SouthernKing
crickety cricket
1228-1229 AH, 1906-1907 VS, 4546 (Yin Earth Rooster) – 4547 (Yang Metal Dog)
Indian Ocean
The western Indian Ocean has become a notorious hive of scum and villainy, thanks to a sharp increase in pirate activity along the lucrative sea routes connecting India, Arabia, and East Africa. The increase in piracy has been observed since at least the early 1840s, coinciding somewhat with the entrance of increased Mysorean and British activity and settlement into the Indian Ocean region. The existing nations bordering the region, particularly Yemen and Oman, have taken few steps to stop the pirates; in fact, many of the pirates involved in the current wave have been making their havens in Yemeni and Omani ports and along their coastlines, and some suspect that those two states are providing tacit support to the pirates.
Yemeni pirates encounter a French trader in the Indian Ocean
However, this year saw great strides The Mysorean navy has taken the lead in anti-piracy measures, also cooperating with the fledgling but rapidly improving Ethiopian navy near the Horn of Africa. The British fleet has also joined in to help control piracy; Zanzibar in particular became famous for its executions of captured pirates. Together, this group of nations has been able to curb the level of piracy, although the threat still remains.
The German Customs Union
A landmark agreement was produced from Central Europe this year, spearheaded by Prussia and Saxony-Bavaria: the founding of the German Customs Union. The Customs Union is an attempt to form a single German market, promising a lowering of tariffs between members until complete free trade is achieved, and also promising fully open borders. However, the Customs Union is not a purely economic agreement; one clause of the founding document stipulates a joint defensive alliance between the member nations, and an offensive against one member will be considered an attack against all members. The Customs Union also marks a watershed in Prussian-Saxo-Bavarian relations, which are now clearly warming, over fifteen years after the end of the Fourth Silesian War.
While the Customs Union founding members Prussia and Saxony-Bavaria are undoubtedly the cornerstones of the Customs Union, the minor states of Hessia, Wurttemberg, and Wurzburg, perhaps seeking some form of stability amidst the dramatic fluctuations of the German geopolitical scene and the specter of the French., have also joined. The League of the Rhine has stayed out for now – perhaps waiting for the internal tensions in that country to subside first – and stalwart Hanover rebuffed all invitations to the join the Customs Union, and the new republican government has yet to address the issue.
The burgeoning numbers of German nationalists throughout the region have almost unanimously voiced their support for the German Customs Union, many in hopes that the Union is a stepping stone to the ultimate creation of a single German state that so many of them hope for. In Hessia and especially Wurttemberg and Wurzburg, there has been concern raised that the Customs Union constitutes a potential loss of sovereignty, both political and economic, to Saxony-Bavaria; the monarchs of those respective countries have dismissed these allegations, reaffirming their beliefs that the Customs Union will benefit them.
The Lubeck Agreement
Almost certainly in reaction to the solidification of the German Customs Union as a Central European bloc, the three nations of Austria-Hungary, Denmark, and France signed an agreement in the Danish city of Lubeck, hence dubbed the Lubeck Agreement. The three countries have recognized they possess common interests on the European continent, and the Lubeck Agreement stipulates that those interests are to protect the current “European consenus.” To that end, the Lubeck Agreement also stipulates a defensive alliance between the three nations.
Together with the formation of the German Customs Union, the Lubeck Agreement could very well mark 1850 as the year when the international landscape of Europe could begin to be permanently and dramatically altered. Specifically, the increasing rift between former allies Prussia and Austria-Hungary, and the warming of relations between former rivals France and Austria-Hungary, are watershed events in European diplomacy.
Madrid, Spain
The Partido Demócrata-run government in Madrid in 1850 announced a package of multiple infrastructural projects in the Republic of Spain, for which funding was quickly approved by the country’s legislature. The package includes two main items. The first, the Astilleros Nacionales, is an expansion and overhaul of Spain’s dockyards and port infrastructure, which includes expanding the docks of ports in Cuba and Puerto Rico. The second, the Red Española de Ferrocarriles, is a major railroad construction effort, intended to connect all of Spain’s major cities and towns with a singular efficient and modern railroad network, bringing modern transportation to the country. The projects are a major expense, and neither will likely see completion until after the decade’s midpoint, but they promise to bring a healthy supply of new jobs to the country’s working class, and act to bring Spain’s economy firmly into the age of industry. As such, both have been rather popular projects so far.
Additionally, the Spanish government announced a major educational investment; this reform, the Sistema Escolar, is stated to expand the schooling system to ensure a quality public education for all the country’s children, with ample scholarship opportunities for particularly outstanding or gifted youth. This one has been more controversial; many opposition members and even some politicians within the ruling Partido Demócrata have questioned the necessity of such a major expense, and that the educational system of the Republic is fine as it is, but again, it seems to have proven a success, as both school and university enrollment in the country has seen a marked increase.
