Chapter Summaries

Floyd secured Pius IX’s cooperation as the Kingdom of Italy prepared to invade the Papal States while anticipating Austro-Hungarian intervention. The chapter ended with Italy issuing an ultimatum and the Austro-Hungarian ambassador threatening Italy if it attacked.

• Floyd urged Pius IX to prepare the Papal States’ army and keep their understanding secret, and Pius IX agreed to recruit more men.
• After two days of discussion, Victor Emmanuel II and Italian officials planned defenses against Austria-Hungary and assigned 25,000 government troops and volunteers led by Garibaldi to attack the Papal States.
• Italy concentrated troops near Venice and Lombardy while Austria-Hungary kept its border forces still, convincing Italian leaders that they could proceed safely.
• On August 16, Italy demanded that Pius IX surrender and merge the Papal States into Italy, but Pius IX refused with an army of about 15,000 men.
• The Austro-Hungarian ambassador warned the Italian royal palace that the Empire would intervene if Italy attacked the Papal States.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire threatened Italy over its plans to annex the Papal States, Italy declared war despite failing to win British support. Russia stayed out of the conflict, hoping it would bog down Austria-Hungary, while the war began with other powers remaining neutral.

• Christian warned Victor Emmanuel II that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would oppose Italy's attempt to absorb the Papal States, and the two sides parted on hostile terms.
• Giuseppe asked British Ambassador Johnson for help, but Johnson urged Italy to abandon its claim and said Britain could not intervene during the Franco-Prussian War.
• After the Papal States ignored its demands, Italy declared war on August 23, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Papal States declared war on Italy.
• Alexander II convened his ministers, who concluded that Austria-Hungary had not made new troop movements and that Russia had little chance to intervene.
• Russia rejected supporting Italy and hoped the conflict would weaken Austria-Hungary, while Britain and Russia remained neutral.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Italy, Napoleon III realized France could no longer count on Austrian intervention against Prussia. Archduke Albrecht began a deliberate campaign on the Isonzo front to draw Italian forces toward Venice and Lombardy while preparing a surprise attack from Rome.

• Napoleon III concluded that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would not intervene against Prussia, leaving France to face more Prussian troops.
• Prussian leaders welcomed the declaration of war on Italy because it removed the threat of an Austrian attack on their rear.
• Austro-Hungarian artillery bombarded Italy’s first defensive line along the Isonzo River from the eastern bank.
• Archduke Albrecht rejected an immediate assault, intending to make Italy reinforce the eastern front before striking its concentrated forces.
• Italy began sending more troops toward Venice and building a third defensive line, while Albrecht planned to use Austrian troops hidden in Rome for a surprise attack.

As the Italo-Austrian War drove people from the Venice region to flee, East African recruiters registered families and prepared to take them overseas. After hearing about life and work in East Africa, the immigrants chose to board, and later statistics showed that most of the additional Italians who left went there.

• East African immigration workers registered Venice residents and gave Thomas a family boarding tag for his wife and daughters.
• Thomas told his family that they were leaving their home for East Africa because war had made it unsafe.
• Mars warned the prospective immigrants that East Africa enforced strict laws, offered few entertainments, and needed workers, especially farmers.
• Mars answered questions about jobs, food, and money, then offered the immigrants a final chance to disembark.
• The immigrants stayed aboard, and later figures showed that most Italians who left in excess of the usual number during the war went to East Africa.

Archduke Albrecht’s feint drew Italian troops toward the northern front while Lieutenant General Karl prepared the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Force hidden near Rome to strike Garibaldi’s advancing army. Karl left his soldiers ready to feast before launching a surprise attack that night.

• Archduke Albrecht ordered Austrian forces to feint from the north, prompting Italy to reinforce its Alpine defenses and strain its logistics.
• Antonio and the Fourth Brigade commander changed out of their Italian farmer clothes at the Austro-Hungarian camp near Rome and joked about their farming.
• The Austro-Hungarian Empire concealed over ten thousand soldiers on a rented farm in the Papal States.
• Lieutenant General Karl told his assembled troops that more than thirty thousand Italian soldiers led by Garibaldi were approaching Rome.
• Karl explained that his force would attack by surprise once the Papal States’ troops engaged the Italians, and ordered a feast before the night operation.

The Kingdom of Italy’s army attacked Rome, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire secretly moved its expeditionary force into position. After Garibaldi’s troops broke into the city, Lieutenant General Karl’s forces struck from behind, trapping the Italians and killing Garibaldi and his volunteers as Cadorna surrendered.

