History

This page will cover the History of Heritier du Roi, from 1870 (point of divergence) up to 1936 (game start), plus some extra bits...

All of this is subject to change.

### **Context**

#### Second French Empire - 1852

In 1852, after many years of unstable and ineffective republican governance, Napoleon III helps overthrow the government in a popular coup, and declares himself emperor. The Second French Empire is proclaimed on December 2nd 1852. Early on in his reign Napoleon III shows himself a capable ruler. However, he is also very paranoid and suspicious of neighbouring states.

In the 1850s and early 1860s, France expresses their displeasure over the Zollverein strengthening Prussia's control over the German states. Napoleon decides to expand the French railroad network and arms industry in 1863, to modernise the country and prepare it for any war that may occur. By the year 1865, the railroads in Eastern France and along the southern border with Spain are finished, and operating with impressive efficiency.

Instead of bolstering the economy, Napoleon III instead decides to expand France's military. He implements swathes of positive reforms, giving France a modern military, despite its weaker economy.

#### Prussian Conquests - 1864

In 1864, Prussia seeks to invade Schleswig starting the Second Schleswig War. France threatens to intervene but Prussia makes France vague promises of land to avoid their intervention. These promises for land went unfulfilled, turning Napoleon III, who is already paranoid about Prussia's ambitions, openly antagonistic towards them. Napoleon III orders his generals to prepare plans in case of war against Prussia.

From 1865 France observes the growing tensions between Austria and Prussia, and decides to remain neutral, in order to weaken both states. In 1866, the Austro-Prussian War showed the military superiority of the Prussians. France, noticing this military capacity, decides to formulate plans for a defensive war knowing full well they do not have the capabilities to invade Prussia. While a defensive battle would be unpopular, it would allow France a chance of holding back the Prussian forces.

In 1869, the Spanish King dies, and a Prussian Prince is elected as king. France refuses to allow a Prussian prince to take the Spanish throne. Having Spain aligned with Prussia would create too great a threat to the Second French Empire. Bismarck sends a message to France demanding they allow the Prince to take the throne, or else. France, unable to tolerate this, declares war in 1870.

### **Franco-Prussian War - 1870**

#### Battle of Metz - 1870

France mobilizes her forces using the modernized railroad systems to deploy to the German front rapidly. France manages to hold the Southern Germans with her defenses in Alsace. The Prussian forces, however, managed to break through around Metz.

Metz was the most important supply hub for the French defences in Alsace-Lorraine. The French know they cannot afford to lose it. Napoleon III assumes direct command of it's defence, sets up forward defensive positions, and waits for the Prussians to attack first.

The Prussians unleash a forceful assault, sending wave after wave of battalions into the frey. Thousands of Prussians lose their lives attacking heavily fortified French positions. The French cavalry launch a counter-attack from the flank, but it fails to turn the tide of the battle. After two days of intense fighting, the French order a general retreat to their reserve lines at Sedan, ceding Metz to the advancing Prussian army.

#### Battle of Sedan - 1870

The Prussian forces, realising that a prolonged war would not be to their advantage, push onward to Sedan. They fully expect they can keep up their momentum while gathering reinforcements as they reach the front. However, attacking at less than full strength proves to be a grave mistake.

On 1st September the weakened Prussian forces meet the French at Sedan. Napoleon III delegates command of the Battle to François Achille Bazaine, who orders his forces to rapidly surround the city with deep entrenchments. The Prussians open with a cavalry charge on the French artillery, but this fails as they are met with a lethal volley of fire from the crackshot French riflemen. The Germans, lacking the forces to make a proper encirclement, allow Bazaine to keep cycling in fresh troops and supplies while digging themselves in even further. Following a French counterattack on September 3rd, the Prussian forces are routed. The Prussian army remains confident they will win, despite the setback. Bur their hopes dim as Bismarck learns his son has died in the French counterattack, forever souring his outlook on the war.

