Recaps

After Spain pacified its colonial rebellions, Prime Minister Antonio planned to recruit French mercenaries and their families while arranging for the rest to return under the Carlos Government. In Russia, Nicholas II grew angry at the mounting casualties and persistent French resistance, and Sergei Witte could give him no estimate for ending the campaign.

• The Spanish Government negotiated peace with its colonial rebels but faced the cost of retaining more than two hundred thousand French mercenaries.
• Antonio learned that about one-fifth of the mercenaries would immigrate with their families and directed officials to recruit them while letting the others return to France.
• Foreign Minister Junior proposed handing the remaining mercenaries to the exiled Carlos Government to avoid alienating the new immigrants or provoking Russia.
• Nicholas II complained about the need for reinforcements as Russian casualties rose and French resistance continued.
• Sergei Witte explained that the frontline troops had sent five hundred thousand laborers home and blamed British support for prolonging the resistance.
• Nicholas II demanded to know when the French resistance would be crushed, and Sergei Witte could not answer.

Friedrich reviewed the navy’s shipbuilding proposal and worried that funding it would trigger an expensive arms race with Britain and undermine his chance to build a record as Crown Prince. Castagni argued that naval expansion would prepare the Holy Roman Empire to replace Britain as maritime hegemon, but Friedrich decided there was no need to provoke an Anglo-Russian War before the Central Asian Railway opened.

• As the Emperor took a long holiday, Friedrich assumed authority over the government’s budget allocations while departments prepared to compete for next year’s funds.
• Friedrich questioned the Naval Minister, Castagni, about the purpose of the navy’s plan to build more warships.
• Friedrich recognized that expanding the fleet would require greater military spending, risk a naval arms race with Britain, and frustrate his plans to earn public achievements.
• Castagni argued that the navy should prepare for the Holy Roman Empire to take Britain’s maritime hegemony after Russia helped drain British strength in a future Anglo-Russian War.
• Friedrich considered the proposal but concluded that the government should wait until the Central Asian Railway opened in two years before provoking a conflict.

Castagni proposed an experimental all-heavy-gun battleship that could help the Holy Roman Empire close the naval gap with Britain, and Friedrich considered the costly plan. He withheld approval until the cabinet deliberated, wary that a successful design could trigger an unprecedented arms race.

• The Holy Roman Empire Navy struggled to win funding as its budget stagnated while Britain’s naval spending continued to grow.
• Castagni presented Friedrich with an experimental battleship design that replaced mixed artillery with all-heavy-gun armament and promised three times the firepower of a conventional battleship.
• Friedrich questioned whether the design could work, and Castagni admitted its success was uncertain but argued that it had the potential to overwhelm opponents.
• Friedrich kept the proposal and expressed no objection in principle, but postponed the decision until the cabinet deliberated over the cost of more than four million Divine Shield.

Franz returned to Vienna Palace and assessed Friedrich’s handling of the Empire’s affairs, then questioned him about competing plans to challenge British naval power. Friedrich favored caution about an expensive battleship race, while Franz dismissed the Air Force’s bomber strategy and leaned toward the all-big-gun battleship plan.

• Franz returned to Vienna Palace in October and considered the political risks of the ongoing budget allocation and Friedrich’s position as heir.
• Friedrich reported on his work, and Franz was satisfied that he had kept the Empire operating normally in peacetime.
• Franz asked Friedrich what he thought of the Navy Ministry’s all-big-gun battleship plan.
• Friedrich warned that a naval arms race could exhaust both the Empire and Britain, benefiting the United States and Russia, and argued that the Empire needed to retain strength to inherit Britain’s position.
• Franz criticized the Air Force’s Terminator Plan as costly and unreliable, and considered the battleship plan a better way to erase the Royal Navy’s existing advantage.

