Chapter 179: Dynastic Concerns
1807 - December
Vienna
Emperor Francis II would struggle mightily with the reverses in Transylvania and Serbia. He had not expected the rebellions to sap the Austrians so greatly even before confronting the Russians. But the impending unification of Wallachia and Moldavia had spurred the Romanian peoples to covet Transylvania (at Russian encouragement). Now the Austrians were being pressed backward. It went without saying that no help would be coming from the German Confederation or France.
Francis would mourn the loss of his wife in 1807. Worse, he'd lost all but one of his sons to a Yellow Fever epidemic in 1804. The only survivor? The mentally feeble Ferdinand whom plainly could not govern.
Francis required a new set of male heirs...thus he needed a new wife. The Emperor blamed Ferdinand's feeble mind on inbreeding (his wife was closely related). Of course, all the great houses of Europe faced the same problem. This time, the Emperor would set his sights upon the young Maria Beatrice of Italy, now fifteen years old. Despite the war and standoffish relations between Austria and Italy, marriage alliance was considered a good way to smooth such problems.
It would take a full two years but the attractive princess would marry the Emperor after her 17th birthday. Her father, King Victor, had his own problems. Only one of his surviving children was male and the Prince and Heir had been stricken by smallpox, something which often resulted in sterility. As the King's younger brother was childless as well, the entire dynasty appeared in danger. Peace with ANY major power would likely help.
Moscow
Czar Paul was satisfied with the progress of the war thus far. Much of the Habsburg domains had fallen to the insurrectionists and Russians. The Orthodox peoples of the Balkans had finally taken steps to throw off the Catholic overlord.
Prince Alexander, now a father himself, was among the commanders of the expedition (though the Prince only nominally so given his youth). This made Paul quite proud. The father and son had their share of disagreements but the bond remained very strong.
Paris
Against all expectations, the aging King Louis XVI clung to life. His son and heir, Prince Louis, was forced to take ever greater positions in government, almost against his will. A somewhat timid youth by nature, the Dauphin was not well equipped to assume control should his father expire. Of course, everyone said the same thing about Louis XVI when he took over.
The problem was "everyone" had been largely right. Only a bizarre confluence of events had kept France from being challenged by foreign powers.
The Dauphin, intelligent but unaggressive, prayed his father may spare him the terrible responsibility for a few more years.
In the meantime, France dispatched forces to Wales and Northumbria to join the Anglian, Mercian, Northumbrian and Irish forces gathering in the British midlands to crush King William IV once and for all.
London
Though his victories remained admired and feared over the past two years, the truth was that Prince William of England had expended his limited resources fighting battle after battle to reconquer Britain...and still only occupied a small percentage of the rest of the island.
Now a great coalition was being formed to the north and William was uncertain....well, to be honest, DOUBTFUL...that he or his father's nation would survive the spring. To this day, he was shocked that the French hadn't just invaded southern England directly. The Royal Navy had been stripped of manpower and could hardly repulse the French. Fortunately, the ill-health of the King of France had temporarily taken center stage in Paris.
In December, 1807, King William IV expired....much to the relief of his subjects. Though he mourned his father, Prince William was quietly grateful that he now had a free hand to end the war. Hastily crowned King William V in London, the new monarch issued messages to his neighbors offering peace at the ante-bellum borders. Several neighbors, like Mercia, would scoff and rightly view this as desperation. However, Anglia, which remained partially occupied, was grateful to accept and William V was diligent in swiftly retreating. Northumberland similarly agreed to the armistice. And the French commander simply awaiting orders from Paris...which were not forthcoming.
Only Mercia and their Irish allies (and to an extent, the Welsh) demanded that the coalition continue the war. However, the political will had collapsed. The Welsh King stated that his own nation would agree to the armistice if France did. Bereft of allies, Mercia and Ireland were forced to agree.
Throughout the winter and spring of 1807, the English army retreated to previous borders without hesitation as a final peace was agreed...as dictated by France whose delegate, Mr. Tallyrand, would set the terms. In truth, they were not too harsh. England would retain her borders with only nominal reparations. King Louis was beyond caring about such things by now and the French nation, seeing the war expand in Europe and America, didn't want to spend her time crushing England.
However, Tallyrand wanted one little twist of the knife. The House of Hanover in England claimed title to all of Britain and Ireland for the past fifty years despite plainly having lost such rights. The price of peace would be King William V openly recognizing these other states as sovereign (which had never officially happened before) as well as giving up the claim to represent all of "England".
This meant that the "Kingdom of England" would henceforth become the "Kingdom of Wessex" after the ancient state.
"England" as Tallyrand snidely stated in mixed company, "was now merely a geographic concept".
