K but what the level of quialty for the people are greeks people much better off compared to the ottomans? and if they have they noticed that will there be a sense of nationalism growing there
Pride Goes Before a Fall: A Revolutionary Greece Timeline
- Thread starter Earl Marshal
- Start date
The quality of life is generally much better for the Greeks in Greece than it is for Greeks in the Ottoman Empire. First and foremost, they are citizens rather than subjects, meaning they have a say in the way their government is run by means of elections every four years where they can vote for representatives to pursue policies they agree with. There are also a few political parties in Greece which advocate on behalf of the common people. In comparison, the Greeks in the Ottoman Empire have little if any political power, thanks in large part to the Greek War of Independence which unfortunately diminished much of their influence over Ottoman policy and administration.
Economically, I would say that the Greeks are also slightly better off in Greece than they are in the Ottoman Empire as much needed land reform has enabled tens of thousands of poor Greeks to own land and provide for their families. Greece is trying to industrialize which has mostly positive effects on the Greek economy and the shipping industry in Greece is as good as it has ever been. While there are still many poor in Greece, there isn't a huge gap between the ruling class and the lower class. There is also a sense of upward mobility in Greek society thanks to the economy, albeit a relatively small sense of upward mobility. Greek merchants probably have it a little better in the Ottoman Empire than they do in Greece, largely because of lower tariff rates the Porte enjoys and interest rates are generally lower in the Ottoman Empire as well, but I'm not entirely sure if that would balance out in favor of the Ottomans.
Culturally, Greece is overwhelmingly Greek and Orthodox, and yet they are generally tolerant of other peoples and other religions, whereas the Ottoman Empire can be a bit more difficult for religious and ethnic minorities in certain parts of the Empire on occassion. Obviously not everyone in Greece is tolerant or respectful of other peoples and cultures, but overall I would say its probably better on average than most places in the 19th Century.
Dementor
Banned
I don't know where these figures come from, but the Greek population in Eastern Rumelia in 1884 (17 years later) was about 5%, with the Bulgarian about 70%. Estimates before the 1877-78 war differ, but not by much (especially when taking into account the drastic underestimate of the Bulgarian population).
PS: I overlooked where these figures were already questioned. It should be added that the census in Eastern Rumelia was under international supervision and is believed to be reasonably accurate. Also, it followed the Greek friendly method of distinguishing Greeks by religion, rather than language. And these figures seems to be at best a slight underestimation of those suggested by the Greek Patriarchate. The Greek nationalist views (exemplified by this little piece, which somehow doesn't contain a single true statement) are another matter of course.
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As I've already said myself the figure, as coming from Carolides, is most probably an overestimation. This doesn't mean it was any less believed at the time. I'll also note that to use your second link, if you read further down on it Vladimir Teplov was giving for the sanjak of Phillipoupolis in 1877 a number of 382,500 Bulgarians out of 628,770 non Muslims. Now if we are to take the 1884 census at face value, Armenians and Jews are 8,847. So a contemporary Russian diplomat points to 237,423 Greeks (or patriarchics if you will?) in 1877? This does explain the number but it still looks too high.
On the reverse the figure of the 1884 census, done with an administration clearly dominated by the Bulgarian side and with elements of the international supervision having its own axes to grind looks towards the low end I think. It gives 53,000. The patriarchate estimates for 1906 was about 100,000 which does appear reasonable given the 49,000 Greeks that left Bulgaria under the population exchange post Neully and the larger number that had already fled Bulgaria after the 1906 pogroms against them. (12,000 reached Greece only in 1907 and several thousands the previous year) Sort of doubt the Greek population had much increased between the independence of Bulgaria and 1906. I'd also say that its a reasonable assumption that some people that were patriarchics before 1878, switched sides afterwards.
The Netherlands will be somewhat different compared to OTL after this war with one of the biggest changes being their alliance with Prussia. I don't see them joining the Zollverein or the German Confederation, but their renewed friendship will certainly bring the two countries closer together and effect geopolitics in Europe going forward.
Economically, the Netherlands are struggling to continue financing the war effort. In OTL, they very nearly declared bankruptcy during the early 1830's and would continue to deal with debt problems through out much of the 1830's and 1840's, so if anything it will be much worse for them here with the added cost of this ongoing war. These costs will be offset somewhat by British loans and a few new acquisitions following the war, but in the end they will not be too helpful right away.
Another massive change will be territory and demographics. I won't go into too much detail here, but the Netherlands will experience an increase in both of these as a result of this war.
Strangely enough, I would say that the Pillar System would be pretty similar to its OTL equivalent. Obviously there will be a few changes to account for the different environment the Dutch find themselves in going forward, but by in large I don't see it being too different.
so what does this war mean to the concert of Europe and why wouldn't it change the pillar system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_of_Europe here an article for people not familiar
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While the Concert of Europe/Congress of Vienna still exists on paper, it has been effectively dead for a long time, since the mid 1820's to be exact. Fun fact, the Greek War of Independence played a large part in bringing about its demise, both in OTL and ITTL, as the Powers couldn't decide on what to do regarding the war in Greece. Ultimately, British, France, and Russia decided for themselves to intervene in favor of Greece, while the Austrians and Prussians refused to act.
We are talking about this Pillar System right? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillarisation
If so then I don't see why it would be that different from OTL. Sure there will be a lot more Catholics in the Netherlands after the war, but I don't really see much of a change taking place in Dutch politics, aside from a stronger Catholic Pillar. Obviously things can and probably will change, but I haven't thought that far ahead for the Netherlands ITTL.
K yes i can see now why it wouldn't change that much and it been dead for that long! that long suprised there haven't been even more wars
There were actually quite a few wars during this time on the European continent, but most were smaller regional conflicts like the Greek War of Independence, the Portuguese Civil War, or the Polish Uprising in 1830 rather than the continent spanning conflicts of the Napoleonic Wars or the following World Wars.
I don't know much about royal bloodlines but at some point everyone is gonna be related to queen victoria
Chapter 62: The End of July
Chapter 62: The End of July
King Louis-Philippe Flees Paris
Unbeknownst to Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, word of his intervention in Belgium had reached the ears of the Marshal of France Thomas Robert Bugeaud, duc d’Isly less than a day after the events at Maastricht. Upon hearing the news, d’Isly dispatched couriers to Paris relaying this information to the Government, to request the release of additional reinforcements, and to receive new orders on how to proceed against this new threat. d’Isly would not wait for Paris however and began to move his units into position to combat the Prussian army. Orders were sent to 4th Corps, requesting they join the main army in Belgium immediately, while the Belgian Government was persuaded into giving d’Isly temporary control over the meager Belgian (Walloon) Army. 2nd Corps’ planned invasion of Zuid-Beveland was canceled and they were instead transferred to the ongoing siege of Antwerp, thus freeing 1st Corps to move in support of General Vaillant and 3rd Corps.
