the charter of the La Real Hermandad is by and large highly amenable to the Crown, and shall be accepted and implemented with all due haste.

I remain,
Carlos V

 

[Keinwyn]

The Infante, given free reign - to an extent - to choose his bride is inclined to spend some time without a wife, however he finds his mind increasingly drawn back to a summer in Bavaria and a princess in white. Princess Alexandra of Bavaria would not ill suit the diplomatic climate either he feels; with one aunt sitting on the Prussian throne and another the mother of the Austrian Emperor, such a union would serve to both strengthen ties with the holy alliance and maintain impartiality within it.

To His Majesty King Ludwig I of Bavaria from Infante Carlos, Prince of Asturias

Your Majesty,

It is with great affection that I recall my brief time in Munich some years past now, and of late I find myself much drawn to it in my thoughts. Your Majesty's enthusiasm for the arts left a great impression on me and of late I have begun searching for ways to promote them within Spain. However, it is not just art that endears me to that time; the young Princess Alexandra was, I now realise, a ray of sunshine into an overburdened young mind and it is with a deal of regret that my younger self did not realise such at the time.

I therefore write to you with a view to receiving an invitation to Munich that I may pay suit to your daughter, the Princess Alexandra Amelie. There is little that would give me more pleasure than your Royal Majesty's consent to ask for her hand. I should further add that it is with a deal of pain that I learnt of Her Highness' trials and give thanks that she may have found some solace from them. I mention this that your mind may be at ease on the subject, and that the circumstances need not lead Your Majesty to decline for either of our sakes.

Yours faithfully,
Infante Carlos Luis María Fernando de Bórbon y Braganza,
Príncipe de Asturias.

 

[Sneakyflaps]

(To the cabinet and king)

My lords, honoured cabinet members, what of England, does anyone know what their response would be, if we try to strong-arm the French into making concessions? What will they respond if we ask for many thousands of men to be returned, simply for them to go to the chopping block. Do we have any guratneess that England will not stand beside France?


(To Empress Eugenia of France - private)
My dearest sister,

Manuel speaks for you and your husbands cause, as he like myself believe that and end to the hostile relations with France, and the welcoming of a more warm one will help bring about greater European peace than the current balance. However I fear that he will not win in this argument, and as such while he does as he can, I am sad to say that it may not be enough.

-María

 

[Mikkel Glahder]

​

((Private - Government, King etc.))

Your majesty and honored cabinet members, lend me your ears for but a short time. I am not a man of many words, but I am a man of reality. Even though attacking France and placing a legitimist pretender on the throne is a grand idea, it is sadly an impossible task for even God it seems. Last time the powers of Europe placed one such a king on the French throne, he was thrown off not long after as we have seen. Liberalism is cemented in France. The current ruler of France, even though he is a Bonaparte, is an absolutist ruler and if his empire falls to quickly, the liberal and demonic powers will rise up and make a hell of a Europe as they have done before. He does not have the mind of a great tactican a his uncle and if let at peace, he will most likely set himself to building Paris into his dream city and maybe go bankrupt doing it.
We also have to remember that the Holy Alliance was founded on the basis of preventing war and jacobin revolutionaries, not creating ones. If we overthrow Napoleon III, the jacobins will rise up, take power and we will see another French Revolution spreading on the continent. Spain should not contribute to another disaster in France by overthrowing an albeit controversial, absolute monarch.
I rest my case.

 

[ML8991]

(to the cabinet and to the King, but directed to the Duke de la Infantado)

To the court, I must affirm the statements made by my colleague, the Duke de la Infantado. Whilst it would be most excellent if we had the British Empire on our side in this matter, after all they were a most noble fighter against the previous Napoleon to sit upon the French throne, and even more so with their most prominent military leader after Nelson, Duke Arthur Wellesley of Wellington, being recently of political significance in the country.

