Part 2: Chapter II: The Reunited Kingdom of the Netherlands: 1836-1842
Chapter II: The Reunited Kingdom of the Netherlands: 1836-1842The last six years have been quite busy, have they not? While our army was reforming its numbers in 1836, our diplomats watched as a number of global hotspots broke into all-out war.
The Bolivian wars, I'm sure you remember, pitted Bolivia and Peru against Brazil and Chile, and later Bolivia and Peru vs Argentina. Between them they lasted almost the entire last few years and left all of South America a depopulated hellscape. Though Bolivia lost the former war, losing its Amazonian holdings to Brazil and its coastline to Chile, it defeated Argentina, pushing its southern border further down. Countless South Americans died in this conflict and it might have repercussions for decades. Brazil then promptly invaded Paraguay and seized half of that country, but today, in 1842, Brazil's military is so drained that it can barely sustain a three-regiment army, which is still somehow the largest military south of Mexico.
In Central Asia, in one of the briefest wars ever, Afghanistan retook the province of Balkh from the Bukkharan khanate. Within two weeks the Bukkharans realized they stood no chance and withdrew.
The Ottomans finished off Tripoli and reclaimed Adana from Muhammad Ali Pasha's Egypt, spelling the end of Muhammad Ali's dream of taking Constantinople and putting his Levantine territory in jeopardy.
In a brutal 18 month war, the United States stepped in vs Mexico and secured the independence of the Republic of Texas, which promptly joined the Union.
But enough of those stories, you wish to hear of events in Europe, and events in Bavaria. Well, as the whole world knows, we spent the majority of this period in significant debt that is only now mostly paid off...the cost of the upscaling of the military His Majesty ordered. Our military expanded to 10 regiments, and in the years 1836-1842 has since ballooned all the way to 17, with His Majesty's goal of an even 20 regiments rapidly approaching. After expanding education and bureaucratic needs, the state has been pouring money into encouraging more young men to a military career.
News from the north proved quite interesting. The Dutch had never accepted the loss of Belgium in 1830, and sought a powerful ally to restore their southern provinces...the Kingdom of Prussia. The British, opposed to another powerful Dutch state controlling the mouths of important trade rivers, would not accept this and went to war with the Dutch and Prussians to preserve Belgian neutrality. However, no one else seemed interested in helping the British do so, not even their Austrian allies.
Both the UK and Prussia had powerful militaries, and in a short time, the entire Dutch navy was sunk by the British, but Prussian landpower meant that Britain's brave landings, even the sacking of Rotterdam and Maastricht, were rapidly undone by the Prussian army.
The United Kingdom overconfidently declared their intention to annex Suriname in the war (giving northern Maine to the United States to make the deal look less greedy) while the Prussians declared their intent to make London look like fools for taking on a continental war it couldn't win.
News that the state of Bastar had fallen to the Doctrine of Lapse met little interest except among hardcore advocates of divine right monarchy, as the idea that a governor from Britain could tell a king, even a king in India, that he could not determine his own succession was anathema. Years later, the British did the same with Orissa, not yet pictured on our map.
France, alarmed by the competency of Prussia's army facing the British, decided to ally with Russia for protection. Prussia sought a counterbalance to the French in Spain.
1838, as we all know, saw the end of the neutral Kingdom of Belgium, but not the end of the war, as Britain valiantly fought on to liberate its former ally while Prussia sought to Humiliate the United Kingdom for its hubris.
The slavery crisis continued to bring news from the United States, showing a Congress with amazing dedication to rapidly passing large amounts of controversial legislation.
As we watched the war abroad, the social war at home became problematic. A new age had dawned, and Bavaria had to act if it would survive it.
Liberal dissidents met in private and in public.
Some even called for Revolution!
Luckily our clergy stood by our side.
Bowing to popular pressure, the King wisely ordered the end of the state monopoly on newspapers, however, he ordered government censorship continue. This move has gone some way to quelling the protests, but does little about their root causes.
The death of King William IV of the United Kingdom proved a result of hearing about the tragic defeat of the First Flanders Expeditionary Force, crushed by Prussia. The rise of Queen Victoria broke Britain's ties with Hannover, allowing the Prussians to seek to bring Hannover into the Zollverein. Ominously, the King of Saxony renounced his allegiance to Austria, leaving Austria with no influence in North Germany.
The discovery of Ideological Thought did little to quell popular disturbances, but did lead to many new ways of thinking about politics and government. Research to further Medical technology immediately commenced.
Seeing the turmoil in Europe between Britain and Prussia as the perfect time to expand its holdings in North Africa, France launched a two-week campaign to secure the Tlemcen region from Algiers, leaving the once-proud state limited to a patch of desert. The French king then invaded Morocco, seizing the Taza region.
Britain finally conceded military defeat in 1840, but did not concede diplomatic defeat. In 1841, Britain called a meeting of the Concert of Europe to advocate for the restoration of Belgium. With Russia and Spain opposed and Austria and Turkey noncommittal, Britain had to make yet another humiliating concession.
The discovery of new medical techniques rapidly boosted the Bavarian population. With more people and more agricultural output, more people bought Bavarian goods outside of Austria, finally making tariffs a worthwhile investment and allowing us to eliminate the national debt...for now.
We rapidly researched the new philosophical doctrine of Idealism and then shifted to catching up with the new Romantic art trends sweeping Europe. At the moment, we are currently preparing to unveil a new art movement, Realism, that will take the world by storm.
The big event of this past year was, of course, the opening of the Walhalla. Crowds from around the continent have come to gaze in awe at this magnificent structure.
Spain is preparing to take advantage of Morocco's misfortune and invade...there is no chance that Morocco can hold off Spain, and the growing power of the maritime colonial empires gives us pause here in our landlocked realm.
Luckily, a recently-published collection of the works of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel has inspired intellectual discussion never before heard in Munich. Times are interesting, and will become more so in the new year.
I have a message to you from His Majesty, King Ludwig.
"In a storm, the tree that bends is less likely to break. We have no intention of opening up elections or enacting policies that lessen our sovereignty over this land, but the time has come where we must consider other alterations to preserve our state and beat off the Revolutionary menace. I leave it to you to decide which course to take."
"Under no circumstances will we allow the degenerate practice of voting, but we may take one of the following reforms."
A. "Already last year I opened up private presses for the first time. This has met with general approval, but many journalists chafe under state censorship and request that we completely free the press."
B. "Others say that we should allow the workers to form combinations under the careful eye of the state to collectively negotiate wages with their employers."
C. "Still others say that forcing dissident factions to operate in the shadows makes them more dangerous and that bringing them out into the open would make them easier to watch and less dangerous."
D. "Some of you insist that no reform at all is the right option. This course is dangerous, but is also bold and principled and we applaud it."
"We trust you will make the right decision."
STATUS OF BAVARIA
THE WORLD, 1842