Prince Wilhelm had not been idle during this time either. After giving his men a day’s rest, the Prussian Army and Dutch 2nd Corps immediately set off in pursuit of the bloodied French 3rd Corps on the road to St-Truiden, where he managed to catch several stragglers. The few hundred Frenchmen put up a stubborn, but ultimately futile resistance before laying down their arms after an hour, but their delaying efforts had proven decisive as General Vaillant would manage to escape with the remainder of his decimated Corps yet again. Undeterred by this disappointment, Prince Wilhelm and the Prussians pushed further into Belgium, hoping to strike one last blow against the French before they fully united against him. Sure enough he would get his wish on the 11th of May when several scouts from the French 1st Cavalry Division accidentally stumbled into the vanguard of the Prussian Army near the town of Tienen.
During a routine reconnaissance patrol, east of Tienen, the Chasseurs regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division sighted members of the Prussian 14. Division’s Jaeger Battalion exiting the Wissebos woods near Tienen. Believing the Prussians to be a scouting party, the French cavalrymen moved to engage the skirmishers near the edge of the woods. Most of the Jaegers quickly withdrew into the forests where they utilized the great linden trees for protection against the French cavalrymen, forcing many to dismount and fight on foot. Nevertheless, the French chasseurs proved to be a highly potent fighting force and would slowly push the Prussian skirmishers from the Wissebos and into the neighboring commune of Wommersom where the fiercest fighting of the day would occur. Many men barricaded themselves within the numerous houses and barns, manors and stables of Wommersom resulting in a bloody street fight. As the day progressed more and more men from both sides began to arrive on scene, turning what had originally been a small skirmish between the two Divisions into a full-scale battle between two armies, but with night beginning to fall the French ceded the village to the Germans and established their camp in before Tienen.
The Fight for Wommersom
Despite its numerical superiority in the country at large, the French Army was still strung out across much of Belgium; 4th Corps still the better part of a day’s march away and the Belgians were a disheveled, disorderly mess with units scattered from Oostende to Arlon. This left d’Isly with 1st Corps, the bloodied 3rd Corps, and a smattering of Walloon units to fend off the entire Prussian Armee des Niederrhein at Tienen. Nevertheless, d’Isly was well prepared to handle this challenge, having hastily erected field works around the town in preparation for the Prussians. He had also taken great care to secure the heights overlooking Tienen to the north and south of the city, providing his forces with a commanding view of the approaching plain and the opposing Prussian camp which sat upon the lower Wommersom-Linter Ridge opposite the French.
Prince Wilhelm, confident of victory, ordered a series of attack against the French on the morning of the 12th which successfully breached the French center in some parts and the French right, which was comprised of the half strength 3rd Corps and a few Walloon troops, was quickly overwhelmed and forced to retreat some 100 meters to a second defensive line closer to the city. His attempts to seize the heights to the north of Tienen met with more difficulty as the Frenchmen of 3rd Division under the gallant leadership of General de Division Armand-Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud viciously beat back three separate attacks by the Prussian Gardekorps on their hills. The fighting was fierce, but Arnaud’s defiant defense of the hill which bears his name to this day helped to save the French from a complete collapse. Even still the situation remained tenuous for the French for much of the morning and early afternoon, but by late evening elements of the French 4th Corps began flooding into Tienen from the West, reinforcing their embattled countrymen and began grinding the Prussian offensive to a halt as dusk began to fall over the land.
After two days of hard fighting, the Prussians had little to show for their efforts aside from a few thousand casualties and inconsequential gains on the ground. Worse still, the French had finally assembled a force larger than their own and were likely planning to go on the offensive the following day. Despite this setback, the Prince of Prussia would opt to go on the offensive once again, striking at first light on the third day of the battle of Tienen. At dawn, the 78 guns of the Prussian army opened fire on the French lines in a thunderous barrage of cannonade. It was an impressive, if largely ineffective spectacle that failed to meaningfully impact the French lines thanks to their higher elevation and earthworks. Nevertheless, the Prussian artillery would continue firing for much of the morning, before finally ceasing around 10:30 in the morning, when the Prussians and their Dutch allies made their assault.
Leading the attack was General Moritz von Hirschfeld and 15. Division who advanced upon the French center, while General Friederich Wilhelm von Dunker's 16. Division and the Dutch 2nd Corps under General Hendrik Forstner van Dambenoy attacked the French Left flank. While these efforts met with some success initially, they quickly lost their momentum and came to a stop as the French steeled themselves. Prince Wilhelm was not discouraged by these developments however as his true target was the French right flank to the south which had nearly shattered under pressure the day before. As such he had sent Gardekorps and VII Armeekorps to destroy the French 3rd Corps in the South, whilst VIII Armeekorps and the Dutch held the other French forces at bay. It was hoped that the Gardekorps and VII Armeekorps could envelope the southern flank of the French army and destroy it. They were to be incredibly disappointed.
Prince August von Württemberg and Gardekorps were sent on a daring flanking maneuver far to the south of Tienen and the commune of Hakendover which anchored the French line in an attempt to get around the French line and attack it from behind. This detour would take longer than anticipated however, resulting in them arriving well after the battle had started. Even still, their arrival would have had the intended affect had their opponent been General Vaillant and the depleted 3rd Corps rather than General de Corps Nicholas Anne Theodule Changarnier and the fresh 4th Corps which had taken their place. The well-rested Frenchmen would prove to be more than a match for the winded Prussians thanks to the brilliant leadership of General Changarnier who deftly countered every one of von Württemberg’s attempts to outmaneuver him, bringing the battle on the south end of the ridge to a frustrating standstill.
The Prussian Offensive at Tienen
With the Gardekorps' flanking attack a failure, the Prussian offensive effectively ground to an immediate halt and within minutes, the Prussians and their Dutch allies had been pushed back to their lines at the start of the day. The French counterattack did not stop there as they continued to press on and for a few brief moments around noon, one could hear the whistling of musket balls and cannon shells could be heard outside Prince Wilhelm’s headquarters in the village of Linter leading to much panic and confusion in the Prussian camp. The French assault would only be blunted when Prince Wilhelm committed the entirety of his reserves into the battle, bringing the battle to a merciful standstill as night began to fall over the field of battle once more. Recognizing the precariousness of his situation, Prince Wilhelm elected to withdraw to the North under the cover of darkness. The Battle of Tienen was over; the French had won, but at a great price.
Of the 86,000 French soldiers who took part in the battle, 6,563 men lay dead or dying on the field of battle by the end of the third day. Another 15,429 suffered from minor to debilitating injuries incurred during the battle and more than 4,300 were either missing or had been captured over the three days. The Prussians and Dutch in comparison had suffered nearly 5,400 dead, over 11,000 wounded, 1,012 missing, and 2,105 captured, with most casualties occurring on the last day of the battle. Still, the French had won the day, having driven the enemy from the field of battle and stood poised to drive the Prussians out of Belgium entirely. However, their pursuit of the defeated Prussians would not proceed very far as politics would force d’Isly to turn his attention elsewhere.
On the night of the 12th, Prince Frederick and the Dutch Army had sallied forth from their defenses in the middle of the night and engaged the unwitting French 2nd Corps in a chaotic battle. Although the French had narrowly avoided being caught in their sleep, it was clear that they had not been prepared for such a brazen attack by the Dutch and were quickly defeated as a result. The siege of Antwerp had been broken, General Magnan was in retreat, and the road to Brussels was now open to the Dutch once again. Fearful of the Dutch returning, the Belgian Government soon inundated d’Isly with missives demanding the Armee du Nord return to Brussels at once and defend the city at all costs, a demand that was later reaffirmed by his own Government the following day.
