Insane_Panda
Deity
My country,' tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!
My native country, thee,
land of the noble free, thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
thy woods and templed hills;
my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.
Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song;
let mortal tongues awake;
let all that breathe partake;
let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.
Our fathers' God, to thee,
author of liberty, to thee we sing;
long may our land be bright
with freedom's holy light;
protect us by thy might, great God, our King.
This is a world much different from our own. America, no longer the bastion of hope and freedom it was in our timeline, is an empire, ruled not by Englishmen, but Frenchmen. This is a world not of Freedom, but of the cruel pursuits of empires. Sure there are a few 'enlightened' nations, but they are few and far between, and without allies. No, they are destined to die out, but the Empires, they and their iron curtain over the world shall stay....
And Now, the Timeline by Das:
In 1627, in an effort to better colonize New France, Cardinal Richelieu founded the "Company of New France", better-known as the "Company of Hundred Associtates". It was meant to take 300 settlers to New France every year in exchange for temporary fur trade monopoly. All those plans were broken up by a war with England - a war within not much notable happened apart from a raid on Quebec and some nasty attacks on French shipping. Let us butterfly it away (or turn it into a phony one). Thus, the tiny Quebec is never sacked, the Company of New France is able to carry out its promises. Historically, a major factor in the eventual French defeat at the English hands in America was the low French colonial population. Here, the Company helps establish a more serious settlement earlier. There is however a problem of controlling large spaces - it is hard to convince most people to stay in the tiny towns doing manual labor instead of fur-trading or something like that. But due to population growth, France gets into conflict with the natives earlier. It does win, but generally, this means that somewhat more people would rather stay in the safety of early French colonial cities (higher concentration of the population).
By the time the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-97) comes around, French colonial holdings are much better off (higher population, better economy) then in OTL, BUT France has more enemies among the natives (in the colonies, the war is known as the First English and Indian War). The French had great commanders in that war. Louis de Frontenac thus defeats the English Iroquois allies and invades New England, whilst Pierre le Moyne seized Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland. The Treaty of Rijswujk, in 1697, involved New France being recognized in the gains in Iroquois territory, Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland.
After that war, England's allies begun to intensify raids. As the War of Spanish Succession raged in Europe, the surviving Iroquoi warriors and other tribes raided the outskirts of New France, while the English/British forces themselves captured Newfoundland and from there tried (unsuccesfully) to take Quebec. The peace treaty restored status quo, but after it the French colonial administration became fully determined to drive the British from North America. So during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Third English and Indian War took place. The British forces concentrated on Newfoundland and Acadia, making some progress there, but the French meanwhile succesfully marched into New England and sacked New York. In the large "no man's land" between British and French colonies in the south, sporadic fighting took place, with the British gradually pushed back. The eventual peace treaty confirmed those heretofore neutral lands as French. The British were locked in.
Meanwhile, it must be noted that the population of New France begun to grow quite rapidly at the time, both naturally and artificially - the appeal of the "land of opportunity" (and the chance to get away from debts while still living acceptable) was great enough for that. The British population advantage was seriously challenged.
Then began the Five Years War (OTL Seven Year's war), also known as the Fourth English and Indian War. It went far from they way it did in OTL - most fighting was, yet again, in New England and in Virginia (in the former, France won easily; in the latter, it bogged down). Due to the defeat at Quiberon Bay, France was unable to send more reinforcements to the colonies, but this British advantage proved insignificant in the face of Henri-Joseph de Montcalm (similar to OTL Louis-Joseph de Montcalm) and his army. Jonathan Wilberton, a son of a Virginia plantator, rallied the local militia to assist the British forces and attempted to stop the French advance - in the long run, he only delayed it - but did so significantly. British reinforcements proved enough to hold southmost territory, but eventually, as the French began to overrun Hannover, many of those troops were recalled to Europe.
By 1759, much of British North Ameirca fell - only Georgia and parts of the Carolinas held out. Their native allies were also held at bay after a near-disaster for France in Louisiana. But, ofcourse, Britain refused to surrender - after all, the French advance in Hannover was stopped dead, and soon, reinforcements could arrive...