The Spanish government this year also passed a bill establishing the Sociedad de Rifles Españoles, a partially government-owned corporation dedicated to the design and manufacture of new weaponry for the Spanish armed forces. The Sociedad de Rifles Españoles quickly set about hiring Spain’s top weapons engineers and established a factory in the capital. Some Spanish politicians loudly complained that the initiative is unnecessary, but overall the public seems to be ambivalent about the endeavor, and the military has been supportive; after all, they say, the Spanish army needs every advantage it can get when the inevitable war with Aragon comes.
Paris, France
The French government this year has embarked on a massive undertaking to greatly overhaul the country’s infrastructure. The project, which will more likely than not take numerous years to complete, sees an overhaul and massive expansion of the French railroad system, which in turn is designed to connect various French ports, which are also undergoing a large-scale improvement as part of the project. With native French firms handling construction, and French peasants brought aboard to be used as employment, the hope is that it will provide a revitalization of the French economy.
Palermo, Aragon-Sicily
The Aragonese-Sicilian crown has established a new Sicilian local law enforcement department, named the Força d'Ordre, Fuerza de Orden, or Forza di Ordine (in Catalan, Spanish, and Italian, respectively). The new police force, under direct control of the Sicilian crown’s local authority, has been designated to maintain order in Sicily and keep in loyal to Barcelona. Many Sicilians resent the creation of the force, although it has barely been established and has done little thus far.
Cagliari, Sardinia
Government-published pamphlets were distributed in all the major cities of Sardinia this year. The pamphlets heavily criticized the republican form of government while proclaiming the virtues of the monarchy. The pamphlets also claimed that the neighboring Italian Republic is merely a ploy by the Neapolitans to enforce their own political and cultural dominance over the north, without regard to any local traditions, and that a similar thing could happen if the Republic’s control were extended over Sardinian territory. The pamphlets have had a noticeable but limited impact on the Sardinian public in curbing the spread of Italian republican influence. Naturally, the Italian Republic’s government has denounced the pamphlets.
The Sardinian crown also funded the initiation of multiple large-scale projects this year. The first was the construction of a line of blockhouses and redoubts along the border with Italy, especially along key cross-border passages, with the obvious intent of aiding the protection of the country in the event of an Italian invasion. The second, conducted alongside local governments, was the installation of modern sewer systems in Turin, Cagliari, and Genoa, to clean them up and reduce the spread of filth and disease from human waste. This effort by the government has sharply increased the monarchy’s support among Sardinia’s urban populace, more than the pamphlets in fact. The third was government investment in the expansion of Sardinian native industry, particularly in arms and textile manufacturing in Turin. This effort has been conducted with the assistance of French engineers and equipment.
Florence, Italy
The 1850 Italian election campaign was a surprisingly calm one. The Liberal government entered the year with a surge in popularity, despite minor amounts dissatisfaction arising from the primarily rural south of the country towards the government’s generally pro-industrial policies. The Liberals’ campaign was relatively half-hearted, their government’s power largely secure. Their conservative opponents attempted to campaign heavily, especially amongst voters in the northern Italian states in an effort to garner support, to little success. Ultimately, and to few people’s surprise, the Liberal Party government that had been ruling the Italian republic over the last several years was re-elected by a fairly comfortable margin, particularly with their growing support base in the industrial north, although they did not make any major gains. One particularly nationalist, militaristic fringe party calling for the expansion of Italian control over neighboring Italian-speaking regions under foreign control gained a noticeable amount of seats; most experts suggest this to be a sign that Italian exceptionalism is on the rise. The next elections will be held in or before the year 1855. Aside from the elections, little of note happened in Italy.
Bern, Switzerland
A pair of major laws was passed by the Swiss government this year, inflaming the already tense relationship between various ethnic groups within the Confederation. The first of these laws was an immigration reform act; this restricted immigration by unskilled laborers, while at the same time opening up further immigration for skilled workers. As most of those unskilled workers were French, the act has dramatically reduced legal French immigration, and most of the French migrants in the country at the beginning of 1850 have since returned or are in the process of returning to their homeland. The second half of the year also saw a spike in the number of the skilled workers the Swiss government appears to be targeting, who mostly arrived from Saxony-Bavaria or the neighboring minor German-speaking states.
The second law was far more controversial; it standardized German as the language of the Confederation above all others, and mandated German as the language to be taught in schools and universities. The law barely passed in the Tagsatzung, and even then, there were allegations that the decision was somehow fixed. While relatively popular in the German-speaking cantons that make up the majority of the country, in the western, French-speaking cantons, and the southern, Italian-speaking cantons, it was decidedly not, and many of those cantons have outright resisted the measure, and some are now up in arms. A confrontation may not be far off, but the German cantons continue to hold their ground in support of the measures.