D’Isly also had his own reasons for moving to defend Brussels against the approaching Dutch; his main line of supply ran through the Belgian capital. In the years preceding the war, a rail line from Paris to Brussels had been constructed, linking the two countries together even closer. Although the project had been intended with economic interests in mind, the military benefits were incredibly valuable as well. Faced with this threat to his lines of supply and communication as well as the political implications such a loss would entail, Marshal Bugeaud was forced to abandon his chase of Prince Wilhelm and move westward to check the advance of the Dutch Prince Frederick. Rather than offering battle however, Prince Frederick deftly withdrew to Antwerp in the face of the full French army, scorching the earth behind him and leaving skirmishers in his wake.
While Antwerp would be placed under siege once again, these acts by the Prince of the Netherlands had provided the Prince of Prussia with invaluable time to reassemble his haggard forces near the town of Diest. When the duc d’Isly finally arrived eight days later on the 21st, the combined Prussian-Dutch Army had managed to recoup nearly half their earlier losses. Even still they remained heavily outnumbered by the French by as much as 3 to 2, and yet try as they might, the French were unable to make significant progress against their adversaries. The Prussians had learned from their mistakes at Tienen and occupied a more defensible position across the Demer, which proved resilient to French assaults. Efforts by d’Isly to seize the fords across the Demer failed and his attempts to circumnavigate the Prussian positions along the River would also prove futile. After three days of skirmishes and probing attacks d’Isly withdrew his forces and returned to Brussels to resupply and await additional reinforcements. After the battle of Diest the war in Belgium settled into a rhythm of sporadic raids and skirmishing rather than the grand campaigns and spectacular battles that had preceded it as both sides reorganized themselves for the fight ahead. While the common foot soldier certainly appreciated a few weeks of rest, the people and politicians of France, Prussia, and the Netherlands did not.
French Reservists Called into Service
While the people of France had been supportive of the war in Belgium initially, having been ginned on by the promise of a short and noble war to save their Walloon kinsmen from the the clutches of Dutch tyranny, they quickly soured on the conflict following Prussia's intervention. The setbacks, blunders, and defeats that followed outweighed the victories, triumphs, and successes that they had achieved thus far. Although some would continue to contend that the Prussians and Dutch could be beaten in a reasonable timetable, most recognized that the war would now become a bitter war of attrition between the two sides. Under normal circumstances, this would have played to France’s strengths; their population was over three times that of Prussia’s and the Netherland’s combined, and their army was nearly double that of the total Allied contingent; even now, tens of thousands of reinforcements were being rushed to the front lines in Belgium to fight off the Prussians and the Dutch. However, these strengths were also weaknesses for France, as the financial and material requirements needed to support such an army strained an already weakened French economy.
The war had also disrupted the modest economic recovery France had been experiencing at the start of the year, plunging the country back into the grips of economic recession. To fund the war effort, unpopular war taxes were levied on the people leading to various bankruptcies and insolvencies across the Kingdom. Despite British assurances of naval aid, Dutch privateers frequently harassed French shipping across the globe, hurting an already struggling French merchant class. With the war floundering and the economy faltering, voluntary enlistment understandably fell short of the necessary numbers, leading the Parliament to enact conscription nationwide, angering an already irate populace. Soon draft riots became as common as bread riots in Paris, with conscription agents and debt collectors being shot in the streets. Even the French Parliament which had originally supported the war back in April, now began to buckle under the costs of continuing the war and made their growing displeasure known to the King and Prime Minister.
It was clear that a great victory was needed now more than ever to save the Government of King Louis-Philippe and Prime Minister Francois Guizot. New orders were immediately dispatched to Marshal Thomas Bugeaud, duc d’Isly demanding he make an immediate offensive against the Dutch Army encamped at Antwerp. If the Dutch could be forced from Belgium, then the Prussian raison d’ être for being in the war would be lost and the conflict would come to a close, or so they hoped.
D’Isly recognized the dangers of such an order, the Dutch and Flemings were well entrenched and with his focus squarely on Antwerp, the Prussians would be free to move against his flanks and rear. The arrival off 5th Corps on the 14th of June would help alleviate some of these concerns, but while his army was now nearly four times the size of the enemy force at Antwerp, most of his force was now comprised of fresh recruits and reservists who had been brought into replace his dead and injured veterans after the bloody battles at Maastricht, Tienen, Antwerp, and Diest. There was also no guarantee that Prussia or the Netherlands would seek peace if they were driven from Belgium. Nevertheless, orders were orders, and on the 17th of June, d’Isly advanced forth from Brussels for Antwerp intending to crush the enemy’s opposition once and for all.
Assembled behind him was the largest force comprised yet in Belgium, nearly 132,000 strong consisting of 1st Corps, 2nd Corps, 3rd Corps, 4th Corps, 5th Corps and the remnants of the Belgian (Walloon) Army. Arrayed against them was the Dutch Army of Antwerp which initially numbered around 31,000 strong under the leadership of the talented Prince Frederick of the Netherlands. This number would quickly rise as news of the French offensive made its way to the Prussian Army which immediately moved in support of its Dutch Ally, bringing the total number of belligerents to 96,000 men in theater. Nevertheless, the French still enjoyed a sizeable numerical superiority and pressed forward with their advance North.
The Armee du Nord would spend the next week reducing the Dutch and Prussian defensive positions along the road to Antwerp with relative ease until they reached the strategically situated town of Mortsel. Over the past few weeks and months, the town had shifted hands nearly a dozen times owing to the frequent campaigns in the area by the Walloons and Flemings, the Dutch and the French. To ensure it didn’t happen again, Prince Frederick had tirelessly constructed rudimentary earthworks around the village at a blistering pace, turning a former farming commune into a budding fortress that was one of the keys points in his defensive perimeter around Antwerp. Here the fighting between the French and the Allied Army would be the most intense with Prince Louis d'Orleans, duc de Nemours leading the assault against the Prince of the Netherlands. The duc de Nemours was a brave man through and through, directing his soldiers from the front and fighting down in the dirt alongside them despite his rank and his nobility. His energetic and effective leadership galvanized the French to surmount the hastily erected Dutch defenses allowing them to storm into the town with relative ease.
Prince Louis d’Orleans, duc de Nemours
Unfortunately for the French, it was at this pivotal moment in the battle when the duc de Nemours had his horse shout out from underneath him, throwing him to the ground. Although he would quickly regain his footing, the damage had already been done. Fearing their leader to be dead, several soldiers nearby began to flee the field sparking a greater rout among the men of 1st corps. Despite the best efforts of the duc de Nemours to rally his men to stand and fight, he had clearly lost control of the situation which the Prussians immediately took advantage of. The collapse of the French 1st Corps would open a hole in the French lines which was immediately breached by the Prussian Gardekorps who fixed their bayonets and viciously slammed into the now opened flank of the French 5th Corps inflicting terrible casualties on the inexperienced unit and forced its retreat as well. With two of his five Corps now in flight, Marshal Bugeaud was forced to cede the field of battle to the Allied Prussian-Dutch Army.