• Garibaldi and Cadorna advanced toward Rome, while Pius IX learned that no other Italian states had risen to support him and confronted Floyd about the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s promised plan.
• Floyd reassured Pius IX that the Empire had a trump card, then stayed with him as Italian artillery opened fire on Rome.
• Garibaldi and Cadorna launched an assault, and the Kingdom of Italy’s troops broke through Rome’s defenses and entered the city.
• Lieutenant General Karl led the Austro-Hungarian expeditionary force in a surprise attack, trapping the Italian army between its troops and Rome’s defenders.
• Cadorna surrendered with the Kingdom of Italy’s army, while Garibaldi and his volunteers charged the Austro-Hungarians and fell in battle.

Archduke Albrecht launched an all-out offensive against Italy after receiving word of Karl’s victory near Rome, while Prussia began the Battle of Sedan and East African troops completed their advance to the Okavango Delta. The chapter left the war’s European fronts in motion and the Southwestern Army struggling with the delta’s swamps and mosquitoes.

• Archduke Albrecht ordered the Austro-Hungarian Army to attack Italy’s Isonzo River defensive line after learning that Karl had defeated Italian forces near Rome.
• Prussia began the Battle of Sedan with over 200,000 troops against Napoleon III’s 120,000, while French reports described heavy bombardment, casualties, and Marshal MacMahon’s wounds.
• King Wilhelm I, Bismarck, and Moltke discussed the likely Prussian victory and Ernst’s plan to withdraw the Hechingen Brigade after Sedan.
• The Southwestern Army completed its mission at the Okavango Delta, where Karl and his soldiers complained about the swamp and swarms of mosquitoes.

After Italy’s defenses collapsed, Victor Emmanuel II ordered the defense of Florence against Austro-Hungarian forces, while Count Medina used a public supply donation to promote his patriotic image and brand. Ernst recalled the Hechingen Brigade after its losses in the war and arranged a burial near Hohenzollern Castle.

• The Austro-Hungarian Army broke through Italy’s second defensive line, forcing Italian troops to retreat into Venice.
• Victor Emmanuel II learned that Austro-Hungarian troops had defeated Italy’s attack on Rome and ordered border troops and local forces to gather at least 50,000 men to defend Florence.
• Count Medina offered supplies to France in a speech in Marseille, and city officials arranged for them to go directly to frontline soldiers under the citizens’ name.
• Leopold reported that the Hechingen Brigade had suffered more than 700 casualties, including 132 deaths, and Ernst ordered the brigade to return from the war.
• Ernst rejected further participation in the campaign and ordered a burial ground cleared near Hohenzollern Castle for the fallen soldiers.

At the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, Southern Army platoon commander Dehmel met German geographer Karl Mohr and learned about his research into the stone city. They debated whether Europeans, Arabs, or local Africans had built the ruins, leaving their origins unresolved.

• Dehmel and his deputy discussed why the natives had abandoned the stone city where the Southern Army had set up a supply station.
• Karl Mohr arrived with his Black servant, introduced himself as a German geographer, and explained that he had spent years surveying African ruins.
• Dehmel told Mohr that the Kingdom of East Africa had been established by the Hechingen Royal Family and that the region had only recently joined its territory.
• Mohr argued that the ruins showed European influence, while Dehmel maintained that local Africans or Arabs could have built them.
• Mohr rejected the idea that local Africans had constructed the ruins, citing their scale and the absence of a regional tradition of stone building.

Ernst considered the Great Zimbabwe Ruins and East Africa’s military expansion, while Italian forces regrouped in Venice after retreating from the Austro-Hungarian advance. The Venice city government agreed to take over civilian services during military control, a decision that also served the commercial interests of its deputy mayor, Leon.

• Ernst regarded the Great Zimbabwe Ruins as wonders built through strength and viewed their unknown origins as unimportant.
• Southern Army officers Habur and Linde discussed advancing to the Limpopo River, containing the Boers, and delaying any move against Mozambique to avoid benefiting the British.
• The Italian army concentrated 180,000 troops in and around Venice, where disorganized soldiers caused widespread public security problems.
• Venice deputy mayor Leon protested to General Raffaele Cadorna and agreed that the city government would manage food, water, and public order during military control.
• Leon concealed that he was one of Venice’s largest suppliers of salt and other goods, giving him a commercial stake in the arrangements.