However I must remind you all, lest you have forgotten, of Her majesty Victoria I of Great Britain's refusal to offer one of her fine children to be wed to our Majesties most excellent line, or even to acknowledge him as the true sitter on the Throne of our glorious nation. Thus I fear that they may not wish to unite with us in our great task to try and adjust the status quo against the new French Empire.

 

[zenphoenix]

((Private))

Carlos Maria got off the boat and took a look around him. After several long years among savages, he was back in civilization again.

"Finally they recalled us to Spain, praise the king," he said, "All we need now is a war to fight in."

"Agreed," said his aide, "It was too easy fighting savages."

 

[AzagalTheGreat]

(To the His Majesty the King and the Cabinet)

It is with great pleasure I will announce the plans for the Secretariate of Grace and Justice, and more importantly, the secret police.

I propose a radical restructuring of the secret police, henceforth known as the Department of Investigation and Truthfinding.

1) : The Secret police will be renamed to the Department of Investigation and Truthfinding (DIT)
2) : The Department of Investigation and Truthfinding will be under command by the Secretariat for Grace and Justice
3) : An agent or official in service of the DIT must have had a background check, as much as technically possible, to identify possible sleeper agents
4) : To eliminate already existing sleeper agents, all agents currently working for the DIT will have their backgrounds checked and will be fired if there are any anomalies.
5 : Leaking information from the DIT will be considered a capital crime and will now result in expulsion of the individual to the Spanish colonies, with a death sentence should they ever return to mainland Spain.
6) : As far it has not been done already, the DIT will be centralized and divided in regions covering Spain and its colonies. These regional departments will have great amounts of autonomy, and will report to the Headquarters in Madrid. If so desired, the central headquarters can temporarily take over regional departments to help effect national wide searches (such as but not limited to escaped convicts)

Don Eduardo Francisco Pizarro, Secretary of Grace and Justice,Conde de Habana e Lima

((Mostly fluff to clean up a certain priest his mess))

​

 

[Sneakyflaps]

((I hereby resign))

 

[ML8991]

It was a great shame when the Duke de la Infantado left the realm, or at least that is what it seemed from the letter given to Isabella Anne Marie Caterina de Soneta di Belmonte, sister to the departed Duke and the wife to the Prince of Belmonte Alejandro, who was equally shocked.

But it could not prepare them for the arrival of the noble son that came with the letter, the departed Duke's 8 year old son, Pedro Alvér Charles Sancho Michael Alcántara Álvarez de Toledo, heir to the great wealh and titulature of his father.

Alejandro made a quick prayer of safety to the father, should he still be alive, and made a solemn vow to watch over the young boy, as one of his own children. The letter requested he be raised a Protestant or as close to it's principles whilst also keeping him safe from persuction, and so the son would, and that he keeps his birthname, to which Alejandro would keep to, however hard it could be to try maintain the matter of a family legacy. And so there came to be a heir to both the Belmonte titles and the Infantado's titles.

 

[Qwerty7]

(To the His Majesty the King and the Cabinet)

It is with great pleasure I will announce the plans for the Secretariate of Grace and Justice, and more importantly, the secret police.

I propose a radical restructuring of the secret police, henceforth known as the Department of Investigation and Truthfinding.

1) : The Secret police will be renamed to the Department of Investigation and Truthfinding (DIT)
2) : The Department of Investigation and Truthfinding will be under command by the Secretariat for Grace and Justice
3) : An agent or official in service of the DIT must have had a background check, as much as technically possible, to identify possible sleeper agents
4) : To eliminate already existing sleeper agents, all agents currently working for the DIT will have their backgrounds checked and will be fired if there are any anomalies.
5 : Leaking information from the DIT will be considered a capital crime and will now result in expulsion of the individual to the Spanish colonies, with a death sentence should they ever return to mainland Spain.
6) : As far it has not been done already, the DIT will be centralized and divided in regions covering Spain and its colonies. These regional departments will have great amounts of autonomy, and will report to the Headquarters in Madrid. If so desired, the central headquarters can temporarily take over regional departments to help effect national wide searches (such as but not limited to escaped convicts)

Don Eduardo Francisco Pizarro, Secretary of Grace and Justice,Conde de Habana e Lima

((Mostly fluff to clean up a certain priest his mess))

​

((But what about the reforms I just made to the secret police? How do these fit in? The reforms covered all of this with some additions except that the secret police is still called La Real Hermandad.))