The victory for the Allies had come at a great cost however, of the 96,000 men who took part in the battle, over 7,200 lay dead or dying, another 18,000 were wounded, and over 5,000 were missing or prisoners of the French. The French in comparison had done relatively well, only suffering 14,000 casualties in the battle although a significant number of men from 5th Corps had lost their weaponry during the ensuing rout. Despite the many rumors of his untimely death the duc de Nemours left the battle with barely a scratch on him, only suffering a sprained wrist and a wounded pride. In truth, the French defeat at Mortsel was a relatively minor setback in the grand scheme of things as the French continued to push towards Antwerp on other fronts, the Prussians and Dutch were suffering extensive losses of their own and numerous towns and villages had fallen to the French and Belgians.
This did little to mollify the French people who blamed their Government, or more specifically the misplaced heroics of the duc de Nemours for the defeat at Mortsel. Angry mobs took to the streets of Paris in force, setting fires to government buildings, looting homes and businesses of government workers, and attacking government officials in the streets. Attempts by the July Monarchy to regain control of the city failed miserably, as several protestors outside Tuileries were shot on sight by the Gendarmerie, an act which only served to incite the mob even further. On the 28th of June a massive crowd of men, women, and children marched on Tuileries Palace demanding an end to the war and the implementation of needed reforms to the economy and government. Efforts by King Louis-Philippe to address the crowd were met with a cry of boos and a hail of stones. Fearing for his life and the lives of his family, King Louis-Philippe abdicated in favor of his eldest son Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duc d'Orleans before departing into exile.[1]
The new King Ferdinand-Philippe was certainly a more popular man this his father as he was a vocal champion of the rights of soldiers and he had been a prominent patron of the arts during his youth. He also cut a more handsome figure than his father, being a young man in his mid-30's rather than a decrepit old man in his 70's. However, like his father he was a politically moderate man, earning him many enemies among the Conservatives and Liberals in French society. Moreover, he continued many of his father’s hated policies regarding suffrage and the rights of the aristocracy earning him the enmity of the Parisians. More problematic for the new King was the ongoing war in Belgium against the Netherlands and Prussia which remained a millstone around the neck of France. King Ferdinand-Philippe was certainly sympathetic to the people’s plight as economic conditions in the Kingdom continued to deteriorate with overseas trade suffering extensively and the slaughter of battle was a tragedy the new King wished to avoid if possible. More than that though, the King had a personal reason for seeking an end to the conflict.
His wife, Queen Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the cousin of King Frederick William IV of Prussia and King William of the Netherlands.[2] In fact her close relationship with the Kings of Prussia and the Netherlands had been one of the few draws benefits of the marriage, aside from her kind demeanor and petite figure which Ferdinand-Philippe found pleasing. The war in Belgium unfortunately brought an end to any hopes of an alliance with the Prussians or Dutch, but it did not preclude a diplomatic angle which the French King might use to his benefit. And so it was that on the 14th of July, King Ferdinand-Philippe announced his intentions to seek a 30-day truce with the Kingdom of Prussia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During which time representatives of the French government would meet with their Prussian and Dutch counterparts to discuss their respective terms for peace and hopefully bring about an end to the war.
King Ferdinand-Philippe, his wife Queen Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and their sons Prince Philippe and Prince Robert
These calls for peace were surprisingly echoed in Berlin and Amsterdam which were struggling with their own waves of discontent and unrest. For one brief moment in time, it seemed as if peace was possible between the three kingdoms. It was not to be sadly. Before the peace talks even began, French Prime Minister Francois Guizot presented his Prussian and Dutch counterparts with two preconditions; first they demanded that the Belgian Government be permitted to send a delegation to the peace conference, and second, that said peace conference take place on French soil. While neither term was particularly onerous or outrageous, these caveats struck a chord with the Prussians and Dutch representatives, especially when Dutch attempts to invite a Fleming delegation were rejected out of hand by the French. A British offer to host the peace conference was similarly rejected by the French, leading Britain to withdraw its admittedly meager support from the French and Walloons. Nevertheless, the Prussians and Dutch tentatively agreed to these terms and began preliminary debate over their respective prices for peace.
The French buoyed by their strong position in Belgium pushed for the total liberation of Belgium to its prewar borders (including the provinces of Flanders) and that the Prussians and Dutch recognized Prince Louis, duc de Nemours as the new King of Belgium. They demanded an indemnity be paid to the Belgian Government, and that the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg be ceded to Belgian as restitution of their losses. The Dutch wanted the entirety of Belgium returned to them and failing that, they wanted the French to recognize their union with the region of Flanders. The Prussians sided with their Dutch allies in return for the Dutch claim to Luxembourg, moreover, they would not accept under any conditions a French Prince upon the Belgian throne.
Unfortunately for all, neither side was willing to compromise on their demands at this juncture leading to continued unrest and irritation. King Ferdinand-Philippe, in a fit of frustration condemned the Prussians and their Dutch allies as obstinate war mongers and would privately decry them as such before members of the French Parliament. Word of his insults would unfortunately make its way to the ears of the British ambassador to France the Marquess of Normanby who duplicitously relayed this information to his Prussian and Dutch colleagues who predictably denounced the French King's remarks in response. Matters would only worsen from there with France began sending additional men and resources to the front in Belgium as the end of the 30 day ceasefire neared, provoking Prussia and the Netherlands to do the same. With tensions rising once more it would come as no surprise that fighting would break out on the 10th of August, three days before the end of the ceasefire. Both sides understandably blamed the other for breaking the truce, and in response the French broke off peace talks entirely; the war in Belgium would continue.
Hoping that one last push would bring the Prussians and the Dutch to terms, King Ferdinand-Philippe announced his intentions to travel in person to the front to meet with the troops and raise their morale before this vital offensive. Departing from Paris on the 17th, the King and his entourage quickly made their way to Brussels where they were met by the duc d'Isly, the duc de Nemours, their staffs, and hundreds of regular soldiers of the French Armee du Nord. By all accounts the trip to the front was a success, but the King's departure from Paris would only worsen matters in the Capital as protesters, both for and against the war poured out into the streets, sparking heated battles. Parisians in favor of the war set fire to the homes and business of politicians advocating for peace, while those demanding an end to the war attacked government officials in broad daylight and ransacked government buildings. Paris was wracked with riots and unrest for days on end until, finally on the 20th of August a band of 10,000 men, women, and children of various walks of life marched on Tuileries. The protestors hurled rocks at the royal palace and harassed the guards, they banged on the doors and smashed the palace windows. Fearing for the lives of her children, Queen Helene immediately fled the palace with her sons and several of her husband’s chief supporters. Little did she know their flight would signal the end of the July Monarchy.
The August Revolution, as it would come to be known, would have major repercussions for France and its neighbors in the days, weeks, and months ahead. Mere moments after the flight of the Queen and her sons, Republicans and Liberal Members of Parliament moved against the now isolated Prime Minister Guizot and coerced his resignation. He was soon replaced by the liberal lawyer Jacques-Charles Dupont de l’Eure and a Provisional Government which immediately declared the abolishment of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic in its stead. With the King away in Belgium and many of his ministers and Generals with him, the Provisional Government quickly consolidated its hold over Paris thanks to the support of the National Guard which defected to the Republicans almost immediately.