Dortmund, League of the Rhine
The central government of the League of the Rhine this year, in accordance with the governments of its varied member states, has passed a measure funding the construction of a preliminary national railroad network within existing League territory. The main obstacle to the project arose from the country’s unique political situation; there was, and still is, the threat that, in the current tense financial atmosphere, some of the League’s member states would outright refuse to actually facilitate the project, for any number of reasons. But so far, progress in construction has been going smoothly. The railroad network is scheduled for completion and opening sometime around the midpoint of the decade. The network’s proponents hope that the arrival of a modern railroad network will accelerate economic growth in the already industrializing nation; so far, it seems to be doing just that.
Hanover, Hanover
In the late summer, a nascent pro-republican protest movement in the capital began to grow after. Ultimately, in mid-October, the monarchy’s control over the populace collapsed outright, when the king ordered the army to use force to disperse the largely peaceful protestors. Instead, several of the army units mutinied, joined the republicans, and together seized control over the capital. After several brief weeks of chaotic fighting, the republicans emerged victorious and in power over the country. A Republic of Hanover was established; several existing liberal and republican parties and political clubs were able to form an overarching Provisional Government, which assumed power. Amidst the chaos, King George V attempted to flee the country in disguise along with several other members of the royal family, perhaps hoping to be able to lead the loyalist forces from abroad. However, before he could even leave the capital, he was apprehended by republican army units. The king and his family have since been imprisoned, and the members of the Provisional Government now debate what exactly to do with them.
Many Hanoverians are calling for the new republic to apply for admission into the League of the Rhine. In the League itself, the republican member states are unanimously in support of admitting Hanover; however, the monarchial states are divided, as adding yet another republican League member may serve to inflame the already deep divisions between republics and monarchies in the League. In any case, whether or not to admit Hanover to the League will certainly be a hot button issue in 1851. Neighboring countries are watching the situation carefully; a strengthening of the League of the Rhine is not what everyone wishes to see.
(Hanover: -1 Infantry Brigade, -1 Cavalry Brigade)
Trier, Trier
Copies of a particularly inflammatory anti-French pamphlet, calling for all true Germans to arise and “break the chains of oppression forged by the Queen of France,” circulated around the city of Trier during the summer of 1850. The pamphlet’s writers – identified solely by their initials, “K.M.” and “F.E.” – were never caught. It is also reported that the local liaison of the French government was infuriated after reading the pamphlet, and in any case, the government ordered all copies of the pamphlet burned. Further copies were found to have been smuggled south into Mannheim in the Palatinate, and there are reports of pamphlets turning up in directly French-controlled Baden.
Berlin, Prussia
The Prussian government initiated a pair of long-term expenditures this year. The first of this pair was a planned reform of the Prussian university system, including the construction of new facilities, the hiring of new faculty, and the increase of enrollment capacity, with the aim of providing higher education with increased accessibility to all Prussians, and in the long term provide Prussia with a new class of intellectuals. There has been criticism levied that this may backfire and lead to a new generation of revolutionaries instead; indeed, there were a few pro-reform protests at Prussian universities this year. But the government has dismissed this criticism as unfounded. The second of this pair was an expansion of Prussia’s port infrastructure, greatly expanding the capacity of Prussia’s Baltic Sea ports and modernizing port equipment.
Prussia also removed trade barriers outside its participation in the German Customs Union, with Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, New England, and Sweden, in most cases via the lowering of tariffs.
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
A most strange and terrifying sequence of events struck the Austro-Hungarian capital in the spring of 1850. The Emperor, Joseph II, previously a very sane and reasonable man, suddenly appeared to have come up with a bout of what can only be described as madness, claiming that he had seen a revelation and that restoring Austria-Hungary to true Catholicism in medieval fashion, and the dissolution of the Empire and the creation of an absolutist state, was the only true path to the future. It seems that only the Pope in Rome was truly convinced of this. Joseph also conferred to a weary French ambassador his plan to invade their ally Saxony-Bavaria. It was perhaps this madness that drove the formation of the German Customs Union. It went so far, that at one point, the French even evacuated their embassy. Joseph eventually collapsed in a fit, and then woke the next day without memory of the strange series of events. Fortunately, even before that, Joseph’s advisors had managed to assume authority from him and maintain order, restoring relations and reneging on Joseph’s madness-induced “proclamations.”
In much more sublime news lost amidst the panic surrounding Joseph’s madness, the country’s ruling liberal government funded investment in the country’s railroads, particularly in Hungary and Silesia, via tax benefits and grant packages to private firms.
Copenhagen and Oslo, Denmark
This year, King Frederick VII and some members of Denmark’s liberal government charted a course designed to elevate the status of the Norwegians in the Kingdom of Denmark. As part of the package of reforms, Oslo was designated a secondary national capital – the King and the Rigsdagen were mandated to meet there as well as in Copenhagen – although all international relations and major decisions were still handled in Demark. Norwegian was designed an official national language, alongside Danish. The King also met with some prominent Norwegian politicians to discuss the reformation of the country into a unitary Danish-Norwegian state; most of the Norwegians appeared to support the idea. Several members of the royal family, including the King, made quite the impression among Oslo’s crowds in the autumn of 1850 with their fluency in the Norwegian language.