 

[Nax24]

To Remove a Devil: 1855-1858​

The Crimean War, a war that seemed so distant to the people of Europe, so obscure, and for something so minor. It started off as a dispute between who would serve as the protector of Christians in the Ottoman Empire. Catholic France led by Emperor Napoleon III, wanting to express itself on the international stage, decided to make a treaty with the Ottomans regarding this. The Ottomans, favoring the French over the Russians in terms of handling its Christian population, agreed to this term. Mother Russia though was not going to sit back and watch as it loses its only grasp of the dying Ottoman Empire go to France of all nations. So, Russia declared war on the Ottomans to enforce its policy, and the Ottomans dragged France into the war.

For the next three years, the Ottomans, Russians, and French would fight it out in the plains of Bulgaria and the woods of Poland for the fate of Oriental Christendom. Outside powers like Great Britain favored the French cause, for it suited its interests in Anatolia to keep Russia weak and the Ottomans alive. The Papacy called the French cause a noble one for its fight for the Catholic world, even though many speculate the Papacy was under the beck-and-call of the French Empire. The war soon delve into a stalemate, with neither side gaining an advantage, neither side close to victory or defeat. As the body count rose, interest peaked among the many societies of Europe.

(French Troops in Poland)​

Most notable of these societies was the Holy Alliance. The Holy Alliance, having managed to survive for this long, was watching for a chance to strike at the French. Rhetoric from the Spanish government proclaimed that Napoleon III is just as much a threat for Europe as his uncle was. Even though France had guaranteed it would not invade Spain, Carlos V thought this was only a ruse for him to prepare a march on Madrid, and decided that the time was right for the Holy Alliance to strike. Carlos V asked the members of the Holy Alliance, Prussia and Austria, to fight with them against the French onslaught, and to aide Russia in its glorious war against the Corsican Devil Pt.2. Prussia, angry at Napoleon III for attempting to take territory from it a few years prior, began to mobilize as soon as the request was sent to Berlin. Austria also was ready for war, but not against France. France backed Italian unification, and backed the biggest power to hopefully achieve this goal, the Kingdom of Sardinia Piedmont. Austria saw Italian unification as a threat to its holdings in Milan and Venice. Sardinia Piedmont was seen as a bigger threat to Austrian dominance in Italy. Austria joined the Holy League in mobilizing, but it would focus its energies on taking Sardinia out and removing them as a viable country for the Italian Peninsular to unify around, and to tell France that Italy is Austria territory.

So plans were made, reserves mobilized, and in early 1857, the Holy Alliance declared war on France. Spain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia were now locked together as allies against the might of the French Empire. Successes were seen as immediate from the Spanish side. Spain made huge leaps into France, and soon, had taken Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Marseilles. It seemed that the legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte did not rest in his son, as his troops became bogged down in Russia by the Prussians, Russians, and Austrians, and unable to return home. Paris was wide open.

(Spanish troops)
​

One nation was left out of this competition though. It was a notable exception to it, and joining either side would result in a massive shift of the tide of war. That nation was Great Britain. Great Britain had watched the crisis unfold in Europe for the past few years. It had stood by and watched the armies of the continent clash in the plains of Poland and Ukraine, and watched Spain move north. Great Britain had recently recognized Spain. It had hoped recognition from Great Britain would draw Spain to talk more, to negotiate with the British, to calm them down. But sadly, this recognition has only made Spain grow more bolder, more aggressive, and now it attacked France. Great Britain though watched. The House of Commons was divided between going to war or staying at peace. It had huge interests in keeping the Second French Empire alive, and France and Britain shared many similarities in ideology. Great Britain stayed at peace. As long as Napoleon III, and not some Bourbon was on the throne of France it did not really care about the situation.