While the Republicans would quickly secure Paris, the rest of the country remained in a relative state of flux, with various provinces declaring for the Republic and others maintaining their loyalty to the House of Orleans. The King himself would learn of these developments two days later when his wife and children arrived in the army camp outside Brussels seeking refuge and safety. Several officers loyal to the House of Orleans immediately pressed the King to march on Paris with the Army and restore the Monarchy. Despite their conviction and vigor, Ferdinand-Philippe hesitated in his decision. While Marshal Bugeaud had been a loyal supporter of the House of Orleans and several other supporters and family members served in high ranking posts in the military, King Ferdinand-Philippe recognized that many officers and soldiers of the Armee du Nord vehemently supported the liberal ideals that the Provisional Government was propagating. These concerns were verified when several high ranking officers declared their support for the Provisional Government and threatened to mutiny should they be ordered to march on Paris by the King. With the army's loyalty in doubt and much of the country against him, it was clear that the July Monarchy was well and truly dead. So it was with great sadness that King Ferdinand-Philippe and his family departed into exile.[3]
However, as one French monarch fled into exile, another was making his final arrangements to return to France. Across the Channel in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a middle-aged man with golden locks and a distinctly Austrian accent bid farewell to his modest abode of the last 8 years. He was returning to the land of his birth, a land his father had once ruled long ago, and the land where his destiny awaited him. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte II and he was returning home.
Next Time: L’Aiglon
[1] In OTL, Prince Ferdinand-Philippe died as a result of injuries he sustained in a runaway carriage accident. His death was a major blow to the July Monarchy in OTL as he was quite popular among the people despite the growing unpopularity of his father. As a result a few substantial changes in France ITTL, I’ve seen fit to butterfly away his freak accident and keep the duke of Orleans around for a few more years. I had actually forgotten that he was still alive ITTL so I had to redo the entire second half of this update, so in case you were wondering why it took so long for me to finish this update, that is why.
[2] Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the second cousin of King Frederick William IV, his brother Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, king William II of the Netherlands, and his brother Prince Frederick of the Netherlands through their mutual great grandfather Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. Complicating relationship matters even more, her first cousin Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was the wife of Prince Wilhelm (Kaiser Wilhelm).
[3] The July Monarchy has ended sadly, that said some of their members will appear again in the future.
King Louis-Philippe Flees Paris
Unbeknownst to Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, word of his intervention in Belgium had reached the ears of the Marshal of France Thomas Robert Bugeaud, duc d’Isly less than a day after the events at Maastricht. Upon hearing the news, d’Isly dispatched couriers to Paris relaying this information to the Government, to request the release of additional reinforcements, and to receive new orders on how to proceed against this new threat. d’Isly would not wait for Paris however and began to move his units into position to combat the Prussian army. Orders were sent to 4th Corps, requesting they join the main army in Belgium immediately, while the Belgian Government was persuaded into giving d’Isly temporary control over the meager Belgian (Walloon) Army. 2nd Corps’ planned invasion of Zuid-Beveland was canceled and they were instead transferred to the ongoing siege of Antwerp, thus freeing 1st Corps to move in support of General Vaillant and 3rd Corps.
Prince Wilhelm had not been idle during this time either. After giving his men a day’s rest, the Prussian Army and Dutch 2nd Corps immediately set off in pursuit of the bloodied French 3rd Corps on the road to St-Truiden, where he managed to catch several stragglers. The few hundred Frenchmen put up a stubborn, but ultimately futile resistance before laying down their arms after an hour, but their delaying efforts had proven decisive as General Vaillant would manage to escape with the remainder of his decimated Corps yet again. Undeterred by this disappointment, Prince Wilhelm and the Prussians pushed further into Belgium, hoping to strike one last blow against the French before they fully united against him. Sure enough he would get his wish on the 11th of May when several scouts from the French 1st Cavalry Division accidentally stumbled into the vanguard of the Prussian Army near the town of Tienen.
During a routine reconnaissance patrol, east of Tienen, the Chasseurs regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division sighted members of the Prussian 14. Division’s Jaeger Battalion exiting the Wissebos woods near Tienen. Believing the Prussians to be a scouting party, the French cavalrymen moved to engage the skirmishers near the edge of the woods. Most of the Jaegers quickly withdrew into the forests where they utilized the great linden trees for protection against the French cavalrymen, forcing many to dismount and fight on foot. Nevertheless, the French chasseurs proved to be a highly potent fighting force and would slowly push the Prussian skirmishers from the Wissebos and into the neighboring commune of Wommersom where the fiercest fighting of the day would occur. Many men barricaded themselves within the numerous houses and barns, manors and stables of Wommersom resulting in a bloody street fight. As the day progressed more and more men from both sides began to arrive on scene, turning what had originally been a small skirmish between the two Divisions into a full-scale battle between two armies, but with night beginning to fall the French ceded the village to the Germans and established their camp in before Tienen.
The Fight for Wommersom
Despite its numerical superiority in the country at large, the French Army was still strung out across much of Belgium; 4th Corps still the better part of a day’s march away and the Belgians were a disheveled, disorderly mess with units scattered from Oostende to Arlon. This left d’Isly with 1st Corps, the bloodied 3rd Corps, and a smattering of Walloon units to fend off the entire Prussian Armee des Niederrhein at Tienen. Nevertheless, d’Isly was well prepared to handle this challenge, having hastily erected field works around the town in preparation for the Prussians. He had also taken great care to secure the heights overlooking Tienen to the north and south of the city, providing his forces with a commanding view of the approaching plain and the opposing Prussian camp which sat upon the lower Wommersom-Linter Ridge opposite the French.
Prince Wilhelm, confident of victory, ordered a series of attack against the French on the morning of the 12th which successfully breached the French center in some parts and the French right, which was comprised of the half strength 3rd Corps and a few Walloon troops, was quickly overwhelmed and forced to retreat some 100 meters to a second defensive line closer to the city. His attempts to seize the heights to the north of Tienen met with more difficulty as the Frenchmen of 3rd Division under the gallant leadership of General de Division Armand-Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud viciously beat back three separate attacks by the Prussian Gardekorps on their hills. The fighting was fierce, but Arnaud’s defiant defense of the hill which bears his name to this day helped to save the French from a complete collapse. Even still the situation remained tenuous for the French for much of the morning and early afternoon, but by late evening elements of the French 4th Corps began flooding into Tienen from the West, reinforcing their embattled countrymen and began grinding the Prussian offensive to a halt as dusk began to fall over the land.
After two days of hard fighting, the Prussians had little to show for their efforts aside from a few thousand casualties and inconsequential gains on the ground. Worse still, the French had finally assembled a force larger than their own and were likely planning to go on the offensive the following day. Despite this setback, the Prince of Prussia would opt to go on the offensive once again, striking at first light on the third day of the battle of Tienen. At dawn, the 78 guns of the Prussian army opened fire on the French lines in a thunderous barrage of cannonade. It was an impressive, if largely ineffective spectacle that failed to meaningfully impact the French lines thanks to their higher elevation and earthworks. Nevertheless, the Prussian artillery would continue firing for much of the morning, before finally ceasing around 10:30 in the morning, when the Prussians and their Dutch allies made their assault.