The Holy Roman Empire advanced its experimental All-Big-Gun Battleship program while keeping its specifications quiet. At a diplomatic ball, Spain offered to sell the Morocco Region, and Wessenberg began negotiating its price, leaving the proposed sum at 300 million Divine Shields.

• Franz helped the Admiralty’s All-Big-Gun Battleship program pass, with the first ship scheduled to be laid down in February 1898 and launched in 1899.
• Wessenberg told Brad that the Holy Roman Empire had no government plan to take Morocco, but Brad said Spain intended to sell the region because it could not afford to maintain it.
• Wessenberg said Morocco’s weak Spanish control required a discounted price and suggested Spain occupy the region before negotiating.
• Brad argued that Morocco posed no meaningful obstacle to the Holy Roman Empire and asked for 300 million Divine Shields.

Wessenberg and Brad negotiated Spain’s proposed sale of Morocco, with the Holy Roman Empire pressing Spain to establish control before it paid the full price. In London, Robert Cecil decided Britain would oppose the deal and try to make the acquisition costly for Vienna.

• Brad argued that Morocco’s strategic and political value justified Spain’s demand of 300 million Divine Shields.
• Wessenberg countered that Spain would receive the full price only after crushing the Kingdom of Morocco and establishing order, otherwise offering 30 million Divine Shields.
• Robert Cecil learned Spain planned to sell Morocco, and Cameron explained Spain’s financial troubles and weak control over the region.
• Flora and Skybrew warned that Morocco in Holy Roman Empire hands would threaten Britain’s Mediterranean position, while Skybrew cautioned that holding it would require a huge army.
• Robert Cecil ordered the Foreign Office to tell Spain Britain wanted to buy Morocco and to spread claims that Vienna was coercing Spain, pressuring the Holy Roman Empire through public opinion.

Franz explained the strategic importance of acquiring the Morocco Region and dismissed his son Friedrich’s request for help with the British interference and domestic lobbying. Friedrich was left to decide how to handle the negotiations and the competing claims to the territory.

• Franz argued that taking Morocco would let the Holy Roman Empire secure the Mediterranean’s western gateway and gain the initiative against Britain.
• Friedrich told Franz that Britain was accusing the Empire of coercing Spain and was urging Spain to retain control of Morocco.
• Franz predicted that Britain had another move planned and warned that it might encourage a revolution in Spain.
• Friedrich explained that British pressure had stalled negotiations and that public committees were lobbying to fund a private acquisition of Morocco for their own benefit.
• Franz offered Friedrich only encouragement, leaving him to determine how the territory’s benefits would be distributed if the Empire obtained it.
• Friedrich realized they had not secured Morocco yet and watched the children by the lake, envying their carefree childhood.

The Holy Roman Empire signed an agreement to buy the Morocco Region from Spain for 180 million Divine Shield, mostly offsetting Spain’s debts, and private forces rushed to claim land there. The deal fueled celebrations and revived the name “the Second Roman Empire,” while Russian Minister Molos bristled at Britain’s Leandro in Vienna.

• On June 6, 1898, Wessenberg and Spanish representatives signed the Morocco Sovereignty Transaction Agreement, with the purchase price largely offset against Spain’s debts.
• Private armed forces gathered in Algeria Province, and several groups attacked the Morocco Region as nobles and minor state rulers sought fiefs and influence.
• Franz left the allocation of Morocco’s spoils and the coming cabinet reshuffle to Friedrich, who faced pressure from ambitious nobles and powerful ministers.
• European media celebrated the deal, popularizing the name “the Second Roman Empire” as citizens across the Holy Roman Empire held festivities.
• Leandro invited Molos to tour Vienna’s celebrations, and Molos resented the British minister’s attempt to engage him amid the rivalry over Rome’s legacy.

The Central Asian Railway’s main line opened, fueling Russian enthusiasm for marching into India and intensifying tensions with Britain. Nicholas II postponed the southern strategy until the branch lines could support military logistics, leaving the pro-war faction temporarily restrained.