As expected, some Danes in the capital, particularly some nationalist and ultra-conservative types, evem those formerly supportive of the King, are infuriated at the King’s attempts at drastically reforming the system, with a small percentage of the members of the Rigsdagen refusing to attend when the assembly is in session in Oslo. Additionally, some of the more radical Norwegian nationalists have denounced their more moderate counterparts’ acceptance of the King’s suggestions, claiming that this is only a distraction from Norwegian independence, which they claim is the only ultimate solution to the problem.
The Danish government also began incentivizing industrial growth in several major cities through a collection of tax benefits and subsidies, which so far appears to have had a small but noticeable impact.
Calls for Gotland to simply be incorporated into the greater Danish state have grown over the course of 1850. Even the Duke of Gotland himself has provided tacit if not explicit support for the annexation-by-Denmark movement, although this may be in part that the Duke seems far more interested in his extravagant personal life than the affairs of running his country.
Balkan International Agreements
One of the big events in the Balkans this year was the announcement of a multinational rail line running from Odessa in Russia to Thessaloniki in Greece, passing through Bucharest in the United Kingdom of the Danube and Sofia in Serbia. This, the Odessa-Bucharest-Sofia-Thessaloniki Rail, would be funded individually by each of the four states it ran through, but with Russian assistance. So far, the Russian and Greek sections have been completed, but the Danubian and Serbian sections remain under construction, though expectations are that they will be finished by 1852 or 1853 at the very latest. By connecting the still relatively agrarian Balkans to the industrial centers of Russia, the hope is that it will lead to economic growth for all involved.
Russia and the Balkan states also agreed to a number of individual agreements affecting the region’s geopolitics. Russia has allowed the three Balkan states economic assistance, as well as the import of industrial goods and equipment. The Russo-Danubian Trade Pact was signed, which lowered tariffs between the two markets. Defensive agreements were signed between the Danube and Greece, as well as between the Danube and Russia. Military officers from these nations have also been given the opportunity to attend Russian academies and receive Russian training, which some have returned and made a difference in their own militaries. Geopolitically, Serbia has expressed a desire to remain separate, although there is a growing faction internally in Belgrade, calling for Serbian alignment with the Russians to counter Austria-Hungary.
Belgrade, Serbia
King Alexander of Greater Serbia had taken note of the fact that the various unruly minority ethnic groups were threatening to harm his nation’s unity. To that end, he assembled a “Council of Peoples” in the capital, an unelected advisory committee composed of leaders of various minorities willing to communicate with the King, and assist him with allowing said minorities greater participation within the kingdom. While little productive has come of the Council meetings so far, the king nevertheless seems at least marginally interested in some degree of reform; rumors purport that he may be looking to the Austrian reforms during the Age of Revolutions for a model.
Another event that caused a ruckus in the capital was the leaking of evidence that showed that a source somewhere in Russia was bankrolling high-ranking officers within the Serbian army, and several influential figures have called for an investigation into the matter; the king has yet to respond. The Russian government, when asked about the affair, denied any involvement in the matter. Further evidence was leaked from the same anonymous source that purported to show plans for Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and expansion into the Balkans; this latter has outright infuriated many in Belgrade.
Serbia also supported its end of construction on the international rail line in the Balkans, although it did not enter any further involvement in the region.
Zagora, Zagora
Several minor anti-Turkish riots spawned in parts of the Principality of Zagora this year, but were largely confined to small areas, mostly in the capital, and easily put down by authorities with minimal effort and casualties. In the countryside, there were several instances of peasant unrest, but these were also put down by authorities with minimal effort and casualties. Nevertheless, the riots are a clear sign that anti-Turkish sentiment in the small protectorate is on the rise.
Krakow, Poland
Little of note happened in Poland this year, with the exception of the Polish government authorizing and providing funding for the construction and improvement of border fortifications, particularly among the border with Prussia, and in Samogitia, along the border with Russia. Proponents argue that the forts are necessary to protect Poland’s independence if or when war should ever break out with one of Poland’s neighbors, and few Poles really disagree with that sentiment.
Moscow, Russia
The Russian government helped with the formalization and expansion of large-scale stock and security markets in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk this year. St. Petersburg was already the financial capital of the majority of Eastern Europe prior to 1850, and the current efforts have only increased its prowess. Some experts even predict that the St. Petersburg stock exchange may soon rival or even outpace its counterpart in London.
The most significant infrastructural development in Russia this year was the groundbreaking of a rail line from west of the Urals to Kemerovo east of the Urals, a town noted for its coal and iron mines. Fifty percent of the cost was provided by the Russian government in exchange for one quarter of the shares on the new line, and permission for unlimited use of the line for Russian military purposes. The private firms and contractors handling the line are expected to complete it sometime in the first half of 1852, if construction continues on schedule, which it has done so far.