It was not to be. In 1760, France and Spain managed to rebuild their fleets sufficiently. They were joined by Netherlands, which was promised New York and a bit of land around it, as well as the island of Jamaica. Finally, Sweden, Poland and Russia scraped together a fleet of their own, hoping to put Britain out of war for good. This Great Armade sailed towards England and, after the Battle of Dogger's Bank, the Franco-Dutch-Spanish forces landed near Dover. The British resisted bravely, but were defeated at Dorking and eventually were forced, in early 1761, to surrender (George III was captured). Soon enough, without British help, the Prussian lines broke in the west, while in the east, Russians pressed forward to Berlin. King Fredrich II commited suicide soon after, and the dismoralized Prussia gave in. The peace treaty was quite, quite harsh. Britain lost ALL of its North American colonies to France (New York and Jamaica were taken by Netherlands), was forced to pay a very harsh indemnity and finally allowed the French to garrison Dover. Oh, and Ireland was granted increased autonomy. Hannover was largely left intact, but the amount of British troops (and native ones as well) was seriously limited. In India, Britain only kept Bengal - the rest went to France, including the large previously-French occupied Carnatic region. Prussia was essentially partitioned, keeping only the original Brandenburg under the Franconian branch of the Hohenzollerns (who were more pro-Austrian then the legal heir, or rather his relatives who had influence on him). Poland got East Prussia (Russia was acknowledged in control of Courland in exchange), Sweden got Pommerania, Austria got various German enclaves and Silesia.
The maps and the fates of Europe and of the World were greatly redrawn by this Versailles Congress....
Period of (roughly) 1760-1780. This was a time of great changes in some places, and the quiet before the storm in others. Now, major changes were actually yet to occur in numerous places - these I will not mention now. Those I will mention are:
North America:
The expulsion of the British from the colonial game in North America was celebrated greatly by the French colonists. Indeed, the victory over Britain convinced more and more Frenchmen to join the colonies of New France, Virginia and Louisiana. Albeit it wasn't an official decision, the English settlers from the former New England were... "encouraged" to move to Virginia and back home. Naturally, this soon spilled into the Rebellion in 1766, when Timothy Washington and his "free English army" were chased around in the area between Richmond and Nouvelle Jaursee (former New Jersey, often called simply Jaursee) until finally being defeated at Burg la Charle (OTL Gettysburg). All-in-all, French colonies were expanding territory-wise and population-wise, with the amerinds the only "serious" threat present. Raids here and there took place against New France, causing numerous forts to be erected in the Great Lakes region. The amerinds were doomed there by the lack of a strong leader.
The stop of the British war reparations payment in 1767 caused quite a shake-up in the colonies, as this meant higher taxes. But FOR THE MOMENT, it too had no leader and AT MOST spilled out into minor risings. But the situation was detiriorating beyond repair...
The Dutch policies in Jamaika and Nieuw Amsterdam were quite similar to French ones actually - the British were encouraged - though this time actually encouraged and not openly forced - to go someplace else. The Dutch population base in both areas remained rather minor during this period.
For the moment, Spanish colonization of California went on as in OTL...
Europe:
One can always expect a lot to happen here...
Firstly, we have Britain. Embittered by defeat, ruled by an increasingly insane king, forced to pay huge reparations (and thus to tax its population heavily), Britain was in a very bad state of affairs. By 1767, this got way too bad to be tolerated. A republican movement arose; it soon found a great leader in William Beckford and a charismatic "voice" in John Wilkes (another enthusiastic young supporter was Charles James Fox...). Rebellions filled England, a good contingent of followers was found amongst the former colonists who decided to return to Britain. Soon enough, another Civil War begun. The Royalists were routed at Thames, Dover was besieged and captured, reparations were stopped (as French economy was actually in a pretty bad state and was only able to somehow function thanks to these reparations, yes, that wasn't very pleasant). The king and the royal family fled to Hannover, but were soon given a rude surprise there... as in Denmark-Norway, encouraged by the British example, court physician and de facto ruler of Denmark-Norway Johann Friedrich von Struensee, following a failed coup attempt against him, declared the Republic of Denmark-Norway. Initially large parts of the population were opposed to it here and there, but at that point the British fleet won the crucial battle at Norman Islands against France and thus became capable of assisting Struensee with troops and funds (they also became capable of assuming control over the autonomous republic of Ireland within Britain).