Leading the attack was General Moritz von Hirschfeld and 15. Division who advanced upon the French center, while General Friederich Wilhelm von Dunker's 16. Division and the Dutch 2nd Corps under General Hendrik Forstner van Dambenoy attacked the French Left flank. While these efforts met with some success initially, they quickly lost their momentum and came to a stop as the French steeled themselves. Prince Wilhelm was not discouraged by these developments however as his true target was the French right flank to the south which had nearly shattered under pressure the day before. As such he had sent Gardekorps and VII Armeekorps to destroy the French 3rd Corps in the South, whilst VIII Armeekorps and the Dutch held the other French forces at bay. It was hoped that the Gardekorps and VII Armeekorps could envelope the southern flank of the French army and destroy it. They were to be incredibly disappointed.
Prince August von Württemberg and Gardekorps were sent on a daring flanking maneuver far to the south of Tienen and the commune of Hakendover which anchored the French line in an attempt to get around the French line and attack it from behind. This detour would take longer than anticipated however, resulting in them arriving well after the battle had started. Even still, their arrival would have had the intended affect had their opponent been General Vaillant and the depleted 3rd Corps rather than General de Corps Nicholas Anne Theodule Changarnier and the fresh 4th Corps which had taken their place. The well-rested Frenchmen would prove to be more than a match for the winded Prussians thanks to the brilliant leadership of General Changarnier who deftly countered every one of von Württemberg’s attempts to outmaneuver him, bringing the battle on the south end of the ridge to a frustrating standstill.
The Prussian Offensive at Tienen
With the Gardekorps' flanking attack a failure, the Prussian offensive effectively ground to an immediate halt and within minutes, the Prussians and their Dutch allies had been pushed back to their lines at the start of the day. The French counterattack did not stop there as they continued to press on and for a few brief moments around noon, one could hear the whistling of musket balls and cannon shells could be heard outside Prince Wilhelm’s headquarters in the village of Linter leading to much panic and confusion in the Prussian camp. The French assault would only be blunted when Prince Wilhelm committed the entirety of his reserves into the battle, bringing the battle to a merciful standstill as night began to fall over the field of battle once more. Recognizing the precariousness of his situation, Prince Wilhelm elected to withdraw to the North under the cover of darkness. The Battle of Tienen was over; the French had won, but at a great price.
Of the 86,000 French soldiers who took part in the battle, 6,563 men lay dead or dying on the field of battle by the end of the third day. Another 15,429 suffered from minor to debilitating injuries incurred during the battle and more than 4,300 were either missing or had been captured over the three days. The Prussians and Dutch in comparison had suffered nearly 5,400 dead, over 11,000 wounded, 1,012 missing, and 2,105 captured, with most casualties occurring on the last day of the battle. Still, the French had won the day, having driven the enemy from the field of battle and stood poised to drive the Prussians out of Belgium entirely. However, their pursuit of the defeated Prussians would not proceed very far as politics would force d’Isly to turn his attention elsewhere.
On the night of the 12th, Prince Frederick and the Dutch Army had sallied forth from their defenses in the middle of the night and engaged the unwitting French 2nd Corps in a chaotic battle. Although the French had narrowly avoided being caught in their sleep, it was clear that they had not been prepared for such a brazen attack by the Dutch and were quickly defeated as a result. The siege of Antwerp had been broken, General Magnan was in retreat, and the road to Brussels was now open to the Dutch once again. Fearful of the Dutch returning, the Belgian Government soon inundated d’Isly with missives demanding the Armee du Nord return to Brussels at once and defend the city at all costs, a demand that was later reaffirmed by his own Government the following day.
D’Isly also had his own reasons for moving to defend Brussels against the approaching Dutch; his main line of supply ran through the Belgian capital. In the years preceding the war, a rail line from Paris to Brussels had been constructed, linking the two countries together even closer. Although the project had been intended with economic interests in mind, the military benefits were incredibly valuable as well. Faced with this threat to his lines of supply and communication as well as the political implications such a loss would entail, Marshal Bugeaud was forced to abandon his chase of Prince Wilhelm and move westward to check the advance of the Dutch Prince Frederick. Rather than offering battle however, Prince Frederick deftly withdrew to Antwerp in the face of the full French army, scorching the earth behind him and leaving skirmishers in his wake.
While Antwerp would be placed under siege once again, these acts by the Prince of the Netherlands had provided the Prince of Prussia with invaluable time to reassemble his haggard forces near the town of Diest. When the duc d’Isly finally arrived eight days later on the 21st, the combined Prussian-Dutch Army had managed to recoup nearly half their earlier losses. Even still they remained heavily outnumbered by the French by as much as 3 to 2, and yet try as they might, the French were unable to make significant progress against their adversaries. The Prussians had learned from their mistakes at Tienen and occupied a more defensible position across the Demer, which proved resilient to French assaults. Efforts by d’Isly to seize the fords across the Demer failed and his attempts to circumnavigate the Prussian positions along the River would also prove futile. After three days of skirmishes and probing attacks d’Isly withdrew his forces and returned to Brussels to resupply and await additional reinforcements. After the battle of Diest the war in Belgium settled into a rhythm of sporadic raids and skirmishing rather than the grand campaigns and spectacular battles that had preceded it as both sides reorganized themselves for the fight ahead. While the common foot soldier certainly appreciated a few weeks of rest, the people and politicians of France, Prussia, and the Netherlands did not.
French Reservists Called into Service
While the people of France had been supportive of the war in Belgium initially, having been ginned on by the promise of a short and noble war to save their Walloon kinsmen from the the clutches of Dutch tyranny, they quickly soured on the conflict following Prussia's intervention. The setbacks, blunders, and defeats that followed outweighed the victories, triumphs, and successes that they had achieved thus far. Although some would continue to contend that the Prussians and Dutch could be beaten in a reasonable timetable, most recognized that the war would now become a bitter war of attrition between the two sides. Under normal circumstances, this would have played to France’s strengths; their population was over three times that of Prussia’s and the Netherland’s combined, and their army was nearly double that of the total Allied contingent; even now, tens of thousands of reinforcements were being rushed to the front lines in Belgium to fight off the Prussians and the Dutch. However, these strengths were also weaknesses for France, as the financial and material requirements needed to support such an army strained an already weakened French economy.
The war had also disrupted the modest economic recovery France had been experiencing at the start of the year, plunging the country back into the grips of economic recession. To fund the war effort, unpopular war taxes were levied on the people leading to various bankruptcies and insolvencies across the Kingdom. Despite British assurances of naval aid, Dutch privateers frequently harassed French shipping across the globe, hurting an already struggling French merchant class. With the war floundering and the economy faltering, voluntary enlistment understandably fell short of the necessary numbers, leading the Parliament to enact conscription nationwide, angering an already irate populace. Soon draft riots became as common as bread riots in Paris, with conscription agents and debt collectors being shot in the streets. Even the French Parliament which had originally supported the war back in April, now began to buckle under the costs of continuing the war and made their growing displeasure known to the King and Prime Minister.