#### Spring Offensive - 1871

The defeated Prussian forces retreat to their forward line at Metz and begin to reorganize and prepare a renewed offensive, but a shortage of able-bodied troops hampers the preparations. Moltke convinces King Wilhelm I that the war can still end in victory if a huge offensive is launched on the Southern German border. Moltke rushes the battle plans for three assaults on the French defenses. Three consecutive attacks on Neu-Breisach, Strasbourg, and Schlettstadt all fall short. Rushed planning, depleted reserves, and inefficient supply lines undermine the attacks, causing massive casualties and inflaming anti-war sentiment across Prussia.

At the end of May, a French counterattack at Thianelle shatters the Prussian forces, causing widespread discontent in the army and a conscription crisis at home. Prussia pulls her remaining forces back to the Rhineland, hoping to defend the industrial heartland. The choice to retreat allows the French to swiftly occupy and subsequently make peace with the Southern Germans.

#### Final Push - 1871

Bismarck, seeing the war as a failed endeavour, tries to persuade the King to end the war, but Moltke persuades him otherwise, saying he can win the war if he is given full command of Prussian forces. The King agrees and Bismarck resigns the very next day. Moltke is given the position of Chancellor and vested with emergency powers making him the Prussia's de-facto monarch.

On 12th March a successful French assault on the city of Frankfurt drives Prussian forces from their last stronghold in the Rhineland. The French now vastly out-match and outnumber their Prussian foes, and their confidence is bolstered with each successive, albeit costly, victory.

From Frankfurt, the French set their sights on Berlin and prepare to make a decisive final push to the Kaiser's doorstep. Before they can set out, William I hears of the plan and elects to surrender himself to the French forces, in hopes of sparing it from the devastation the French Artillery had wrought in Frankfurt. Moltke disappears that same day, many speculating the now hated man had fled to Denmark.

#### Treaty of Dijon - 1871

The French were eager to end the war as quickly as possible, as their army now numbered nearly 2 million, making it a formidable but expensive and unwieldy force to maintain. The Peace Talks held at Dijon are attended by delegates from every nation involved. The French demands of Prussia are surprisingly reasonable, but undeniably harsh. Across Prussia a sense of betrayal, humiliation, and despair becomes widespread.

Prussia is forced to dissolve the Zollverein, and the North German Confederation is also dismantled. Prussian territory is ceded back to the states it invaded to form the Confederation, and several regions are given complete autonomy. Prussia would also recognize the French puppet state established in the Rhineland, called the Confederation of the Rhine.

The greatest indignity of all was that is also forced to accept blame for the war and publicly declare it an illegal and unjustifiable action on their part. It must also promise to refrain from ever attempting to reunite Germany again. This peace was deeply unpopular in Prussia. Many could not stomach the idea of losing the prosperous Rhineland while abandoning the dream of a united Germany. To add insult to injury, the Prussians are only allowed to maintain a small demobilized home-guard and every ship in their navy is confiscated or decommissioned.

France rejoices as the Peace of Dijon cements their place as one of the most powerful nations in Europe, one that could potentially take on the mighty British Empire. Napoleon III is hailed as a hero and the French Army is praised for their valor and sacrifice. The reparations payments and re-structured Rhenish monopolies supercharge the French economy, as many wounded and retired soldiers enter the labor market, generating a classic post-war economic miracle.

### **Interwar Years**

#### Franco-British Arms Race - 1871

Following their French victory in the Franco-Prussian War, the French redouble their military investments hoping to surpass their neighbours Prussia, Britain, and Spain. The French command is converted into a permanent bureaucracy and the Grand Armee is established as France's Permanent Standing Army. With a bulging war chest, a reputation for military excellence, and a renewed interest in expanding its sphere of influence, conflict with another of France's powerful neighbors is inevitable.

Concerned by France's nearly doubled military budget, Britain tries to keep up. Unlike the French, the English focus their limited resources to expand the Royal Navy, increasing its already monumental size. The huge investment in the shipping industry comes at the expense of other civil and economic needs, sapping the empire's might ever so gradually.