Indian Ocean
The western Indian Ocean has become a notorious hive of scum and villainy, thanks to a sharp increase in pirate activity along the lucrative sea routes connecting India, Arabia, and East Africa. The increase in piracy has been observed since at least the early 1840s, coinciding somewhat with the entrance of increased Mysorean and British activity and settlement into the Indian Ocean region. The existing nations bordering the region, particularly Yemen and Oman, have taken few steps to stop the pirates; in fact, many of the pirates involved in the current wave have been making their havens in Yemeni and Omani ports and along their coastlines, and some suspect that those two states are providing tacit support to the pirates.
Yemeni pirates encounter a French trader in the Indian Ocean
However, this year saw great strides The Mysorean navy has taken the lead in anti-piracy measures, also cooperating with the fledgling but rapidly improving Ethiopian navy near the Horn of Africa. The British fleet has also joined in to help control piracy; Zanzibar in particular became famous for its executions of captured pirates. Together, this group of nations has been able to curb the level of piracy, although the threat still remains.
Events in Europe
The German Customs Union
A landmark agreement was produced from Central Europe this year, spearheaded by Prussia and Saxony-Bavaria: the founding of the German Customs Union. The Customs Union is an attempt to form a single German market, promising a lowering of tariffs between members until complete free trade is achieved, and also promising fully open borders. However, the Customs Union is not a purely economic agreement; one clause of the founding document stipulates a joint defensive alliance between the member nations, and an offensive against one member will be considered an attack against all members. The Customs Union also marks a watershed in Prussian-Saxo-Bavarian relations, which are now clearly warming, over fifteen years after the end of the Fourth Silesian War.
While the Customs Union founding members Prussia and Saxony-Bavaria are undoubtedly the cornerstones of the Customs Union, the minor states of Hessia, Wurttemberg, and Wurzburg, perhaps seeking some form of stability amidst the dramatic fluctuations of the German geopolitical scene and the specter of the French., have also joined. The League of the Rhine has stayed out for now – perhaps waiting for the internal tensions in that country to subside first – and stalwart Hanover rebuffed all invitations to the join the Customs Union, and the new republican government has yet to address the issue.
The burgeoning numbers of German nationalists throughout the region have almost unanimously voiced their support for the German Customs Union, many in hopes that the Union is a stepping stone to the ultimate creation of a single German state that so many of them hope for. In Hessia and especially Wurttemberg and Wurzburg, there has been concern raised that the Customs Union constitutes a potential loss of sovereignty, both political and economic, to Saxony-Bavaria; the monarchs of those respective countries have dismissed these allegations, reaffirming their beliefs that the Customs Union will benefit them.
The Lubeck Agreement
Almost certainly in reaction to the solidification of the German Customs Union as a Central European bloc, the three nations of Austria-Hungary, Denmark, and France signed an agreement in the Danish city of Lubeck, hence dubbed the Lubeck Agreement. The three countries have recognized they possess common interests on the European continent, and the Lubeck Agreement stipulates that those interests are to protect the current “European consenus.” To that end, the Lubeck Agreement also stipulates a defensive alliance between the three nations.
Together with the formation of the German Customs Union, the Lubeck Agreement could very well mark 1850 as the year when the international landscape of Europe could begin to be permanently and dramatically altered. Specifically, the increasing rift between former allies Prussia and Austria-Hungary, and the warming of relations between former rivals France and Austria-Hungary, are watershed events in European diplomacy.
Madrid, Spain
The Partido Demócrata-run government in Madrid in 1850 announced a package of multiple infrastructural projects in the Republic of Spain, for which funding was quickly approved by the country’s legislature. The package includes two main items. The first, the Astilleros Nacionales, is an expansion and overhaul of Spain’s dockyards and port infrastructure, which includes expanding the docks of ports in Cuba and Puerto Rico. The second, the Red Española de Ferrocarriles, is a major railroad construction effort, intended to connect all of Spain’s major cities and towns with a singular efficient and modern railroad network, bringing modern transportation to the country. The projects are a major expense, and neither will likely see completion until after the decade’s midpoint, but they promise to bring a healthy supply of new jobs to the country’s working class, and act to bring Spain’s economy firmly into the age of industry. As such, both have been rather popular projects so far.
Additionally, the Spanish government announced a major educational investment; this reform, the Sistema Escolar, is stated to expand the schooling system to ensure a quality public education for all the country’s children, with ample scholarship opportunities for particularly outstanding or gifted youth. This one has been more controversial; many opposition members and even some politicians within the ruling Partido Demócrata have questioned the necessity of such a major expense, and that the educational system of the Republic is fine as it is, but again, it seems to have proven a success, as both school and university enrollment in the country has seen a marked increase.