The Danish forces ofcourse failed to conquer Hannover. But the presence of "rebel scum" to his north made George III even madder. Back in Britain, a Republic was declared, the British Republican Council (BRC) replaced the Parliament, and the positions of Lord-Protector (elected for life, largely ceremonial/organizational) and Head Councilman (HM) (essentially a Prime Minister in modern British terms) were created.
But the revolution did not spread outside of those two peculiar countries. Britain was never associated with closely by your average European, and neither was Denmark-Norway. In the rest of Europe, life went on.
The poor and insignificant island of Corsica was sold to Austria in 1768 by Genoa (not that it matters...). Austrians also in 1778 made a jolly good deal with Charles Theodore Wittelsbach of the Rhenish line. Theodore, you see, inherited Bavaria. He didn't want Bavaria. So he and the Austrians made a deal - Austrians get Bavaria, he gets Austrian Netherlands and Kingdom status, proclaiming the Kingdom of Burgundy in his lands both old and new. That unnerved the French a great deal, especially after the "Burgundians" used a lot of diplomacy, funds and intrigue to eventually (by 1780) gain control on territory from East Frieseland (incidentally a coastal territory) to the French-held easternmost tip of Lorraine-Alsace (OOC: most territories he gained often switched hands in just such moves. Often done, indeed, by the Wittelsbachs. Here he also has a very good motivation). Also dangerous was his control of Trier, as it linked his lands with his Belgian holdings. A new player rose in Germany, as if to replace the unfulfilled potential of Prussia-Brandenburg.
And speaking of Brandenburg, after a mini-civil war between two Hohenzollern branches in 1777, Austria gained de facto control over that as well. The Austrian expansionism was noted by many...
Peter III ruled for three (!!!) years in Russia, during which he antagonized the landholders and the clergy, but on the other hand went down, before that whole hunting accident, in Russian history as the Liberator Emperor for abolishing serfdom. That abolition, too, left the country in quite a mess as it was conducted skill-lessly. It was up to Catherine the Great to make anything good of that. Also about Russia, Poland was by then long a Russian satellite. During the 1764 Polish royal election, the presence of the Russian troops unnerved many, and caused a major rising. The pro-Russian candidate, Stanislaw Poniatowski, was wounded but not killed. Blaming the heretofore ruling Saxon dynasty for that, the Russians remained in Poland for far longer then expected. Austria enthusiastically backed Russia after being informed that in exchange for turning a blind eye on formalization of Russian control of Poland it will get to annex Saxony (and recognized in other territorial acquisations in Germany) if the Saxons do something. Saxons did something. Got annexed by Austrians. All this concerned the Ottomans greatly, they declared war on Russia but were quickly routed by Austro-Russian forces in 1765-1767 Russo-Turkish war. Russia had some of its troops tied down in Poland, and so it was decided to press for just some territorial gains. Some they got - Russia got Crimea, Moldavia and Wallachia, Austria got Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro. That (along with previous Austrian gains), in turn, concerned the minor German and Italian states and the Bourbon Family Compact (France, Spain, Naples) greatly, causing them all to sign a secret Treaty of Brussels, in which they agreed to move against all and any further Russo-Austrian agression.
A funny note about Russia is that though Denmark-Norway is a republic, Russia still did annex Oldenburg. Unlike in OTL, it chose to hold on to it if only as a good port and naval base in the North Sea.
Middle East:
The Ottoman Empire was, as is probably remembered, rather busy in the north - even in late 1760s and early 1770s, when they needed to garrison their new borders. Thus, 'Ali Bey and his Egyptians had very little trouble in not only getting independance but also in horribly shaking up the Ottoman system by taking Damascus and Mecca. ITTL, the Egyptians also had enough time to consolidate their gains. Poor Ottomans...
India:
The first Franco-Marathan War took place in 1771-1779. It was a long and unexpectedly bloody war, some say due to British support to the Marathans, and it also ended in a draw.
Ofcourse, how did the British manage to help the Marathans is unknown as after 1767, when Robert Clive became a de facto independant ruler of Bengal, often called the "White Raj". With his death in 1775, Bengal fell into the hands of French allies...