It was clear that a great victory was needed now more than ever to save the Government of King Louis-Philippe and Prime Minister Francois Guizot. New orders were immediately dispatched to Marshal Thomas Bugeaud, duc d’Isly demanding he make an immediate offensive against the Dutch Army encamped at Antwerp. If the Dutch could be forced from Belgium, then the Prussian raison d’ être for being in the war would be lost and the conflict would come to a close, or so they hoped.
D’Isly recognized the dangers of such an order, the Dutch and Flemings were well entrenched and with his focus squarely on Antwerp, the Prussians would be free to move against his flanks and rear. The arrival off 5th Corps on the 14th of June would help alleviate some of these concerns, but while his army was now nearly four times the size of the enemy force at Antwerp, most of his force was now comprised of fresh recruits and reservists who had been brought into replace his dead and injured veterans after the bloody battles at Maastricht, Tienen, Antwerp, and Diest. There was also no guarantee that Prussia or the Netherlands would seek peace if they were driven from Belgium. Nevertheless, orders were orders, and on the 17th of June, d’Isly advanced forth from Brussels for Antwerp intending to crush the enemy’s opposition once and for all.
Assembled behind him was the largest force comprised yet in Belgium, nearly 132,000 strong consisting of 1st Corps, 2nd Corps, 3rd Corps, 4th Corps, 5th Corps and the remnants of the Belgian (Walloon) Army. Arrayed against them was the Dutch Army of Antwerp which initially numbered around 31,000 strong under the leadership of the talented Prince Frederick of the Netherlands. This number would quickly rise as news of the French offensive made its way to the Prussian Army which immediately moved in support of its Dutch Ally, bringing the total number of belligerents to 96,000 men in theater. Nevertheless, the French still enjoyed a sizeable numerical superiority and pressed forward with their advance North.
The Armee du Nord would spend the next week reducing the Dutch and Prussian defensive positions along the road to Antwerp with relative ease until they reached the strategically situated town of Mortsel. Over the past few weeks and months, the town had shifted hands nearly a dozen times owing to the frequent campaigns in the area by the Walloons and Flemings, the Dutch and the French. To ensure it didn’t happen again, Prince Frederick had tirelessly constructed rudimentary earthworks around the village at a blistering pace, turning a former farming commune into a budding fortress that was one of the keys points in his defensive perimeter around Antwerp. Here the fighting between the French and the Allied Army would be the most intense with Prince Louis d'Orleans, duc de Nemours leading the assault against the Prince of the Netherlands. The duc de Nemours was a brave man through and through, directing his soldiers from the front and fighting down in the dirt alongside them despite his rank and his nobility. His energetic and effective leadership galvanized the French to surmount the hastily erected Dutch defenses allowing them to storm into the town with relative ease.
Prince Louis d’Orleans, duc de Nemours
Unfortunately for the French, it was at this pivotal moment in the battle when the duc de Nemours had his horse shout out from underneath him, throwing him to the ground. Although he would quickly regain his footing, the damage had already been done. Fearing their leader to be dead, several soldiers nearby began to flee the field sparking a greater rout among the men of 1st corps. Despite the best efforts of the duc de Nemours to rally his men to stand and fight, he had clearly lost control of the situation which the Prussians immediately took advantage of. The collapse of the French 1st Corps would open a hole in the French lines which was immediately breached by the Prussian Gardekorps who fixed their bayonets and viciously slammed into the now opened flank of the French 5th Corps inflicting terrible casualties on the inexperienced unit and forced its retreat as well. With two of his five Corps now in flight, Marshal Bugeaud was forced to cede the field of battle to the Allied Prussian-Dutch Army.
The victory for the Allies had come at a great cost however, of the 96,000 men who took part in the battle, over 7,200 lay dead or dying, another 18,000 were wounded, and over 5,000 were missing or prisoners of the French. The French in comparison had done relatively well, only suffering 14,000 casualties in the battle although a significant number of men from 5th Corps had lost their weaponry during the ensuing rout. Despite the many rumors of his untimely death the duc de Nemours left the battle with barely a scratch on him, only suffering a sprained wrist and a wounded pride. In truth, the French defeat at Mortsel was a relatively minor setback in the grand scheme of things as the French continued to push towards Antwerp on other fronts, the Prussians and Dutch were suffering extensive losses of their own and numerous towns and villages had fallen to the French and Belgians.
This did little to mollify the French people who blamed their Government, or more specifically the misplaced heroics of the duc de Nemours for the defeat at Mortsel. Angry mobs took to the streets of Paris in force, setting fires to government buildings, looting homes and businesses of government workers, and attacking government officials in the streets. Attempts by the July Monarchy to regain control of the city failed miserably, as several protestors outside Tuileries were shot on sight by the Gendarmerie, an act which only served to incite the mob even further. On the 28th of June a massive crowd of men, women, and children marched on Tuileries Palace demanding an end to the war and the implementation of needed reforms to the economy and government. Efforts by King Louis-Philippe to address the crowd were met with a cry of boos and a hail of stones. Fearing for his life and the lives of his family, King Louis-Philippe abdicated in favor of his eldest son Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duc d'Orleans before departing into exile.[1]
The new King Ferdinand-Philippe was certainly a more popular man this his father as he was a vocal champion of the rights of soldiers and he had been a prominent patron of the arts during his youth. He also cut a more handsome figure than his father, being a young man in his mid-30's rather than a decrepit old man in his 70's. However, like his father he was a politically moderate man, earning him many enemies among the Conservatives and Liberals in French society. Moreover, he continued many of his father’s hated policies regarding suffrage and the rights of the aristocracy earning him the enmity of the Parisians. More problematic for the new King was the ongoing war in Belgium against the Netherlands and Prussia which remained a millstone around the neck of France. King Ferdinand-Philippe was certainly sympathetic to the people’s plight as economic conditions in the Kingdom continued to deteriorate with overseas trade suffering extensively and the slaughter of battle was a tragedy the new King wished to avoid if possible. More than that though, the King had a personal reason for seeking an end to the conflict.
His wife, Queen Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the cousin of King Frederick William IV of Prussia and King William of the Netherlands.[2] In fact her close relationship with the Kings of Prussia and the Netherlands had been one of the few draws benefits of the marriage, aside from her kind demeanor and petite figure which Ferdinand-Philippe found pleasing. The war in Belgium unfortunately brought an end to any hopes of an alliance with the Prussians or Dutch, but it did not preclude a diplomatic angle which the French King might use to his benefit. And so it was that on the 14th of July, King Ferdinand-Philippe announced his intentions to seek a 30-day truce with the Kingdom of Prussia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During which time representatives of the French government would meet with their Prussian and Dutch counterparts to discuss their respective terms for peace and hopefully bring about an end to the war.