• Molos sent Saint Petersburg an angry account of the Vienna Government’s perceived insult, and Nicholas II grew more determined to break free of the Holy Roman Empire.
• The Central Asian Railway’s main line opened on June 16, 1899, and Russian public enthusiasm for marching into India surged.
• Sergei Witte and Mikhailovich opposed the southern strategy, citing the risks of war with Britain, inadequate railway logistics, and the possibility of a British-Austrian compromise.
• Yevgeny argued that Russia needed to strengthen itself by pursuing the southern strategy as its western and eastern options became less useful.
• Nicholas II ordered the military to avoid clashes with Britain and used the unfinished branch railways to delay action and contain the pro-war faction.

Friedrich’s attempt to provoke an Anglo-Russian war failed to change either government’s calculations, and he turned his attention to other plans. In Trieste, Emperor Franz attended the launch of the Holy Roman Empire’s first Dreadnought and named it Rome.

• The British and Russian governments avoided war because neither saw enough benefit to justify the risks, while Friedrich accepted the failed provocation as only an initial probe.
• Du Chengen returned to his inn with his crew rather than join the crowds watching the harbor, and he explained that he had come to Trieste to buy a ten-thousand-ton cargo ship.
• Lao Cole and innkeeper James invited Du Chengen to watch the battleship launch, but Du Chengen declined and James mentioned the five-Divine-Shield viewing fee.
• Franz attended the Dreadnought launch, declined to board the unfinished ship, and asked Friedrich what it should be called.
• Franz chose the name Rome after rejecting Friedrich’s suggestion to name the ship after the Holy Roman Empire.

British leaders debated the threat posed by the Holy Roman Empire’s newly launched Roma battleship and a rumored mass-bomber plan, while the Navy and Air Force argued over priorities. Robert Cecil ordered them to prepare targeted plans and seek military funding from Parliament themselves.

• Robert Cecil asked Flora for intelligence on the Roma, and Flora reported that it appeared to carry twelve large guns, heavier armor, and possibly high speed.
• Weizsäcker warned the cabinet that the Vienna Government’s Terminator Plan could use more than a thousand bombers to strike British ports and the British Isles.
• Flora dismissed the bombing plan as difficult to coordinate and vulnerable to fighters and anti-aircraft defenses, and said the Roma’s true capability would soon be clear.
• Robert Cecil stopped the military chiefs’ argument and told them to prepare for the Holy Roman Empire’s actions and pursue funding through Parliament.
• Skybrew was left without a convincing case for Army funding because Parliament doubted Britain could defend British Africa and no longer feared a Russian advance on India.

The Army, Navy, and Air Force competed for increased military funding as each presented a plan to challenge British power. Franz ended the debate for the day and demanded more responsible proposals, leaving the Vienna Government to weigh costly strategies and the Army’s strong public support.

• The Admiralty proposed building twenty-five Rome-like super-battleships within five years, but the estimated cost of at least 100 million Divine Shield raised questions about the plan’s affordability.
• Castagni and Conrad argued that the Navy and Air Force needed more resources to confront Britain, while Feslav defended the Army’s share and proposed invading India through Persia.
• The chapter described France’s devastation after the war and argued that the Holy Roman Empire faced no serious land threat from either France or Russia.
• Franz let the military branches argue over new funding while the Army, Navy, and Air Force advanced their India Plan, Super Battleship Plan, and Terminator Plan.
• Franz ended the meeting and told the ministers to return with more thorough proposals, mindful that the Army had greater public support than the Navy or Air Force.
• Franz considered how control of the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar could shape a war with Britain, while the Army’s India strategy could involve Russia and a separate advance through Afghanistan.

Franz explained to Friedrich why the military’s rival proposals would have to be balanced rather than choosing a single winner, then contained the fallout from the Roma’s poor seaworthiness. The navy’s super battleship program was cut back, while the Roma began a Mediterranean publicity tour intended to spur British naval spending.