The Spanish government this year also passed a bill establishing the Sociedad de Rifles Españoles, a partially government-owned corporation dedicated to the design and manufacture of new weaponry for the Spanish armed forces. The Sociedad de Rifles Españoles quickly set about hiring Spain’s top weapons engineers and established a factory in the capital. Some Spanish politicians loudly complained that the initiative is unnecessary, but overall the public seems to be ambivalent about the endeavor, and the military has been supportive; after all, they say, the Spanish army needs every advantage it can get when the inevitable war with Aragon comes.
Paris, France
The French government this year has embarked on a massive undertaking to greatly overhaul the country’s infrastructure. The project, which will more likely than not take numerous years to complete, sees an overhaul and massive expansion of the French railroad system, which in turn is designed to connect various French ports, which are also undergoing a large-scale improvement as part of the project. With native French firms handling construction, and French peasants brought aboard to be used as employment, the hope is that it will provide a revitalization of the French economy.
Palermo, Aragon-Sicily
The Aragonese-Sicilian crown has established a new Sicilian local law enforcement department, named the Força d'Ordre, Fuerza de Orden, or Forza di Ordine (in Catalan, Spanish, and Italian, respectively). The new police force, under direct control of the Sicilian crown’s local authority, has been designated to maintain order in Sicily and keep in loyal to Barcelona. Many Sicilians resent the creation of the force, although it has barely been established and has done little thus far.
Cagliari, Sardinia
Government-published pamphlets were distributed in all the major cities of Sardinia this year. The pamphlets heavily criticized the republican form of government while proclaiming the virtues of the monarchy. The pamphlets also claimed that the neighboring Italian Republic is merely a ploy by the Neapolitans to enforce their own political and cultural dominance over the north, without regard to any local traditions, and that a similar thing could happen if the Republic’s control were extended over Sardinian territory. The pamphlets have had a noticeable but limited impact on the Sardinian public in curbing the spread of Italian republican influence. Naturally, the Italian Republic’s government has denounced the pamphlets.
The Sardinian crown also funded the initiation of multiple large-scale projects this year. The first was the construction of a line of blockhouses and redoubts along the border with Italy, especially along key cross-border passages, with the obvious intent of aiding the protection of the country in the event of an Italian invasion. The second, conducted alongside local governments, was the installation of modern sewer systems in Turin, Cagliari, and Genoa, to clean them up and reduce the spread of filth and disease from human waste. This effort by the government has sharply increased the monarchy’s support among Sardinia’s urban populace, more than the pamphlets in fact. The third was government investment in the expansion of Sardinian native industry, particularly in arms and textile manufacturing in Turin. This effort has been conducted with the assistance of French engineers and equipment.
Florence, Italy
The 1850 Italian election campaign was a surprisingly calm one. The Liberal government entered the year with a surge in popularity, despite minor amounts dissatisfaction arising from the primarily rural south of the country towards the government’s generally pro-industrial policies. The Liberals’ campaign was relatively half-hearted, their government’s power largely secure. Their conservative opponents attempted to campaign heavily, especially amongst voters in the northern Italian states in an effort to garner support, to little success. Ultimately, and to few people’s surprise, the Liberal Party government that had been ruling the Italian republic over the last several years was re-elected by a fairly comfortable margin, particularly with their growing support base in the industrial north, although they did not make any major gains. One particularly nationalist, militaristic fringe party calling for the expansion of Italian control over neighboring Italian-speaking regions under foreign control gained a noticeable amount of seats; most experts suggest this to be a sign that Italian exceptionalism is on the rise. The next elections will be held in or before the year 1855. Aside from the elections, little of note happened in Italy.
Bern, Switzerland
A pair of major laws was passed by the Swiss government this year, inflaming the already tense relationship between various ethnic groups within the Confederation. The first of these laws was an immigration reform act; this restricted immigration by unskilled laborers, while at the same time opening up further immigration for skilled workers. As most of those unskilled workers were French, the act has dramatically reduced legal French immigration, and most of the French migrants in the country at the beginning of 1850 have since returned or are in the process of returning to their homeland. The second half of the year also saw a spike in the number of the skilled workers the Swiss government appears to be targeting, who mostly arrived from Saxony-Bavaria or the neighboring minor German-speaking states.
The second law was far more controversial; it standardized German as the language of the Confederation above all others, and mandated German as the language to be taught in schools and universities. The law barely passed in the Tagsatzung, and even then, there were allegations that the decision was somehow fixed. While relatively popular in the German-speaking cantons that make up the majority of the country, in the western, French-speaking cantons, and the southern, Italian-speaking cantons, it was decidedly not, and many of those cantons have outright resisted the measure, and some are now up in arms. A confrontation may not be far off, but the German cantons continue to hold their ground in support of the measures.