Vienna
Emperor Francis II would struggle mightily with the reverses in Transylvania and Serbia. He had not expected the rebellions to sap the Austrians so greatly even before confronting the Russians. But the impending unification of Wallachia and Moldavia had spurred the Romanian peoples to covet Transylvania (at Russian encouragement). Now the Austrians were being pressed backward. It went without saying that no help would be coming from the German Confederation or France.
Francis would mourn the loss of his wife in 1807. Worse, he'd lost all but one of his sons to a Yellow Fever epidemic in 1804. The only survivor? The mentally feeble Ferdinand whom plainly could not govern.
Francis required a new set of male heirs...thus he needed a new wife. The Emperor blamed Ferdinand's feeble mind on inbreeding (his wife was closely related). Of course, all the great houses of Europe faced the same problem. This time, the Emperor would set his sights upon the young Maria Beatrice of Italy, now fifteen years old. Despite the war and standoffish relations between Austria and Italy, marriage alliance was considered a good way to smooth such problems.
It would take a full two years but the attractive princess would marry the Emperor after her 17th birthday. Her father, King Victor, had his own problems. Only one of his surviving children was male and the Prince and Heir had been stricken by smallpox, something which often resulted in sterility. As the King's younger brother was childless as well, the entire dynasty appeared in danger. Peace with ANY major power would likely help.
Moscow
Czar Paul was satisfied with the progress of the war thus far. Much of the Habsburg domains had fallen to the insurrectionists and Russians. The Orthodox peoples of the Balkans had finally taken steps to throw off the Catholic overlord.
Prince Alexander, now a father himself, was among the commanders of the expedition (though the Prince only nominally so given his youth). This made Paul quite proud. The father and son had their share of disagreements but the bond remained very strong.
Paris
Against all expectations, the aging King Louis XVI clung to life. His son and heir, Prince Louis, was forced to take ever greater positions in government, almost against his will. A somewhat timid youth by nature, the Dauphin was not well equipped to assume control should his father expire. Of course, everyone said the same thing about Louis XVI when he took over.
The problem was "everyone" had been largely right. Only a bizarre confluence of events had kept France from being challenged by foreign powers.
The Dauphin, intelligent but unaggressive, prayed his father may spare him the terrible responsibility for a few more years.
In the meantime, France dispatched forces to Wales and Northumbria to join the Anglian, Mercian, Northumbrian and Irish forces gathering in the British midlands to crush King William IV once and for all.
London
Though his victories remained admired and feared over the past two years, the truth was that Prince William of England had expended his limited resources fighting battle after battle to reconquer Britain...and still only occupied a small percentage of the rest of the island.
Now a great coalition was being formed to the north and William was uncertain....well, to be honest, DOUBTFUL...that he or his father's nation would survive the spring. To this day, he was shocked that the French hadn't just invaded southern England directly. The Royal Navy had been stripped of manpower and could hardly repulse the French. Fortunately, the ill-health of the King of France had temporarily taken center stage in Paris.
In December, 1807, King William IV expired....much to the relief of his subjects. Though he mourned his father, Prince William was quietly grateful that he now had a free hand to end the war. Hastily crowned King William V in London, the new monarch issued messages to his neighbors offering peace at the ante-bellum borders. Several neighbors, like Mercia, would scoff and rightly view this as desperation. However, Anglia, which remained partially occupied, was grateful to accept and William V was diligent in swiftly retreating. Northumberland similarly agreed to the armistice. And the French commander simply awaiting orders from Paris...which were not forthcoming.
Only Mercia and their Irish allies (and to an extent, the Welsh) demanded that the coalition continue the war. However, the political will had collapsed. The Welsh King stated that his own nation would agree to the armistice if France did. Bereft of allies, Mercia and Ireland were forced to agree.
Throughout the winter and spring of 1807, the English army retreated to previous borders without hesitation as a final peace was agreed...as dictated by France whose delegate, Mr. Tallyrand, would set the terms. In truth, they were not too harsh. England would retain her borders with only nominal reparations. King Louis was beyond caring about such things by now and the French nation, seeing the war expand in Europe and America, didn't want to spend her time crushing England.
However, Tallyrand wanted one little twist of the knife. The House of Hanover in England claimed title to all of Britain and Ireland for the past fifty years despite plainly having lost such rights. The price of peace would be King William V openly recognizing these other states as sovereign (which had never officially happened before) as well as giving up the claim to represent all of "England".
This meant that the "Kingdom of England" would henceforth become the "Kingdom of Wessex" after the ancient state.
"England" as Tallyrand snidely stated in mixed company, "was now merely a geographic concept".
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