• Franz told Friedrich that the army’s influence meant it could not be defeated in the funding struggle, so the three services would have to compromise and cooperate.
• After the Roma’s poor ability to withstand wind and waves became known, Franz ordered its defects suppressed and restricted the ship to Mediterranean service.
• The Admiralty’s plan to build twenty-five super battleships in five years was reduced to five ships after officials refused to risk producing a fleet of flawed vessels.
• The Roma toured Mediterranean countries and took part in joint exercises, including displays alongside the newly independent Italian States’ small destroyers.
• Franz used the publicity surrounding the Roma to encourage British naval rearmament, expecting Britain’s larger fleet to make its modernization losses far greater.

Franz oversaw the Holy Roman Empire’s government transition while discussing the naval rivalry with Britain and the future of France with Friedrich. He left Friedrich to choose the new Cabinet and urged him to weaken France through political means rather than partitioning it again.

• Britain and the Holy Roman Empire announced restrained shipbuilding plans while other nations avoided joining their naval arms race.
• The aging Vienna Government cabinet prepared to step down, and Franz left Crown Prince Friedrich to select its replacement ministers.
• Franz warned Friedrich that Russia would likely withdraw its troops from France as the Siberian Railway gained enough laborers.
• Franz instructed Friedrich to spread anti-war sentiment in France and maintain restrictions so France could not rebuild its military strength.
• Friedrich asked whether they would partition France again, and Franz rejected the idea because it would unite French resentment against the Holy Roman Empire and weaken the Anti-French Alliance.

Franz sent his sons to govern overseas colonies, prompting Russian leaders to debate whether the appointments signaled an imperial power grab. Nicholas II decided Russia needed to obstruct the Holy Roman Empire, but his ministers disagreed over withdrawing troops from France and warned that doing so could ruin Russia’s diplomatic standing.

• Franz dispatched his two sons to overseas colonies as governors to build their political influence and secure local authority.
• Nicholas II and his ministers considered whether the appointments meant Franz planned to divide the empire, grant his sons fiefs, or strengthen control ahead of the rivalry with Britain.
• The Russian leaders concluded that the appointments could threaten Russia and Nicholas II asked how they could stop them without interfering in the Holy Roman Empire’s internal affairs.
• Sergei Witte proposed withdrawing Russian troops from France to create trouble for the Holy Roman Empire, while Mikhailovich warned that withdrawal would damage Russia’s standing in the Anti-French Alliance.
• Nicholas II recognized that Russia needed a valid reason to leave France or risk isolation and the loss of international trade.

The Russian Empire used the Far Eastern Empire’s bellicose declaration as a pretext to declare war and withdraw most of its troops from France. Britain hoped to exploit Russia’s eastward campaign to weaken the Russo-Austrian Alliance, while Franz rejected British involvement and sought to delay the Russian withdrawal long enough to organize a peacekeeping force.

• The Tsarist Government declared war on the Far Eastern Empire and announced that it would transfer 220,000 troops out of France.
• Franz rejected the invitation to join the war and ordered Leo Frankel to delay the Russian withdrawal from France by two months.
• Robert Cecil welcomed the crisis in the Far East as a chance to reduce pressure on Britain and eventually draw Russia away from the Holy Roman Empire.
• Cameron urged Britain to let Russia taste early success and involve Japan, while Pavel argued that Vienna would eventually suppress Russian expansion.
• Cameron told Robert Cecil that Britain’s possible American allies were too weak to provide major support and that the United States and Confederate States were too hostile to court together.

Prime Minister Campbell confronted Britain’s worsening trade deficit, declining industry, unemployment, and social unrest after taking office. His cabinet debated protectionism and reform, but the chapter left the government weighing how to protect the market without triggering damaging retaliation.