Dortmund, League of the Rhine
The central government of the League of the Rhine this year, in accordance with the governments of its varied member states, has passed a measure funding the construction of a preliminary national railroad network within existing League territory. The main obstacle to the project arose from the country’s unique political situation; there was, and still is, the threat that, in the current tense financial atmosphere, some of the League’s member states would outright refuse to actually facilitate the project, for any number of reasons. But so far, progress in construction has been going smoothly. The railroad network is scheduled for completion and opening sometime around the midpoint of the decade. The network’s proponents hope that the arrival of a modern railroad network will accelerate economic growth in the already industrializing nation; so far, it seems to be doing just that.
Hanover, Hanover
In the late summer, a nascent pro-republican protest movement in the capital began to grow after. Ultimately, in mid-October, the monarchy’s control over the populace collapsed outright, when the king ordered the army to use force to disperse the largely peaceful protestors. Instead, several of the army units mutinied, joined the republicans, and together seized control over the capital. After several brief weeks of chaotic fighting, the republicans emerged victorious and in power over the country. A Republic of Hanover was established; several existing liberal and republican parties and political clubs were able to form an overarching Provisional Government, which assumed power. Amidst the chaos, King George V attempted to flee the country in disguise along with several other members of the royal family, perhaps hoping to be able to lead the loyalist forces from abroad. However, before he could even leave the capital, he was apprehended by republican army units. The king and his family have since been imprisoned, and the members of the Provisional Government now debate what exactly to do with them.
Many Hanoverians are calling for the new republic to apply for admission into the League of the Rhine. In the League itself, the republican member states are unanimously in support of admitting Hanover; however, the monarchial states are divided, as adding yet another republican League member may serve to inflame the already deep divisions between republics and monarchies in the League. In any case, whether or not to admit Hanover to the League will certainly be a hot button issue in 1851. Neighboring countries are watching the situation carefully; a strengthening of the League of the Rhine is not what everyone wishes to see.
(Hanover: -1 Infantry Brigade, -1 Cavalry Brigade)
Trier, Trier
Copies of a particularly inflammatory anti-French pamphlet, calling for all true Germans to arise and “break the chains of oppression forged by the Queen of France,” circulated around the city of Trier during the summer of 1850. The pamphlet’s writers – identified solely by their initials, “K.M.” and “F.E.” – were never caught. It is also reported that the local liaison of the French government was infuriated after reading the pamphlet, and in any case, the government ordered all copies of the pamphlet burned. Further copies were found to have been smuggled south into Mannheim in the Palatinate, and there are reports of pamphlets turning up in directly French-controlled Baden.
Berlin, Prussia
The Prussian government initiated a pair of long-term expenditures this year. The first of this pair was a planned reform of the Prussian university system, including the construction of new facilities, the hiring of new faculty, and the increase of enrollment capacity, with the aim of providing higher education with increased accessibility to all Prussians, and in the long term provide Prussia with a new class of intellectuals. There has been criticism levied that this may backfire and lead to a new generation of revolutionaries instead; indeed, there were a few pro-reform protests at Prussian universities this year. But the government has dismissed this criticism as unfounded. The second of this pair was an expansion of Prussia’s port infrastructure, greatly expanding the capacity of Prussia’s Baltic Sea ports and modernizing port equipment.
Prussia also removed trade barriers outside its participation in the German Customs Union, with Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, New England, and Sweden, in most cases via the lowering of tariffs.
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
A most strange and terrifying sequence of events struck the Austro-Hungarian capital in the spring of 1850. The Emperor, Joseph II, previously a very sane and reasonable man, suddenly appeared to have come up with a bout of what can only be described as madness, claiming that he had seen a revelation and that restoring Austria-Hungary to true Catholicism in medieval fashion, and the dissolution of the Empire and the creation of an absolutist state, was the only true path to the future. It seems that only the Pope in Rome was truly convinced of this. Joseph also conferred to a weary French ambassador his plan to invade their ally Saxony-Bavaria. It was perhaps this madness that drove the formation of the German Customs Union. It went so far, that at one point, the French even evacuated their embassy. Joseph eventually collapsed in a fit, and then woke the next day without memory of the strange series of events. Fortunately, even before that, Joseph’s advisors had managed to assume authority from him and maintain order, restoring relations and reneging on Joseph’s madness-induced “proclamations.”
In much more sublime news lost amidst the panic surrounding Joseph’s madness, the country’s ruling liberal government funded investment in the country’s railroads, particularly in Hungary and Silesia, via tax benefits and grant packages to private firms.
Copenhagen and Oslo, Denmark
This year, King Frederick VII and some members of Denmark’s liberal government charted a course designed to elevate the status of the Norwegians in the Kingdom of Denmark. As part of the package of reforms, Oslo was designated a secondary national capital – the King and the Rigsdagen were mandated to meet there as well as in Copenhagen – although all international relations and major decisions were still handled in Demark. Norwegian was designed an official national language, alongside Danish. The King also met with some prominent Norwegian politicians to discuss the reformation of the country into a unitary Danish-Norwegian state; most of the Norwegians appeared to support the idea. Several members of the royal family, including the King, made quite the impression among Oslo’s crowds in the autumn of 1850 with their fluency in the Norwegian language.