That was, until Spain stated a list of demands the Holy Alliance wanted to force on France. One of these demands was to install a member of the House of Bourbon on the throne of France. Great Britain was immediately throne into a panic. A Bourbon in France? This would be catastrophic! They have tried a restoration of a Bourbon monarch before, only to have it end with revolution and a liberal government they grew to despise, which led to the current situation. Napoleon III begged for Great Britain to intervene. Great Britain decided to step.

"The Holy Alliance must remove its demands and allow France to remain under the Bonaparte dynasty, or else the British will be forced to intervene on behalf of the French Empire" was their statement.

"Come and fight us! We wont stop until the Corsican Devil's nephew is removed from France!" was the Holy Alliance's reply.

Great Britain knew that it could not sustain a war against so many different countries fueling well over a million men. It had not the resources or manpower to fight a continental war. So Great Britain did what Great Britain did best, diplomacy and intrigue. Great Britain set the task of weakening the Holy Alliance to the point of being beatable to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury. Harris thought over this for a while, and decided to ask Napoleon III if he could attend the conference in Paris with the French delegation. Napoleon III agreed to this, and Harris was on his way across the channel.

(Sir Harris)
​

The British at the Paris conference shocked the Holy Alliance. Almost all of the Holy Alliance members were scared of Great Britain. Russia had large amounts of loans from Britain holding up its economy, Prussia was married into the British royal family, and Austria wanted to see if Great Britain backed its claims to the German Confederation. Spain though laid its demands out in front of the French and British delegation. They wanted Napoleon III off the throne and a Bourbon on it, France was to become an absolute monarchy under the Bourbons once again. Rights to Morocco, affirmed to Spain by Louis Philippe, would be affirmed to Spain again, and the other powers would get a say in the matter was well.

Great Britain said no to the Bourbons, as it feared a Bourbon monarchy would severely hurt its interests in France. The Holy Alliance members all agreed to the demands of Great Britain of keeping Napoleon III on the throne, leaving Spain in an odd state. Spain debated with the Holy Alliance about this matter. Eventually, the Holy Alliance allies won the day, and Spain was forced to accept Napoleon III as monarch. With Morocco under its belt, Spain had achieved gains from the conference, and stepped aside for the other powers. It was still bitter that the Holy Alliance simply did not want to remove Napoleon III.

(Henri d'Artois, the Bourbon claimant to France)​

Prussia and Austria were next. Prussia only asked for Alsace and Lorraine, which saw resentment from the Austrians. Austria demanded Prussia back down on its demand, as it was in clear violation of the Warsaw Conference. Prussia and Austria debated for a while on the matter. Eventually, Spain, Russia, and Austria, to avoid another flaring up of the German Question, agreed to leave Alsace and Lorraine the way it was, angering the Prussians. Prussia had lost the only thing it wanted. Only time will tell though if Prussia would hold a grudge for this. Austria's demand was that Italian Nationalism support among the French cease, and France cease to aide Italians in an attempt to unify Italy. France agreed to this measure, outraging the Italian delegation to the treaty. Austria, being content with Prussia getting nothing and it keeping its Italian states, left the table with what it had wanted.

(Diplomats in Paris)​

Russia was the last nation to express demands. Russia's new Tsar, Alexander II, wanted to get out of the war as quickly as possible, so he agreed not to demand anything outside of the Holy Alliance's demands. Tsar Alexander though felt like it was high time to change the way the Holy Alliance was run. He noticed that it was too aggressive, when in reality it should just be a defensive pact. He negotiated with the other members, and decided to reform the Holy Alliance treaty to be only a pact of defense, not a pact of aggression. No more would the Holy Alliance be drawn into conflicts as the aggressor, but rather defending itself against any threat Europe might throw against it.

