The Faraway Kingdom

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Chapter Seven - Pressure Cooker
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    Chapter Seven - Pressure Cooker
    June 1651 to January 1652​

    Many of the members who made up the government of the English Commonwealth were shocked at the news of the late Charles’ death. After the Commonwealth learned of his death, they shortly celebrated it. However, many had gotten over the lust for wanting to put the man on the chopping block when they discovered his escape to the New World and the announcement of his new kingdom. This mellowing led to very mixed feelings when the letter was finally officially read. In the letter Charles II apologized for his father’s actions and promised to the Commonwealth he would be a better king than his father. Many wanted to at least send a respectful letter to Charles II, but Cromwell insisted that Parliament send a letter back, insulting his father and reminding him of how much of a terrible ruler and tyrant he was. When the Commonwealth had learned of Carolina’s increasing relations with Sweden and the reignited relations with Portugal, they began to fear that New England would come under threat from Sweden and Carolina. They searched for an ally which could support them in the Americas, and they found one in the first nation who recognized them; The Dutch Republic.

    In October of 1651, the Commonwealth sent a diplomatic team led by Oliver St. John to The Hague to begin delegations with Dutch diplomats to negotiate the terms of the alliance. While the alliance was being signed in The Hague, all was not well with the Dutch Royal Family. Many noted that William II and his wife Mary would argue endlessly over the coming alliance with the Commonwealth. William believed it was merely to secure his colonies in the Americas, and to not slight Mary’s younger brother, Charles II, who had only been king for a mere five months. When Charles II learned of this news, he quickly sent a letter to the Dutch Republic, wanting to know why his brother-in-law would sign an alliance treaty with the English Commonwealth. William simply said it was to protect his colonies in the Americas, due to growing Swedish power. This was a complete lie, as William only said this to protect Charles’ trust and to not strain his relationship with Mary. Over time, this alliance would grow. Later on, it would be this alliance that started one of the bloodiest wars of the 17th century.

    William II, diplomat of the Dutch.
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    • Herr Frage

    Herr Frage

    Well Charles II needs settlers. Will he open his kingdom to French and Spanish settlers? New Sweden is a buffer, but the New Netherlands and New England are quite the opponents right now. And Quebec is too small and far away at this time.
     
    Avrorrange

    Avrorrange

    Herr Frage said:
    Well Charles II needs settlers. Will he open his kingdom to French and Spanish settlers? New Sweden is a buffer, but the New Netherlands and New England are quite the opponents right now. And Quebec is too small and far away at this time.
    Click to expand...
    I don't think there will be much Spanish settlers,since these guys will most likely head for the Caribbean or the Spanish colonies on the Continent.As for the French,they will most likely be Huguenots.I'm not sure Charlie II would want non-Anglican or non-Catholic settlers.
     
    Herr Frage

    Herr Frage

    Hmm, I understand one reason the Spanish empire treated the Creoles as they did was worry of a colonial kingdom breaking off like this. Wonder how Carolina's existence will affect colonial policy?
     
    Chapter Eight - Protector of the Old Home
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    Chapter Eight - Protector of the Old Home
    Late 1651 to Early 1652​

    Now that the Commonwealth was finally wrapping up the last remnants of the Civil Wars, they needed allies on the mainland. By the end of 1651, they found themselves being very good allies with the Dutch. With recovery finally complete, the English Parliament brought up the topic of having an official executive position for the Commonwealth. Many believed that Oliver Cromwell would again be the most popular and best choice to rule the titled “Lord Protector” position. However, ever since the end of the English Civil War and Charles I’s escape, many saw Cromwell’s poor behavior break out in important meetings, the most recent example being the letter back to Charles II. A recent incident between Cromwell in Ireland caused a commotion in England, and put his Protectorship in danger. His racism and discrimination against the Irish and non-Puritans turned out to be against his favor. While most of the English didn’t like the Irish themselves, most didn’t advocate exile as much as Cromwell did. Much of the good reputation from Cromwell’s victories in the Civil War were wearing off. And it could not have been at a worse time, as the revolts in Ireland were reaching near peak-velocity (this event will be one of the precursors to the Irish Revolution, and the later foundation of an independent Ireland). Cromwell’s influence was beginning to do more bad than good, and his ideals were so heavily against him.