DO NOT POST YET.
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!
My native country, thee,
land of the noble free, thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
thy woods and templed hills;
my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.
Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song;
let mortal tongues awake;
let all that breathe partake;
let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.
Our fathers' God, to thee,
author of liberty, to thee we sing;
long may our land be bright
with freedom's holy light;
protect us by thy might, great God, our King.
This is a world much different from our own. America, no longer the bastion of hope and freedom it was in our timeline, is an empire, ruled not by Englishmen, but Frenchmen. This is a world not of Freedom, but of the cruel pursuits of empires. Sure there are a few 'enlightened' nations, but they are few and far between, and without allies. No, they are destined to die out, but the Empires, they and their iron curtain over the world shall stay....
And Now, the Timeline by Das:
In 1627, in an effort to better colonize New France, Cardinal Richelieu founded the "Company of New France", better-known as the "Company of Hundred Associtates". It was meant to take 300 settlers to New France every year in exchange for temporary fur trade monopoly. All those plans were broken up by a war with England - a war within not much notable happened apart from a raid on Quebec and some nasty attacks on French shipping. Let us butterfly it away (or turn it into a phony one). Thus, the tiny Quebec is never sacked, the Company of New France is able to carry out its promises. Historically, a major factor in the eventual French defeat at the English hands in America was the low French colonial population. Here, the Company helps establish a more serious settlement earlier. There is however a problem of controlling large spaces - it is hard to convince most people to stay in the tiny towns doing manual labor instead of fur-trading or something like that. But due to population growth, France gets into conflict with the natives earlier. It does win, but generally, this means that somewhat more people would rather stay in the safety of early French colonial cities (higher concentration of the population).
By the time the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-97) comes around, French colonial holdings are much better off (higher population, better economy) then in OTL, BUT France has more enemies among the natives (in the colonies, the war is known as the First English and Indian War). The French had great commanders in that war. Louis de Frontenac thus defeats the English Iroquois allies and invades New England, whilst Pierre le Moyne seized Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland. The Treaty of Rijswujk, in 1697, involved New France being recognized in the gains in Iroquois territory, Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland.
After that war, England's allies begun to intensify raids. As the War of Spanish Succession raged in Europe, the surviving Iroquoi warriors and other tribes raided the outskirts of New France, while the English/British forces themselves captured Newfoundland and from there tried (unsuccesfully) to take Quebec. The peace treaty restored status quo, but after it the French colonial administration became fully determined to drive the British from North America. So during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Third English and Indian War took place. The British forces concentrated on Newfoundland and Acadia, making some progress there, but the French meanwhile succesfully marched into New England and sacked New York. In the large "no man's land" between British and French colonies in the south, sporadic fighting took place, with the British gradually pushed back. The eventual peace treaty confirmed those heretofore neutral lands as French. The British were locked in.
Meanwhile, it must be noted that the population of New France begun to grow quite rapidly at the time, both naturally and artificially - the appeal of the "land of opportunity" (and the chance to get away from debts while still living acceptable) was great enough for that. The British population advantage was seriously challenged.
Then began the Five Years War (OTL Seven Year's war), also known as the Fourth English and Indian War. It went far from they way it did in OTL - most fighting was, yet again, in New England and in Virginia (in the former, France won easily; in the latter, it bogged down). Due to the defeat at Quiberon Bay, France was unable to send more reinforcements to the colonies, but this British advantage proved insignificant in the face of Henri-Joseph de Montcalm (similar to OTL Louis-Joseph de Montcalm) and his army. Jonathan Wilberton, a son of a Virginia plantator, rallied the local militia to assist the British forces and attempted to stop the French advance - in the long run, he only delayed it - but did so significantly. British reinforcements proved enough to hold southmost territory, but eventually, as the French began to overrun Hannover, many of those troops were recalled to Europe.
By 1759, much of British North Ameirca fell - only Georgia and parts of the Carolinas held out. Their native allies were also held at bay after a near-disaster for France in Louisiana. But, ofcourse, Britain refused to surrender - after all, the French advance in Hannover was stopped dead, and soon, reinforcements could arrive...
