Long Live The King

Based on QuantumBranching's Holy Alliance map. quantumbranching.deviantart.co…

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As revolution sweeps France, the French royal family successfully escapes to Austria. As revolutionary France gets into war with the Prussians and Austrians, the royal family becomes the nucleus of a counterrevolutionary resistance. The revolutionaries themselves are divided and fight amongst themselves for power, and with no clear leader emerging among them, the royalists successfully restore the French royal family. The leaders of the revolution are guillotined, and by 1800 the Bourbons are once again the unchallenged rulers of France.

History happens. In 1815, the young United States gets into a war with the British Empire over a dispute in borders. When an American force against hostile Native Americans accidentally crosses over into disputed territory, war breaks out. Facing the full might of the British Empire, the United States is crushed and humiliated, and later fragments from its own internal divisions. The German revolutions of the 1830s almost succeed, but the combined might of the French, Russian and Austrian empires destroys the movement and the victors divide the German states between themselves. Although it only suffered some invasions during the French Revolt, the Spanish Empire's decline was already inevitable, and the violent secession of Mexico from the Spanish Empire forces the Spanish to slowly devolve political control of their overseas empire to locals, beginning with the Guarani. But even the Spanish Empire, along with its British, French, Austrian and Russian contemporaries, expand throughout the world, founding new colonies.

By the mid-20th century, there are few places which aren't under the direct control of the European monarchies. Those that are independent are frequently puppets of a European power, and those that could claim "full" independence are typically too remote, destitute, or potentially rebellious for the European powers to justify conquest.

Perhaps the most powerful single state in the world is the Russian Empire. After decisively crushing the Ottoman Turks in a series of wars throughout the 19th century and slowly extending its influence through the Middle East and East Asia, the Russian bear is truly a mighty beast. Through its Egyptian and Ethiopian proxies, Russian influence extends to North Africa, and with its "republican" allies in the former United States, and the mad pseudo-Aztec monarchy in Mexico, and its direct possessions in Alyeska, St. Petersburg also has a toehold in North America. The Russians have the single largest military in the world, and their secret police, the Third Section, has a militant wing which is larger than the entire armies of some small states. Then there is the Russian Strategic Rocket Force, which is in charge of the massive Russian nuclear arsenal.

Russia is truly monarchy and theocracy at its worst, although the French, Spanish and Austrians are not far behind. While serfdom was abolished in the 1880s, most of Russia's population remains illiterate and at the mercy of various social elites. Industrialization, undertaken in the late 1800s and continuing on into the 20th century, has created a new "business class" that is challenging the power of the traditional nobility. However, these "new rich" have become staunch allies of the Tsar, who always sought a way to keep the nobility under control. The official religion of Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church, is enforced brutally throughout Russia's Central Asian and African possessions. This has led to some conflict with Islamic groups in the Middle East, a potential spark for the global powder keg.

Apart from Russia, the main contender for the position of global superpower is the British Empire. Unlike Russia, the British represent monarchy at its most moderate and liberal. The Queen still holds some power over the Empire, particularly in colonial administration, but power for the most part lies in Parliament. Political parties, from the ultra-reactionary down to the most fervent communists, are allowed legal representation. However, this is not to say that the British have no skeletons in their closet. Maintaining such a large colonial empire is impossible to do “cleanly,” and numerous atrocities have been inflicted by the British against would-be independence movements. British rule in India, in particular, has quite a few similarities to Russian rule within its own borders. The British remain the premier naval power, and with the development of the aircraft carrier, have the power to drop nuclear weapons almost anywhere in the world.

The premier British allies are the Dutch and Portuguese empires. The Dutch are one of the most liberal monarchies in the world, although highly militarized as they are surrounded by enemies. The Dutch king is almost totally powerless, although there are statutes which allow the king to seize total control of the government in case of invasion. The Dutch have one of the largest armies in relation to overall population in the world, and the military is widely revered as the defenders of Dutch independence and freedom. The Dutch Navy is also a formidable force, second only to the Royal Navy. The Portuguese have slowly moved more of their assets to Brazil, which the Portuguese royal family has historically favored over their homeland and which is safer from Spanish attack. The Portuguese portion of the empire is nothing more than a garrison these days, its borders lined with pillboxes and important highways embedded with nuclear mines. Within Portugal proper, any man can be conscripted in case of invasion, and the military has de facto control over the territory. Overall, the Portuguese Empire is the most absolutist of the London Accords powers, although some popular representation is present.

Standing as the dominant power in Central Europe is the Austrian Empire. Heavily damaged during the nationalist revolutions of the 1830s, the Austrians have turned to faith and firepower to maintain their imperial cohesion. In Austria, reactionary Catholicism and absolutism taken from the Tsar’s playbook is the order of the day. A national educational system was established in the 1840s with the express purpose of destroying all non-German national identity and replacing it with an identity which focuses on loyalty to the Emperor and respect for the Catholic Church. This strict regime has caused much low-level violence throughout the non-German areas, and caused an irrevocable split with St. Petersburg, although this was mitigated when the Hungarians and Bohemians were allowed to teach their own children their own languages. Austria’s premier ally are the Spanish Bourbons, who have ignored the familial rivalry between the Habsburgs and Bourbons in favor of an alliance which contains France and is rooted in the promotion of the Catholic faith throughout the world.

The Spanish Empire is the more liberal of the two Catholic League powers, with the “devolved viceroyalties” being practically independent save for foreign affairs and other colonies being given more and more independence. The current sore spot in the Spanish Empire, the Filipino autonomy movement, is making Madrid consider the devolution of the Spanish East Indies. However, within Spain itself, a renewed Inquisition has formed to enforce loyalty to the crown. Inquisitorial agents, as heavily armed and trained as the Spanish military, often break into the homes of suspected traitors in the middle of the night without warning. Even the people of the devolved viceroyalties are not free from inquisitorial oppression; the only difference is that these inquisitions are run locally.

Then there is the French Empire. The French have always been the most powerful state in Western Europe, and while the Revolt weakened them, they quickly regained their power. With this recovery came the emergence of old rivalries against the British, Austrians and Spanish. Originally Russian allies, because of their mutual foes and their commitment to absolutist rule, the French refused to be the minor partner in an alliance and decided to instead play kingmaker with the rest of the world. The French often support one bloc in one issue, while opposing that same bloc in another. The French know they play a dangerous game, but are convinced that they are masters of the art and can use it to regain dominance over the world. French absolutism remains powerful, and save for an Estates-General with minor powers, the king reigns supreme. The French government’s methods are far less overt than those of Russia’s or Spain’s, but they are present nonetheless. Throughout France and in urbanized parts of the empire, cameras and microphones record everything. Every room in every building is required to have at least one recording device. Legions of bureaucrats are employed to digest the massive amounts of information this surveillance generates. Those suspected of anti-royal sentiment simply disappear without a trace and without warning.