    Many members of Parliament wanted a man who also helped lead the Commonwealth in their victory in the Civil War; Sir Thomas Fairfax. Many began to spread rumors about him being the true hero of the civil war, and called him a much better leader than Cromwell. Fairfax was much more collected and well centered in his policies, which was something many at the time did not like during the times of the Civil War. However, now that the war was many years behind them, many saw that Cromwell’s radical nature would not be best to lead the Commonwealth. So, when it was decided to hold a Parliament-wide meeting of both the House of Commons and Lords to elect their first Lord Protector, it was down between the two contenders, Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax. On March 25th, 1652, the Parliament tallied the votes of the election and decreed their first Lord Protector as Sir Thomas Fairfax. While Cromwell wasn't particularly pleased with these results, he couldn't do much to stop them.

    Sir Thomas Fairfax, The First Lord Protector of England
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    • Chapter Nine - The Great American War
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    Chapter Nine - The Great American War
    April 1652 to Late 1654​

    Ever since the Commonwealth began to support New Netherland, tensions were rising. Feuds along the border towns of New Sweden caused frequent squabbles, ever since Carolina became a strong ally to Sweden. Ever since the 1640’s, when Charles I agreed to help Christiana I in times of war over colonial disputes, war was seemingly on the horizon. New Netherland expanded rapidly, while New Sweden did the same to counter it. Meanwhile, tensions between Carolina and the Commonwealth were rising just as quickly. The somewhat recent letter from Oliver Cromwell to Charles II about the death of his father destroyed any good relations that they could have had, and even the election of a new Lord Protector didn’t help much. However, all the events going on in North America had a huge affect on European politics. Ever since the Thirty Years’ War ended, the relationship between the Dutch and Sweden had been ducking rapidly. Fights over custody of land in the New World shouldn’t have mattered much, but the way the Dutch leaders handled it plunged relations down the toilet.

    On April 14th, 1652, Johan Björnsson Printz, governor of New Sweden, officially declared war on the colony of New Netherland. Peter Stuyvesant called for support from the Dutch Republic, and gained it within weeks. Sweden did the same with New Sweden soon afterwards, which forced Carolina to join immediately after. Battles went on by sea and over rivers, but it was slow until the summer came. The Commonwealth, then known as the Protectorate, decided to send in a few of their ships to aid New Netherland against the Carolinian threat. However, Carolina began to plan their militaries poorly, which lead to England and the Netherlands winning close to every battle. That was until a shady ally emerged. Spain, a long time skeptic of Carolinian help, decided to aid them against the Protectorate. From 1553 to 1554, they sent in ships from their Florida colony, in exchange for help if it ever tried to rebel from Spain in the near future. Soon afterwards, the tide of the war changed. While it would later move into Europe from North America, it officially ended in the region on August 16th, 1654.

    The terms of the Treaty of Jamestown were good for Sweden and Carolina, and were arguably not terrible for the Dutch. While the Dutch got to keep New Amsterdam, they were forced to give their territory in OTL Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Long Island to the Swedish. While Long Island was given back to the Dutch soon afterwards (due to a different culture and nationality), Pennsylvania was kept in strictly Swedish hands. This wasn’t terribly bad for the Dutch, as they got to keep their two largest cities, New Amsterdam and Fort Orange. Spain also fared pretty well. At the price of a few good ships, they managed to gain the allyship of the only independent state in the Americas (at the time). While they would stay cynical of Carolina for years afterwards, it would depend on its help in later wars with the Protectorate in the Caribbean. Carolina gained an influx of Spanish and Dutch settlers, and began to mark out the southern borders of its nation with Florida. The Protectorate, however, failed the worst. They spent a small but valuable portion of their military on the war, and losing it all was a huge blow to their honor and relationships with other nations. They were also forced to give a large amount of ships to Carolina, as well as promising to never invade them again. While Sir Thomas Fairfax didn’t particularly want to do this, he knew it would surely lead to war with both Sweden and Spain if he didn’t.