Wilhelm von Tegetthoff led the strengthened Austro-Hungarian Navy toward the Italian fleet as war opened a new front at sea. In East Africa, Ferdinand selected Mkany on Pemba Island as the site of the kingdom’s second naval base.

• Wilhelm von Tegetthoff rallied the Austro-Hungarian fleet and ordered the ironclad Lissa toward Italian warships spotted to the northwest.
• The Italian Navy, weakened by budget cuts and caught before its planned expansion, received a report that the Austro-Hungarian fleet was approaching.
• Ferdinand inspected Jishui City with mayor Leander and learned that Pemba Island’s population had been repatriated, leaving ports and clove fields largely unattended.
• Leander recommended the vacant port of Mkany, and Ferdinand chose it as East Africa’s second naval base.

The Austro-Hungarian and Italian navies fought in the Adriatic Sea as Wilhelm von Tegetthoff used flexible column maneuvers to encircle the Italian fleet. The Italian commander faced defeat and began choosing surrender over fighting to the death.

• Constantin assigned more than two thousand immigrants to restore Mkany as a military harbor.
• The Austro-Hungarian and Italian fleets exchanged fire, with Austro-Hungarian gunnery proving more accurate.
• Wilhelm von Tegetthoff split the Austro-Hungarian fleet into three columns and outmaneuvered the Italians’ V-shaped formation.
• The Austro-Hungarian columns encircled the Italian fleet and attacked it from multiple sides.
• The Lissa and the Third Column charged into the Italian fleet while the Second Column rammed the Caesar.
• The Italian commander considered surrender after the Austro-Hungarian Navy’s Ferdinand rammed in from the left.

The Austro-Hungarian Navy won control of the Adriatic after the Caesar surrendered, while Venice’s leaders exploited wartime shortages and restrictions to profit from trapped residents. In Florence, Victor Emmanuel II reinforced the capital as Lieutenant General Karl’s expeditionary force ravaged the former Kingdom of Sardinia.

• The Caesar raised a white flag, and the remaining Italian ships surrendered; the Austro-Hungarian Navy rescued survivors after sinking three Italian capital ships.
• Fifty thousand troops prepared at Trieste to sail to Italy’s east coast and join Papal States forces in opening a third front.
• Ross raised flour prices in Venice and pressured citizens to buy supplies, while city elites divided the city into controlled districts and blamed martial law on General Raffaele Cadorna.
• Victor Emmanuel II’s government held Florence against Lieutenant General Karl’s attack until reinforcements arrived, then strengthened the city’s defenses.
• Lieutenant General Karl led the Austro-Hungarian expeditionary force into the former Kingdom of Sardinia, where it destroyed factories and disrupted cities while Italy hesitated to pull troops from Florence.

The Kingdom of East Africa’s army reached the Limpopo River and claimed the land west of it as East African territory. After Backhausen crossed to speak with the soldiers, he returned to Vincent with news of the new German-led power and its claim to a heavily guarded border.

• Jacob and Staff Officer Boer discussed the Limpopo River, the Boer republics, and East Africa’s intelligence ties among German immigrants.
• Vincent sent Backhausen across the river to identify the riders he believed were Prussian soldiers.
• Jacob told Backhausen that the soldiers belonged to the Kingdom of East Africa and that the land west of the Limpopo River was now its territory.
• Backhausen returned to Vincent and reported East Africa’s claim and its assertion that tens of thousands of troops guarded the river.

Vincent and Backhausen assessed the East African Army’s strength after encountering it near the Limpopo River, and Vincent reported the force to the Transvaal government. East Africa completed its border deployments, leaving the Boers wary and the possibility of future conflict with Portugal unresolved.

• Vincent calmed down after Backhausen explained that East African troops would not trouble the Boers unless they crossed the river.
• Backhausen urged Vincent to report the encounter, warning that East Africa’s standing army and troop numbers far exceeded the Transvaal’s forces.
• Vincent concluded that the East African claims of tens of thousands of troops were likely true and reported the army’s appearance near the Crocodile and Limpopo Rivers to the government.
• Other Boers near the Limpopo River also reported seeing East African troops, prompting the Transvaal leadership to assess the unfamiliar kingdom as a powerful threat.
• East Africa completed its deployment of more than fifteen thousand troops along the Limpopo and over ten thousand on the Mozambique border, blocking further Portuguese and Boer expansion into the interior.