It was not to be. In 1760, France and Spain managed to rebuild their fleets sufficiently. They were joined by Netherlands, which was promised New York and a bit of land around it, as well as the island of Jamaica. Finally, Sweden, Poland and Russia scraped together a fleet of their own, hoping to put Britain out of war for good. This Great Armade sailed towards England and, after the Battle of Dogger's Bank, the Franco-Dutch-Spanish forces landed near Dover. The British resisted bravely, but were defeated at Dorking and eventually were forced, in early 1761, to surrender (George III was captured). Soon enough, without British help, the Prussian lines broke in the west, while in the east, Russians pressed forward to Berlin. King Fredrich II commited suicide soon after, and the dismoralized Prussia gave in. The peace treaty was quite, quite harsh. Britain lost ALL of its North American colonies to France (New York and Jamaica were taken by Netherlands), was forced to pay a very harsh indemnity and finally allowed the French to garrison Dover. Oh, and Ireland was granted increased autonomy. Hannover was largely left intact, but the amount of British troops (and native ones as well) was seriously limited. In India, Britain only kept Bengal - the rest went to France, including the large previously-French occupied Carnatic region. Prussia was essentially partitioned, keeping only the original Brandenburg under the Franconian branch of the Hohenzollerns (who were more pro-Austrian then the legal heir, or rather his relatives who had influence on him). Poland got East Prussia (Russia was acknowledged in control of Courland in exchange), Sweden got Pommerania, Austria got various German enclaves and Silesia.
The maps and the fates of Europe and of the World were greatly redrawn by this Versailles Congress....
Period of (roughly) 1760-1780. This was a time of great changes in some places, and the quiet before the storm in others. Now, major changes were actually yet to occur in numerous places - these I will not mention now. Those I will mention are:
North America:
The expulsion of the British from the colonial game in North America was celebrated greatly by the French colonists. Indeed, the victory over Britain convinced more and more Frenchmen to join the colonies of New France, Virginia and Louisiana. Albeit it wasn't an official decision, the English settlers from the former New England were... "encouraged" to move to Virginia and back home. Naturally, this soon spilled into the Rebellion in 1766, when Timothy Washington and his "free English army" were chased around in the area between Richmond and Nouvelle Jaursee (former New Jersey, often called simply Jaursee) until finally being defeated at Burg la Charle (OTL Gettysburg). All-in-all, French colonies were expanding territory-wise and population-wise, with the amerinds the only "serious" threat present. Raids here and there took place against New France, causing numerous forts to be erected in the Great Lakes region. The amerinds were doomed there by the lack of a strong leader.
The stop of the British war reparations payment in 1767 caused quite a shake-up in the colonies, as this meant higher taxes. But FOR THE MOMENT, it too had no leader and AT MOST spilled out into minor risings. But the situation was detiriorating beyond repair...
The Dutch policies in Jamaika and Nieuw Amsterdam were quite similar to French ones actually - the British were encouraged - though this time actually encouraged and not openly forced - to go someplace else. The Dutch population base in both areas remained rather minor during this period.
For the moment, Spanish colonization of California went on as in OTL...
Europe:
One can always expect a lot to happen here...
Firstly, we have Britain. Embittered by defeat, ruled by an increasingly insane king, forced to pay huge reparations (and thus to tax its population heavily), Britain was in a very bad state of affairs. By 1767, this got way too bad to be tolerated. A republican movement arose; it soon found a great leader in William Beckford and a charismatic "voice" in John Wilkes (another enthusiastic young supporter was Charles James Fox...). Rebellions filled England, a good contingent of followers was found amongst the former colonists who decided to return to Britain. Soon enough, another Civil War begun. The Royalists were routed at Thames, Dover was besieged and captured, reparations were stopped (as French economy was actually in a pretty bad state and was only able to somehow function thanks to these reparations, yes, that wasn't very pleasant). The king and the royal family fled to Hannover, but were soon given a rude surprise there... as in Denmark-Norway, encouraged by the British example, court physician and de facto ruler of Denmark-Norway Johann Friedrich von Struensee, following a failed coup attempt against him, declared the Republic of Denmark-Norway. Initially large parts of the population were opposed to it here and there, but at that point the British fleet won the crucial battle at Norman Islands against France and thus became capable of assisting Struensee with troops and funds (they also became capable of assuming control over the autonomous republic of Ireland within Britain).