• Franz chose to watch Britain’s diplomatic maneuvering rather than compete for overseas allies, while the Holy Roman Empire’s economic rivalry with Britain intensified.
• Henry Campbell-Bannerman took office after the Conservatives lost the 1902 election and discovered that Britain’s economic and social problems were worse than he had expected.
• Lloyd George reported falling exports, a growing trade deficit, and the Pound Sterling’s declining role in international trade as Holy Roman goods outcompeted British products.
• Burns described rising unemployment, labor disputes, strikes, and protests as domestic industries struggled to survive.
• Herbert Henry Asquith argued that tax cuts and export subsidies could not solve Britain’s problems without innovation, while domestic capitalists demanded trade barriers.
• Campbell acknowledged that reform was unavoidable and began weighing market protection against the risk of retaliation and damage to trade.

Friedrich presented Franz with a plan to build a major steel center in the Ruhr, but Franz warned that Britain might soon withdraw from free trade and trigger an economic crisis. He approved the project only if it proceeded gradually and urged the cabinet to prepare for trade barriers within two years.

• Friedrich presented the cabinet’s economic plan to develop the Ruhr Industrial Region as a western industrial center.
• Franz warned that a ten-million-ton steel center could become dangerously oversized if Britain’s reforms led it to abandon free trade and provoke an economic crisis.
• Franz said Britain’s debates over free trade were intensifying and predicted that Campbell’s government might withdraw from the system within two years.
• Franz told Friedrich that the Ruhr project could proceed in phases and advised the government to prepare for British trade barriers.

Friedrich considered how to counter British efforts to undermine free trade while the Holy Roman Empire prepared for a struggle for hegemony. When the United States sought permission to excavate the Panama Canal in exchange for backing Vienna, he agreed to grant it under restrictive conditions, using the project to pressure the Confederate States and hedge against the Americans switching sides.

• Friedrich weighed the risks of intervening in Britain's internal conflict and recognized that British campaigns against dumping and the Holy Roman Empire threatened free trade.
• Frankel told Friedrich that the United States had requested the right to excavate the Panama Canal and hinted that it would support Vienna in the coming struggle for hegemony if granted the Canal Zone.
• Friedrich rejected the idea of paying the United States for its support, citing its conflicting interests and reputation as a potential turncoat.
• Chandler urged Friedrich to engage with the United States to pressure the Confederate States, which had expanded into northern Mexico.
• Friedrich agreed to let the United States excavate the canal under restrictive conditions and planned to reclaim it if the Americans backed Britain.

British manufacturers McCall and Byron struggled against Austrian competition and blamed free trade for their industries’ decline. At a banquet, they agreed that Britain should abandon the Free Trade Agreement and protect its market with tariffs.

• Britain’s reform stalled amid parliamentary conflict, while domestic machinery and automobile industries lost ground to foreign competitors.
• McCall sought government support for his machine-tool company and shifted from championing free trade to advocating trade barriers.
• At Petel Manor, McCall met automobile manufacturer Byron, who described layoffs and losses caused by Austrian cars.
• McCall urged Byron to blame the Free Trade Agreement and promote tariffs, and Byron agreed that Britain should end the treaty.

British Prime Minister Campbell faced domestic deadlock over economic and political reforms while weighing international crises, including tensions between Russia and Japan. In Vienna, Franz dismissed fears that the Siberian Railway would make Russia unstoppable and concluded that Britain was steering the conflict eastward.

• Campbell’s reform proposals met fierce conservative opposition, while industrial interests split over free trade and agricultural guilds began wavering toward tariff protection.
• Foreign Minister Adam Wingard briefed Campbell on setbacks in Venezuela, Washington’s agreement with Vienna over the Panama Canal, and rising Russo-Japanese tensions; Campbell ordered closer attention to Washington and said Britain would let Russia and Japan’s hostility deepen.
• Franz learned that the Siberian Railway was progressing quickly and that more than 250,000 French laborers had died building it.
• Friedrich warned that the railway could enable Russia’s eastward advance, but Franz argued its single-track capacity would hamper wartime logistics and suspected Britain had helped the Americans build it to provoke a conflict.