As East Africa’s Northern Army advanced across the Azande Plateau, displaced kingdoms negotiated to surrender their lands and migrate west. Chief Romrom led Burundi onward after Rhodes warned him to avoid other armed colonizers.

• Rhodes and West discussed how the Eight Northwestern Kingdoms had fled west, including Buganda’s resettlement near Lake Chad and the disappearance of its crown prince.
• Romrom thanked Rhodes and West for their treatment of Burundi as his people passed through the East African outpost.
• Rhodes advised Romrom to keep heading west and turn northwest if he encountered armed outsiders, warning that West African colonizers might be dangerous.
• Romrom explained that Burundi had agreed to yield its land to East Africa in exchange for time to migrate, and he set out with his people toward the northwest.
• The narrator noted that Burundi, Rwanda, and Buganda would become West African countries, potentially changing their histories.

Yalman reported that East Africa’s southern and northern fronts had largely concluded and its western advance was nearing the Kuango River basin. Meanwhile, Austria-Hungary divided Italy and restored Naples as Ernst persuaded Franz to use the war to transfer hundreds of thousands of Venetians to East Africa for industrial labor.

• Yalman told Constantin that the southern and northern fronts had nearly finished and the western front was approaching the Kuango River basin.
• Austro-Hungarian troops landed on Italy’s east coast and, with Papal forces, cut the country in half, isolating Naples and Sicily from the north.
• Francesco II led a restorationist rebellion in Naples, and Austria-Hungary moved to restore the Kingdom of Naples.
• Ernst urged Franz to seize Venice, relocate its Italian population, and settle German soldiers there to strengthen Austria’s hold on the region.
• Ernst offered to bring about four hundred thousand Venetians to East Africa to work in textile mills, while also providing labor for other industries such as shipbuilding.

Merke told Msiri that the Yeke Kingdom would be relocated from the Kwilu River to Cameroon, more than three thousand kilometers away, and described the route and conditions there. Msiri accepted the move and learned that he could continue trading with East Africa after settling.

• Merke marked the Kwilu River as East Africa’s final border and promised Msiri relocation arrangements and tobacco and liquor.
• Merke showed Msiri a route from the Kwilu River east to Lake Tanganyika, north through Bujumbura and East Africa’s northern territories, and west to Cameroon.
• Msiri was alarmed by the journey’s length, but Merke said Cameroon’s environment was similar and its local forces were weak.
• Merke explained that East Africa was relocating Msiri’s people to clear local natives and that Msiri could rule independently in Cameroon.
• Msiri asked how his kingdom could obtain East African goods, and Merke said caravans could trade at the border.

After the Third Conquest War ended, Ernst planned to develop East Africa’s Somali provinces through cash crops and livestock, especially bananas. He explained to Tom why Somalia’s river valleys and ports made it a strong base for exporting bananas to Europe and the Middle East.

• Ernst reviewed maps of East Africa’s Northern Province and Juba Province and designated Somalia for frankincense, myrrh, livestock, cotton, and banana production.
• Ernst told Tom to find European agricultural experts skilled in banana cultivation and gather professional materials on growing bananas.
• Tom questioned whether Somalia’s desert climate could support bananas, and Ernst pointed to the Shebelle and Juba Rivers as sources of irrigation.
• Ernst explained that Somalia’s proximity to Mogadishu Port and the Suez Canal would give its bananas an advantage in European and Middle Eastern markets.
• Ernst said East Africa would compete with American and Atlantic-coast producers by targeting Central and Eastern Europe, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Constantin visited the construction site of Bagamoyo Shipyard and learned how it would expand East Africa’s shipbuilding capacity while relying on imported machinery and components. The chapter also revealed Ernst’s plan to use Venice’s industrial relocation and demographic changes to weaken Italian culture in Venice and Austria’s Adriatic territories.

• Belster explained to Constantin why East Africa had sited Bagamoyo Shipyard outside its major free ports and described the site’s advantages.
• Constantin asked whether the shipyard would make East African seagoing shipbuilding independent, and Belster said it would initially build hulls but depend on imported propulsion systems and components.
• Belster explained that Bagamoyo would use Venice Shipyard’s phased-out equipment as Venice upgraded, giving East Africa a foundation for a future shipbuilding industry.
• Ernst planned to move Italian shipyard workers to East Africa and bring Austrian Germans to Venice, while encouraging demographic and educational changes to reduce Italian influence.
• Ernst also intended to weaken Italian culture along the Adriatic by isolating Venice from the countryside, though the chapter noted that the plan depended on future political circumstances.