As expected, some Danes in the capital, particularly some nationalist and ultra-conservative types, evem those formerly supportive of the King, are infuriated at the King’s attempts at drastically reforming the system, with a small percentage of the members of the Rigsdagen refusing to attend when the assembly is in session in Oslo. Additionally, some of the more radical Norwegian nationalists have denounced their more moderate counterparts’ acceptance of the King’s suggestions, claiming that this is only a distraction from Norwegian independence, which they claim is the only ultimate solution to the problem.
The Danish government also began incentivizing industrial growth in several major cities through a collection of tax benefits and subsidies, which so far appears to have had a small but noticeable impact.
Calls for Gotland to simply be incorporated into the greater Danish state have grown over the course of 1850. Even the Duke of Gotland himself has provided tacit if not explicit support for the annexation-by-Denmark movement, although this may be in part that the Duke seems far more interested in his extravagant personal life than the affairs of running his country.
Balkan International Agreements
One of the big events in the Balkans this year was the announcement of a multinational rail line running from Odessa in Russia to Thessaloniki in Greece, passing through Bucharest in the United Kingdom of the Danube and Sofia in Serbia. This, the Odessa-Bucharest-Sofia-Thessaloniki Rail, would be funded individually by each of the four states it ran through, but with Russian assistance. So far, the Russian and Greek sections have been completed, but the Danubian and Serbian sections remain under construction, though expectations are that they will be finished by 1852 or 1853 at the very latest. By connecting the still relatively agrarian Balkans to the industrial centers of Russia, the hope is that it will lead to economic growth for all involved.
Russia and the Balkan states also agreed to a number of individual agreements affecting the region’s geopolitics. Russia has allowed the three Balkan states economic assistance, as well as the import of industrial goods and equipment. The Russo-Danubian Trade Pact was signed, which lowered tariffs between the two markets. Defensive agreements were signed between the Danube and Greece, as well as between the Danube and Russia. Military officers from these nations have also been given the opportunity to attend Russian academies and receive Russian training, which some have returned and made a difference in their own militaries. Geopolitically, Serbia has expressed a desire to remain separate, although there is a growing faction internally in Belgrade, calling for Serbian alignment with the Russians to counter Austria-Hungary.
Belgrade, Serbia
King Alexander of Greater Serbia had taken note of the fact that the various unruly minority ethnic groups were threatening to harm his nation’s unity. To that end, he assembled a “Council of Peoples” in the capital, an unelected advisory committee composed of leaders of various minorities willing to communicate with the King, and assist him with allowing said minorities greater participation within the kingdom. While little productive has come of the Council meetings so far, the king nevertheless seems at least marginally interested in some degree of reform; rumors purport that he may be looking to the Austrian reforms during the Age of Revolutions for a model.
Another event that caused a ruckus in the capital was the leaking of evidence that showed that a source somewhere in Russia was bankrolling high-ranking officers within the Serbian army, and several influential figures have called for an investigation into the matter; the king has yet to respond. The Russian government, when asked about the affair, denied any involvement in the matter. Further evidence was leaked from the same anonymous source that purported to show plans for Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and expansion into the Balkans; this latter has outright infuriated many in Belgrade.
Serbia also supported its end of construction on the international rail line in the Balkans, although it did not enter any further involvement in the region.
Zagora, Zagora
Several minor anti-Turkish riots spawned in parts of the Principality of Zagora this year, but were largely confined to small areas, mostly in the capital, and easily put down by authorities with minimal effort and casualties. In the countryside, there were several instances of peasant unrest, but these were also put down by authorities with minimal effort and casualties. Nevertheless, the riots are a clear sign that anti-Turkish sentiment in the small protectorate is on the rise.
Krakow, Poland
Little of note happened in Poland this year, with the exception of the Polish government authorizing and providing funding for the construction and improvement of border fortifications, particularly among the border with Prussia, and in Samogitia, along the border with Russia. Proponents argue that the forts are necessary to protect Poland’s independence if or when war should ever break out with one of Poland’s neighbors, and few Poles really disagree with that sentiment.
Moscow, Russia
The Russian government helped with the formalization and expansion of large-scale stock and security markets in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk this year. St. Petersburg was already the financial capital of the majority of Eastern Europe prior to 1850, and the current efforts have only increased its prowess. Some experts even predict that the St. Petersburg stock exchange may soon rival or even outpace its counterpart in London.
The most significant infrastructural development in Russia this year was the groundbreaking of a rail line from west of the Urals to Kemerovo east of the Urals, a town noted for its coal and iron mines. Fifty percent of the cost was provided by the Russian government in exchange for one quarter of the shares on the new line, and permission for unlimited use of the line for Russian military purposes. The private firms and contractors handling the line are expected to complete it sometime in the first half of 1852, if construction continues on schedule, which it has done so far.