    New English ships preparing to fight in the Battle of New Amsterdam.
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    • Chapter Ten - The Irish Revolts
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    Chapter Ten - The Irish Revolts
    Late 1654 to Early 1656​

    The loss to Carolina, Sweden, and Spain was a severe setback to the Protectorate, its newly formed relations with the countries of Europe had already begun to strain, though the two biggest hits to the Protectorate was to its pocket book and their pride. The ships lost during the war would have to be rebuilt and that would take time and money, something the Protectorate was starting to strain on. Though many in Parliament agreed they could not simply wait for their coffers to grow to fill once more, not while the Carolinians were hard at work expanding into the new world. Lord Protector Thomas Fairfax was heavily against interfering with the economy of the Protectorate, as their favor with the people was very tense, the effects of the war had hurt their way of living. It was not until a certain man had gained enough power in Parliament to enact his plan to hopefully place the Protectorate’s economy back on track as well as its relations with other European countries. The plan was was to raise taxes in England and in Wales, but his plan was to drastically tax the people of Ireland more than anyone else. He even had planned on taxing people higher for their practice of Catholicism within the Protectorate. The man who came up with this plan was none other than Oliver Cromwell.

    Cromwell’s plan was working, the economy back on track, many in Parliament even saw past Cromwell’s known hatred of the Irish and Catholics just to get the economy and nation back on track and not suffer the revolts of their citizens, though the people in England and Wales were blind to the tensions rising and the hatred brewing in Ireland. The Irish citizens were angry to put it nicely, they discovered their taxes were considerably higher than the English and Wales tax rates combined. They also discovered that they were taxed for practicing their beliefs. It was only a matter of time until the Irish people began forming underground militias to prepare for their eventually revolt against the English who had been wronging them. It eventually occurred after a group of English soldiers sent to collect taxes in a small Irish town had forced their way into a catholic church and forced the citizens to hand over their dues. When they came up short, they took valuables from the citizens as reparations, taking money from the church, and even burning down the church itself. After a group of Irish citizens attempted to stop them, only to have their lives cut down, many watched their church burn. That was enough to ignite a full revolt, as thousands of Irish militiamen took to arms and began to fight back against the stationed English soldiers in Ireland. News eventually reached England and Parliament of the Irish revolts, but by the time reinforcements arrived on the islands, they were vastly outnumbered and had a severe disadvantage against them. For nearly a year the English would attempt to push into and regain Ireland, but all offensives were deemed failures, as the Irish were fighting for their lives and not for money and pride as the Protectorate were. The Irish eventually won the revolt, with them declaring independence from their Protectorate rulers, though the English would never recognize it, to spite them and remind them that they were only years away from another war between the two. The Irish had won their freedom for now and England’s pride and coffers were still hurt. Cromwell was shamed yet again for his attempts to advance the Protectorate only to have hurt it even more. The Protectorate was in a very precarious situation at this point, with only a few bad decisions would cost them their power and place in the world. Meanwhile the Carolinians were sitting high and proud with a potential close ally next to their enemies.

    The "Three Crowns" Flag, the first flag used for the Kingdom of Ireland.
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    • Herr Frage

    Herr Frage

    Did New England not participate in the war at all?

    And New Sweden was quite sparsely settled as I recall. So won't these new territories be mire lines on the map and the odd trading post?

    Hmm, seems odd for the Irish to win here. Maybe I am too ignorant of the era but even in large numbers untrained mobs tend to lose to disciplined soldiers. And the English the Commonwealth soldiers have additional motive in at independent ireland means any continental enemy could potentially use it to invade Britain.

    Also rumors would likely erupt quickly that this is some plot by Charles II to return to the British Isles.
     
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