Recaps

Franz maneuvered through Maximilian I’s removal from Mexico, the unraveling Russo-Austrian alliance, and a European grain-price collapse. The arc ended with Austria confronting Poland and weighing intervention in Greece as a way to secure new advantages.

• William I approved Prussia’s plan to prepare for war and strengthen its railways, while Alexandrovich arrived in London to seek a British loan.
• Alexandrovich rejected McLean’s free-trade proposal, and Franz responded to Russia’s overtures by allowing the Russo-Austrian alliance to deteriorate and considering cooperation with Prussia.
• After Maximilian I refused to flee Mexico, Feren took him to the Austrian Embassy, where Compton sheltered him as Juárez’s government surrounded the building and Austria prepared to intervene.
• Austria used the deaths of Austrian soldiers to demand compensation and Maximilian I’s restoration or 12 million Divine Shield, then occupied Mexican territory after Juárez rejected its demands and died in the embassy.
• Franz withdrew Austrian forces from Mexico while retaining occupied southern territories, then arranged Maximilian I’s return to Vienna.
• Alexander II accepted harsh British loan terms, and Austria countered the resulting threat to its grain market by releasing reserves, cutting taxes, and promoting land-fallowing measures.
• The grain glut deepened after the harvest, European governments adopted protectionist policies, and Britain halted and then renegotiated its grain transaction with Russia.
• Franz demanded that Poland suppress anti-Austrian activity before Christmas, then began exploring a Wittelsbach claim to Greece’s vacant throne and the expansion of Greek cotton production.

Franz maneuvered Austria into a war with the Ottoman Empire while using the Balkan uprisings and Europe’s rivalries to advance Austrian interests. As Russian forces landed at Ava and Napoleon III died, Prussia prepared to annex Poland and Poland’s government faced mounting pressure to restore a king.

• Dąbrowski accepted Austria’s demands for an apology and tariff concessions but suppressed anti-Austrian protests after leaked details of a clerk’s death sparked demonstrations.
• Franz pursued new strategies for Austrian influence, approved a plan involving the Rhineland, and explored cooperation with Prussia against Poland and Russia.
• Russia and Austria agreed to attack the Ottoman Empire, while uprisings in Greece and Bulgaria complicated the powers’ calculations and exposed a tangled arms network.
• After rejecting a religious justification for war, Franz severed ties with the Ottoman Empire and approved a campaign that paired Austrian naval and air power with Russian ground forces.
• Austrian airships destroyed Ottoman coastal artillery at Ava, and Russian troops landed there on April 18, 1874, but concealed Ottoman defenses inflicted heavy casualties.
• Napoleon III died after warning Eugène to beware Britain and Austria, while Franz told Wessenberg to continue Austria’s plans amid France’s power transition.
• William I ordered Prussia to move toward annexing Poland before negotiating with other powers, as Polish protests led Dąbrowski to conclude the government could delay no longer.

Russia invaded Poland while Austria and Russia continued their war against the Ottoman Empire, and European negotiations tied recognition of William I’s Polish kingship to Prussia relinquishing the Rhineland. The German Federal Empire bought the Rhineland, while Franz announced plans for a larger Ottoman offensive to pressure Britain and France into mediation.

• Russian troops massacred Ava’s remaining population, and General Ivanov ordered the news concealed while Austria handled European diplomacy.
• Austria captured Kuwait as Russian forces seized the Bosphorus Strait and Austrian forces surrounded Jerusalem.
• Dąbrowski mobilized Poland against a Russian ultimatum, but Kyiv fell and he concluded that Prussia and Russia had secretly agreed to divide Poland.
• Franz maintained Austrian neutrality over Poland and approved additional supplies for Russia to prevent Prussia from becoming too powerful.
• Franz countered Britain’s diplomatic maneuvering by encouraging Belgium to bid for the Rhineland and publicly supporting its acquisition by the German Federal Empire.
• William I accepted the Rhineland’s sale, and Andrea imposed martial law to organize an evacuation despite local resistance.
• The German Federal Empire bought the Rhineland for 152 million Pound Sterling with British and Austrian loans, and Prussia used most of the proceeds to repay debt.
• Britain, France, and Austria coordinated a Russo-Polish ceasefire, and Franz ordered publicity for plans to send 500,000 troops against the Ottoman Empire to accelerate mediation.

The Near East War ended with Austria gaining Jerusalem, but the Ottoman Empire’s collapse and refugee crisis triggered massacres and rivalry among the great powers. As Britain, France, and Austria negotiated their spheres of influence, Franz watched Japan’s expansion into Korea and waited for Europe’s next conflict.

• Abdulaziz I learned Austria planned to send another 500,000 troops, while Marquis McLean urged Britain to preserve the Ottoman Empire and Hummel rejected peace proposals.
• Austria and the Ottoman Empire negotiated a ceasefire and treaty, while Russia continued demanding territory and reparations, and the Near East Treaty ended the war and gave Austria Jerusalem and the Arabian Peninsula.
• Franz arranged a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he learned the Young Ottomans had deposed Abdulaziz I and ordered Austria to guide any Ottoman breakup through its own framework.
• Midhat and the Young Ottomans faced an overwhelming food shortage and directed refugees toward Persia, while Ottoman soldiers disguised as refugees attacked Persian guards and more than a million people crossed the border.
• Franz ordered captured Ottoman refugees sent to labor in the Arabian Peninsula, while Persia’s campaign against the refugees devastated the country and Russia threatened to kill anyone crossing its border.
• Shendierke ordered refugees returning to the Ottoman border to kill one another for a chance to survive, while Franz rejected direct intervention in Armenia and chose to secretly support its independence movement.
• Britain, France, and Austria negotiated spheres of influence in Vienna as the Ottoman-Persian crisis continued, while Prussia agreed to complete the Rhineland handover and remain neutral.
• Midhat received Britain’s first war loan and considered constitutional reforms to curb Abdul Hamid II, while Japanese forces defeated Korean resistance at Ganghwa Island and Franz ordered ministers to monitor Japan’s opening for expansion.