With that, the Crimean War was ended. Each nation getting what it had wanted. France kept its Emperor, Great Britain kept its interests in checks, Spain got Morocco, Italian Nationalism was no longer a problem, and each nation now had some protection over the rights of Christians of their sect. Austria was a bit disillusioned with having to share control of Ottoman Catholics with Spain, but regardless, the treaty was signed. Peace was brought to Europe once more. The Holy Alliance though was actually weaker then what it had been at the start. Now that it was simply a defensive pact, it did not really have the power to attack and enforce its ideals on other nations. Not to mention Prussia, walking away from the treaty with nothing, was disgruntled at the thought of working with these powers. Perhaps appealing to the rising power of Great Britain can fill the gap where the Holy Alliance left it. Russia was also pulling inward again.

(Tsar Alexander II)​

--------------------------------
Player Actions Needed: You have until Saturday to do stuff

 

[Marschalk]

((Well, this is smthng that needs to be talked over irc... Hopefully it can de done before proceeding and no important IC is posted until we make the deliberations...))

 

[Nax24]

((Well, this is smthng that needs to be talked over irc... Hopefully it can de done before proceeding and no important IC is posted until we make the deliberations...))

((The update is not changing. What has been written is written. I am not back-tracking to appease you

Let us not start an OOC fight over this, the update stands.))

 

[Marschalk]

((Well if even the many factual mistakes relating to XIX European history are not corrected, it is kind of lame.. Like the fact that Nicholas I was dead around the time, that the Crimean war was not fought over the rights to defend *all Christians* in Ottoman Empire and Russia never wanted to protect Catholics in it in the first place, etc.))

 

[Firehound15]

((Well if even the many factual mistakes relating to XIX European history are not corrected, it is kind of lame.. Like the fact that Nicholas I was dead around the time, that the Crimean war was not fought over the rights to defend *all Christians* in Ottoman Empire and Russia never wanted to protect Catholics in it in the first place, etc.))

((Eh, it is called alt-history for a reason.))

 

[Marschalk]

((Eh, it is called alt-history for a reason.))

((althistory should not be beyond logic and historical circumstances existing prior to the occurences. Otherwise you could make Russians suddenly become sun worshippers and say it is althistory. However I dont want to start an OOC debate here. We have IRC and PMs, after all))

 

[Nax24]

((Well if even the many factual mistakes relating to XIX European history are not corrected, it is kind of lame.. Like the fact that Nicholas I was dead around the time, that the Crimean war was not fought over the rights to defend *all Christians* in Ottoman Empire and Russia never wanted to protect Catholics in it in the first place, etc.))

((Any facts about history that I have messed up will be fixed, but the result will not change))

 

[ML8991]

((Nicholas was alive at the start of 1855, i am unaware on how good the monarch lifespan scripts are however for Vic, so he could still live. Even though he wasn't IOT his son Alexander II wanted out the war quickly anyhow, especially given the heavy losses and embarassment to it's failure (breaking it's image of great strength from old boneys time). Concerning the matter of using the word catholics, we can brush over that and make it as christians, for Russia saw itself as The ERE's successor to the Eastern Orthodoxy church, thus desired a pseudocrusade to further these interests- in our timeline the French an UK get involved for imperialistic oppertunities. All in all this isn't too far a skip beyond what actually happened, just accept it pls))

 

[Marschalk]

((His son wanted out of war since they lost, while here they have won. Their aim in the war had no relation to Catholics at all - they wanted a) control over Orthodox populace and control over certain churches, b) control over Bosphorus and Dardanelle, influence in Moldavia and Wallachia. It is quite easy to guess what they would have pressed for in case of victory.

It must be noted that Emperor Nicholas I never would have recognized Napoleon III as emperor (IF he was alive). One of the reasons behind their animosity was that Nicholas deliberately insulted him in his letters, calling him «Monsieur mon ami», instead of "Monsieur mon frere", as protocol between monarchs demanded. Moreover, it may be interesting to note that he hated the idea of a Bonapartist empire so much that he told the French ambassador some time before the coup that he would prefer them having even a conservative republic to a Napoleonic empire.))

 

[Korona]

((Take this IRC. Don't clutter up the thread with pointless arguments pls.))