By 1890, the French Army and British Navy are the strongest in the world. The French Grand Armee is equipped with the latest equipment and artillery, and has a sizeable active service. The British Navy is bigger than the next 3 countries' combined, in terms of gross ship tonnage. Through composed of many outdated ship models, the fleet more than makes up for it with numbers and experience.

Britain and France continued their arms race for nearly 30 years, despite the strain it places on their previously once formidable but deteriorating economies. Prussia, Spain, Russia, The Ottoman Empire and The United States all increase their own budgets as well, bolstering each nation's capacity to make war. It also spurred the formation of new alliances. Portugal, Prussia and England form a Coalition while France, Spain and Italy pledge to defend one another to the last man.

#### Japanese Revolution - 1881

Japan by 1876, has embarked upon a rapid industrialisation plan executing Industrial projects and organizing professional associations around the country. Schools, factories, and mechanised equipment become commonplace, even in the rural areas, driving perceivable shifts in Japan's social order. The Emporer intends to harness the countries flourishing and engage with larger colonial powers, in search of investment and trade opportunities.

Though well received at first, the colonial powers begin to set up monopolies in Japan and force Japan's Emperor to sign a series of unequal treaties concerning trade, mining, and resources, further expanding to production. While it was clear Japan was being exploited the Emperor did nothing to combat this, and Japan's people and economy continued to be exploited, with state permission.

Industrial expansion sows the seeds for a socialist movement amidst the grassroots of the Japanese population. This party gradually outgrows all the others in Japan and, and starts to openly call for the emperor's abdication, that Japan might end the unequal treaties imposed against it. The Nippon Shakai-to, the socialist party in Japan, is starting to stage protests and organise strikes to put pressure on the regime.

In 1881, after 5 years of strikes, the Nippon Shakai-to call for a massive general strike (the biggest in global history) and shut down Japan for 5 days, crippling the Japanese economy and generating huge losses for many of the monopolies based in Japan. The strike eventually forces Emperor Meiji to abdicate, and the Socialists under Nippon Shakai-to rule, driven by a fervent opposition to colonial rule, reshape Japan in the interests of expansionism and authoritarianism.

#### Black Winter - 1885

In Russia, the Tsar is a controversial figure, and while many respect and even love the Russian Royal Family, there are also many who despise him. The main opposition to the Russian Tsar is, of course, the Bolshevik Totalists, who openly oppose the Tsar through underground channels.
They distribute propaganda, either through disorganised speeches on factory floors or by passing out leaflets disguised as newspapers in the streets.

In 1885, an attempt to counter rising sympathy for the totalists sees the Tsar purge his government of suspected communists and sympathisers. Nearly two-hundred thousand of his own people are arrested with the most notable among them executed and the rest deported.

While this gravely wounds the Bolshevik efforts to spark a totalist revolution, it only delays the problem and ultimately worsens it. After some time, it becomes clear the purges were based on faulty intelligence; many innocents fell victim to the Tsar's paranoia, and Totalist sympathies grew widespread as the Tsar grew widely unpopular.

#### Young Turk Movement - 1894

The Ottoman Empire for years has been struggling with worsening ethnic tensions and tribal unrest. Having an outdated political system and incompetent nepotistic institutions make reform impossible, and far too delayed to have any major impact. The government is proving itself to be gerontocratic, too old and out of touch to govern.

The Young Turk Movement, founded in 1894 harnishes anger and frustration among younger, well-educated Ottomans Turks. The organization begins to attract popular support with pledges to preserve the empire not by force, but by measured, establishment governance, promoting equality and democracy.

Pressure from the movement leads to the ratification of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876, bringing in multi-party politics with a two-stage electoral system (electoral law) under the Ottoman parliament. The constitution offers hope by freeing the empire's citizens to modernize the state's institutions, rejuvenate its strength, and enable it to hold its own against outside powers. Its guarantee of liberties promised to dissolve inter-communal tensions and transform the empire into a harmonious federated empire.

Even some of the non-turkish regions are granted voting rights, restoring the dwindling influence of the Ottoman Empire. However, with the admission of the many parties to the parliament, the Ottomans did not have control so much as they once had; many regional parties began to coalece around an anti-war platform.