The Danish forces ofcourse failed to conquer Hannover. But the presence of "rebel scum" to his north made George III even madder. Back in Britain, a Republic was declared, the British Republican Council (BRC) replaced the Parliament, and the positions of Lord-Protector (elected for life, largely ceremonial/organizational) and Head Councilman (HM) (essentially a Prime Minister in modern British terms) were created.
But the revolution did not spread outside of those two peculiar countries. Britain was never associated with closely by your average European, and neither was Denmark-Norway. In the rest of Europe, life went on.
The poor and insignificant island of Corsica was sold to Austria in 1768 by Genoa (not that it matters...). Austrians also in 1778 made a jolly good deal with Charles Theodore Wittelsbach of the Rhenish line. Theodore, you see, inherited Bavaria. He didn't want Bavaria. So he and the Austrians made a deal - Austrians get Bavaria, he gets Austrian Netherlands and Kingdom status, proclaiming the Kingdom of Burgundy in his lands both old and new. That unnerved the French a great deal, especially after the "Burgundians" used a lot of diplomacy, funds and intrigue to eventually (by 1780) gain control on territory from East Frieseland (incidentally a coastal territory) to the French-held easternmost tip of Lorraine-Alsace (OOC: most territories he gained often switched hands in just such moves. Often done, indeed, by the Wittelsbachs. Here he also has a very good motivation). Also dangerous was his control of Trier, as it linked his lands with his Belgian holdings. A new player rose in Germany, as if to replace the unfulfilled potential of Prussia-Brandenburg.
And speaking of Brandenburg, after a mini-civil war between two Hohenzollern branches in 1777, Austria gained de facto control over that as well. The Austrian expansionism was noted by many...
Peter III ruled for three (!!!) years in Russia, during which he antagonized the landholders and the clergy, but on the other hand went down, before that whole hunting accident, in Russian history as the Liberator Emperor for abolishing serfdom. That abolition, too, left the country in quite a mess as it was conducted skill-lessly. It was up to Catherine the Great to make anything good of that. Also about Russia, Poland was by then long a Russian satellite. During the 1764 Polish royal election, the presence of the Russian troops unnerved many, and caused a major rising. The pro-Russian candidate, Stanislaw Poniatowski, was wounded but not killed. Blaming the heretofore ruling Saxon dynasty for that, the Russians remained in Poland for far longer then expected. Austria enthusiastically backed Russia after being informed that in exchange for turning a blind eye on formalization of Russian control of Poland it will get to annex Saxony (and recognized in other territorial acquisations in Germany) if the Saxons do something. Saxons did something. Got annexed by Austrians. All this concerned the Ottomans greatly, they declared war on Russia but were quickly routed by Austro-Russian forces in 1765-1767 Russo-Turkish war. Russia had some of its troops tied down in Poland, and so it was decided to press for just some territorial gains. Some they got - Russia got Crimea, Moldavia and Wallachia, Austria got Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro. That (along with previous Austrian gains), in turn, concerned the minor German and Italian states and the Bourbon Family Compact (France, Spain, Naples) greatly, causing them all to sign a secret Treaty of Brussels, in which they agreed to move against all and any further Russo-Austrian agression.
A funny note about Russia is that though Denmark-Norway is a republic, Russia still did annex Oldenburg. Unlike in OTL, it chose to hold on to it if only as a good port and naval base in the North Sea.
Middle East:
The Ottoman Empire was, as is probably remembered, rather busy in the north - even in late 1760s and early 1770s, when they needed to garrison their new borders. Thus, 'Ali Bey and his Egyptians had very little trouble in not only getting independance but also in horribly shaking up the Ottoman system by taking Damascus and Mecca. ITTL, the Egyptians also had enough time to consolidate their gains. Poor Ottomans...
India:
The first Franco-Marathan War took place in 1771-1779. It was a long and unexpectedly bloody war, some say due to British support to the Marathans, and it also ended in a draw.
Ofcourse, how did the British manage to help the Marathans is unknown as after 1767, when Robert Clive became a de facto independant ruler of Bengal, often called the "White Raj". With his death in 1775, Bengal fell into the hands of French allies...
DO NOT POST YET.