King Ferdinand-Philippe, his wife Queen Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and their sons Prince Philippe and Prince Robert
These calls for peace were surprisingly echoed in Berlin and Amsterdam which were struggling with their own waves of discontent and unrest. For one brief moment in time, it seemed as if peace was possible between the three kingdoms. It was not to be sadly. Before the peace talks even began, French Prime Minister Francois Guizot presented his Prussian and Dutch counterparts with two preconditions; first they demanded that the Belgian Government be permitted to send a delegation to the peace conference, and second, that said peace conference take place on French soil. While neither term was particularly onerous or outrageous, these caveats struck a chord with the Prussians and Dutch representatives, especially when Dutch attempts to invite a Fleming delegation were rejected out of hand by the French. A British offer to host the peace conference was similarly rejected by the French, leading Britain to withdraw its admittedly meager support from the French and Walloons. Nevertheless, the Prussians and Dutch tentatively agreed to these terms and began preliminary debate over their respective prices for peace.
The French buoyed by their strong position in Belgium pushed for the total liberation of Belgium to its prewar borders (including the provinces of Flanders) and that the Prussians and Dutch recognized Prince Louis, duc de Nemours as the new King of Belgium. They demanded an indemnity be paid to the Belgian Government, and that the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg be ceded to Belgian as restitution of their losses. The Dutch wanted the entirety of Belgium returned to them and failing that, they wanted the French to recognize their union with the region of Flanders. The Prussians sided with their Dutch allies in return for the Dutch claim to Luxembourg, moreover, they would not accept under any conditions a French Prince upon the Belgian throne.
Unfortunately for all, neither side was willing to compromise on their demands at this juncture leading to continued unrest and irritation. King Ferdinand-Philippe, in a fit of frustration condemned the Prussians and their Dutch allies as obstinate war mongers and would privately decry them as such before members of the French Parliament. Word of his insults would unfortunately make its way to the ears of the British ambassador to France the Marquess of Normanby who duplicitously relayed this information to his Prussian and Dutch colleagues who predictably denounced the French King's remarks in response. Matters would only worsen from there with France began sending additional men and resources to the front in Belgium as the end of the 30 day ceasefire neared, provoking Prussia and the Netherlands to do the same. With tensions rising once more it would come as no surprise that fighting would break out on the 10th of August, three days before the end of the ceasefire. Both sides understandably blamed the other for breaking the truce, and in response the French broke off peace talks entirely; the war in Belgium would continue.
Hoping that one last push would bring the Prussians and the Dutch to terms, King Ferdinand-Philippe announced his intentions to travel in person to the front to meet with the troops and raise their morale before this vital offensive. Departing from Paris on the 17th, the King and his entourage quickly made their way to Brussels where they were met by the duc d'Isly, the duc de Nemours, their staffs, and hundreds of regular soldiers of the French Armee du Nord. By all accounts the trip to the front was a success, but the King's departure from Paris would only worsen matters in the Capital as protesters, both for and against the war poured out into the streets, sparking heated battles. Parisians in favor of the war set fire to the homes and business of politicians advocating for peace, while those demanding an end to the war attacked government officials in broad daylight and ransacked government buildings. Paris was wracked with riots and unrest for days on end until, finally on the 20th of August a band of 10,000 men, women, and children of various walks of life marched on Tuileries. The protestors hurled rocks at the royal palace and harassed the guards, they banged on the doors and smashed the palace windows. Fearing for the lives of her children, Queen Helene immediately fled the palace with her sons and several of her husband’s chief supporters. Little did she know their flight would signal the end of the July Monarchy.
The August Revolution, as it would come to be known, would have major repercussions for France and its neighbors in the days, weeks, and months ahead. Mere moments after the flight of the Queen and her sons, Republicans and Liberal Members of Parliament moved against the now isolated Prime Minister Guizot and coerced his resignation. He was soon replaced by the liberal lawyer Jacques-Charles Dupont de l’Eure and a Provisional Government which immediately declared the abolishment of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic in its stead. With the King away in Belgium and many of his ministers and Generals with him, the Provisional Government quickly consolidated its hold over Paris thanks to the support of the National Guard which defected to the Republicans almost immediately.
While the Republicans would quickly secure Paris, the rest of the country remained in a relative state of flux, with various provinces declaring for the Republic and others maintaining their loyalty to the House of Orleans. The King himself would learn of these developments two days later when his wife and children arrived in the army camp outside Brussels seeking refuge and safety. Several officers loyal to the House of Orleans immediately pressed the King to march on Paris with the Army and restore the Monarchy. Despite their conviction and vigor, Ferdinand-Philippe hesitated in his decision. While Marshal Bugeaud had been a loyal supporter of the House of Orleans and several other supporters and family members served in high ranking posts in the military, King Ferdinand-Philippe recognized that many officers and soldiers of the Armee du Nord vehemently supported the liberal ideals that the Provisional Government was propagating. These concerns were verified when several high ranking officers declared their support for the Provisional Government and threatened to mutiny should they be ordered to march on Paris by the King. With the army's loyalty in doubt and much of the country against him, it was clear that the July Monarchy was well and truly dead. So it was with great sadness that King Ferdinand-Philippe and his family departed into exile.[3]
However, as one French monarch fled into exile, another was making his final arrangements to return to France. Across the Channel in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a middle-aged man with golden locks and a distinctly Austrian accent bid farewell to his modest abode of the last 8 years. He was returning to the land of his birth, a land his father had once ruled long ago, and the land where his destiny awaited him. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte II and he was returning home.
Next Time: L’Aiglon
[1] In OTL, Prince Ferdinand-Philippe died as a result of injuries he sustained in a runaway carriage accident. His death was a major blow to the July Monarchy in OTL as he was quite popular among the people despite the growing unpopularity of his father. As a result a few substantial changes in France ITTL, I’ve seen fit to butterfly away his freak accident and keep the duke of Orleans around for a few more years. I had actually forgotten that he was still alive ITTL so I had to redo the entire second half of this update, so in case you were wondering why it took so long for me to finish this update, that is why.
[2] Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the second cousin of King Frederick William IV, his brother Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, king William II of the Netherlands, and his brother Prince Frederick of the Netherlands through their mutual great grandfather Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. Complicating relationship matters even more, her first cousin Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was the wife of Prince Wilhelm (Kaiser Wilhelm).
[3] The July Monarchy has ended sadly, that said some of their members will appear again in the future.
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Great update, only a few nitpicks related to your use of French.
FFirstly, the nickname for Napoleon II is L'Aiglon or the Eaglet. Please don't use a hybrid.
Secondly, the d' is only used when the noun that follows starts with an H or a vowel. Otherwise, the proper particle is "de". For example, the Duc de Nemours, but the Duc d'Aumale.
FFirstly, the nickname for Napoleon II is L'Aiglon or the Eaglet. Please don't use a hybrid.
Secondly, the d' is only used when the noun that follows starts with an H or a vowel. Otherwise, the proper particle is "de". For example, the Duc de Nemours, but the Duc d'Aumale.
Indeed it is. To keep things from spiraling too far out of control just yet, I'm going to leave most marriages ambiguous, with the exception of the Greek Royal Family (which will be getting its own update(s)) and the Powers. I may pay some attention to the Coburgs and various other royal houses, but I'm not going to go into great detail for every prince or princess out there.
Yeah that is probably a given.
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. Greece has unfortunately gotten the short end of the stick recently in terms of screen time, but that will change soon and in a big way I hope.
Thanks for the heads up, its been edited accordingly.