Nicholas II and his ministers debated how to respond to Japan and the risks surrounding Russia’s eastward expansion, while the Japanese Government feared a war with Russia. The chapter ended with Japan’s civilian leaders still firmly opposed to war in the near term.

• Nicholas II grew furious over the Russo-Japanese conflict, but Sergei Witte persuaded him to delay retaliation until the Siberian Railway opened.
• Sergei Witte proposed using Russia’s setback in the Far East to repair relations with Austria and mislead other countries about Russia’s ambitions.
• Mikhailovich told Nicholas II that Russia’s investigation had uncovered British involvement in the American-backed Siberian Railway project and suggested Britain had lured Russia east to ease pressure on India.
• Nicholas II suspected Britain had ulterior motives and ordered greater caution toward the Far East.
• The Japanese Government panicked over the prospect of facing Russia, while Hirobumi Ito’s civilian political bloc continued to oppose war in the near term.

Japanese officials debated whether the Russian Empire would risk war amid rising anti-Japanese sentiment, while Russia’s embassy in Japan faced an increasingly violent protest. As stones began flying at the embassy, an unseen gunman prepared to target a protest leader.

• Inoue Kaoru warned Emperor Meiji and the Japanese officials that Russian hostility was increasing and that Japan’s international position was weak.
• Hirobumi Ito argued that Russia had little strategic reason or logistical capacity to wage war, while Okuma Shigenobu cautioned that Russian rulers often made irrational decisions.
• The Japanese and Russian governments sought to avoid war, but anti-Russian protests in Japan and anti-Japanese sentiment in Russia continued to grow.
• Minister Vtoriak ordered the Russian Embassy staff to report the situation and press Japan to disperse the protesters, while stones began breaking the embassy’s windows.
• A hidden gunman aimed at the protesters and ordered someone holding a flag to be shot after their identity was confirmed.

A mob stormed the Russian Embassy district in Japan, triggering a diplomatic crisis that reached Franz and Nicholas II. While Franz suspected Japanese militarists had helped provoke the attack, the Russian leadership chose to delay retaliation until it could prepare for war.

• After a gunshot set off the crowd, protesters broke into the Russian Embassy district while nearby Japanese police avoided intervening.
• Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu learned that the embassy had been stormed and feared casualties would provoke international condemnation and a Russian response.
• Franz received news of the assault and suggested that military budget cuts and the recent Far East conflict may have fueled Japanese extremists.
• Franz warned Friedrich that Japan might start a war before Russia completed the Siberian Railway, rather than wait for Russia to be ready.
• Nicholas II convened an overnight meeting after learning that the Russian Embassy in Tokyo had lost contact.
• Count Sergei Witte and Pobedonostsev urged Nicholas II to postpone military action and prepare thoroughly before striking Japan.

After the massacre at the Russian Embassy triggered international condemnation, Japan’s leaders debated how to contain the diplomatic crisis and whether to prepare for war with Russia. Emperor Meiji ordered an investigation into the hidden organizers, while suspicion increasingly fell on the military.

• Foreign diplomats condemned the embassy attack, pressed military police to open the sealed scene, and demanded an explanation from Japan.
• Emperor Meiji rebuked Kodama Gentaro’s proposed cover story and learned that the massacre had killed dozens of Russian embassy staff.
• Inoue Kaoru reported diplomatic notes from eleven countries, while Okuma Shigenobu and Kodama Gentaro acknowledged they had no evidence to identify the mastermind.
• Yamagata Aritomo urged Japan to prepare for war with Russia and accept possible sanctions, but Hirobumi Ito argued that Japan needed more time and must uncover the plotter.
• Emperor Meiji ordered arrests of the demonstration’s organizers, an investigation into their backers, tighter school controls, the outlawing of illegal groups, and stronger security around the embassy district.