Part 75: Victoria: Chapter 10 - Fragmentation: 1840 -1850

1840 - 1850: Fragmentation

The Modernizers are elected in a closely contested voting session, beating out the Militarists by four votes. They vow to run on a platform of introspectionism, focusing on Swabia's problems and letting the rest of the world get along as best it can.


Taxes and tariffs are reduced across the board, the plans for further expansion of the fleet are tabled, and the military budget is cut. A flow of subsidies and capital results in a boom of business across Swabia over the next five years.


Socially, the Modernizers combine their industrial platform with an emphasis on traditional values and population control, doing much to squash the wave of social liberalization following in the wake of the partial unification of Germany.


Foreign advisors are brought in to reform the economy, and the Stuttgart Stock Exchange is created.





The pursuit of military matters is not completely neglected, however, as a vivid debate in the Reichstag settles the question of the future direction of army doctrine, choosing to adopt the ideas of the Austrian General Gottlieb von Clausewitz over those of Swiss Revolutionary General Antoine-Henri Jomini.



The war in Jadakal comes to an end with a humiliating defeat for the Theocratic Republic of Alusal in May of 1841.


In November of 1842, the Dutch and British fancy a rematch with France and its allies Austria and Lithuania.


Unfortunately for them, Iberia decides to join the war on France's side, bringing the Dutch-British alliance at war with four great powers. The British plead Swabia for assistance, but are met with nothing but scorn for letting the Dutch start this war. Swabia declares itself neutral.


In May of 1843, expansion of the railroad system covers the entire Swabian homeland, greatly increasing industrial output.


With French troops marching on Amsterdam, the Dutch rush to make peace, surrendering more of their Flemish holdings.


In October, Byzantium joins the war against the now very lonely UK and its dominions.


Swabia's only action is to secure defensive alliances with the SGF and Dauphine in case this grand coalition of Great Powers should decide to look towards central europe next. An aging and sickly Mathias II makes a speech in front of the Reichstag, urging action to save the British, but without result.



A war in Africa comes to an end in September of 1844 with the annexation of the Swahili Kingdom by Egypt, cementing its grip over the east african coast.



Import of new railroad technology from Scandinavia begins in 1845. Capital is also invested into the development of new medicinal and coal refining techniques.




In the wake of the Great War and a massive loss of jobs caused by the rapid industrialization liberal revolutions are spreading across Europe. Stable and with a booming economy, Swabia escapes the worst of the revolutions, and the few riots it experiences are quickly put down by the military. The Modernizers use this relative prosperity to further entrench their isolationist policies, claiming that intervention in the war would only serve to hinder Swabia's economical gains.


After over a year of fighting at sea and in the colonies the British fleet is caught in the English Channel by a combined French-Iberian-Lithuanian fleet squadron and completely wiped out in January of 1846, leaving the home isles open to invasion. A few weeks later, French troops make landfall in Cornwall.


By October, the French have reached London, occupying the British capital as the British government flees north to Manchester.


War breaks out in Jadakal again in November, as the peace treaty between Asmunakal and Alusal ends.


With the Home Isles in chaos and Iberian troops making landfall on the east coast, the American dominion governments see their chance to throw off British rule once and for all. New Britain and Janesland come together, creating the Confederate Colonies of America and declaring their independence.



The first of the new railroad networks is completed in München in December.



Construction of an artillery factory begins in January of 1847 as a part of the self-reliance policies of the Modernizers.


A long-awaited reform of the neglected fleet and army is also begun.




Newly gained advancements in Medicine spread to Swabia later in the same year, including a prophylaxis against Malaria



The war in Jadakal ends with another devastating victory for Asmunakal, reducing Alusal and Jidligrib to mere shadows of their former selves.


The French and Iberian invasion of the British Home Isles grinds to a halt in the face of ferocious resistance from the population, and after a large Iberian expedition is destroyed outside New York by CCA militia, Iberia accepts a white peace, ending the Great War.


Having saved the Home Isles, the UK makes an attempt to save its colonies before the CCA can grow too strong, declaring war.


However, they are too late - the CCA militia quickly wipes out the two British expeditions sent to New Britain, and shortly thereafter annexes the remaining British holdings in Maryland and Virginia. A war-tired UK cuts its losses and signs a white peace before long, leaving the CCA in control of all of British America.



All over the world, wars continue to break out as the chaotic decade nears its end. Byzantium launches an invasion of Persia in May of 1848 and Mazula declares war on Vinland in June. In July, France attacks the Netherlands.




The wars end more or less as expected, with Persia forced to cede a number of border territories, Vinland losing its northwestern holdings and the Netherlands forced back to their pre-congress borders.




In a gesture of open mockery, the French ambassador in Stuttgart sends Mathias II a copy of the Stuttgart Congress' Edict of Unification of the Dutch and Flemish People, with a brand new map of France's borders needled onto it.


War-tired and internally split, Lithuania has been the nation to be hardest hit by the Liberal Revolutions, responding to the riots and revolts with brutal surpression. In August of 1848, the cycle of violence reaches its crescendo as the Lithuanian russians rise in revolution, declaring the independence of the Russian Republic and starting a civil war.


With large parts of Lithuania's Russian army defecting to the revolutionaries, the Lithuanian Czar pleads to Austria for assistance, but is rebuffed.


In July of 1849, Ukraine rises in revolution as well, throwing Lithuania into a full-blown war for the very survival of its Empire - a war it does not appear to be winning.