Recaps

France’s push for agricultural self-sufficiency threatened Russia’s grain exports and drove rival powers into new economic and military maneuvers. As anti-Semitic persecution spread and exposed corruption among Austrian officials, Franz created a task force to investigate the capitalists and their protectors.

• Franz ordered Austria to make Britain believe France’s agricultural plan threatened Austria, while Karl urged using the crisis to reshape the grain market.
• France publicized its large-farm plan, and Russia feared the loss of its export market as Britain considered its own food self-sufficiency measures.
• Franz focused on developing Iraq’s oil fields, while Austria and France maneuvered to keep Russia from shifting toward the other power.
• Huthier’s rebel forces continued guerrilla attacks in Egypt, but their army fractured after Mahdi’s death and Jarrett prepared to flee into British Africa.
• Napoleon IV ordered costly reconstruction and famine relief in Egypt, then faced a financial crisis as governments investigated Jewish financiers and anti-Semitism spread.
• Franz ordered Austria to enforce the law while protecting jobs, then demanded investigations into implicated capitalists and officials as Count Wites and Ledes plotted to silence prisoners.
• Alexander III seized Jewish assets, collected Austrian warships, and moved more Cossacks into Central Asia, while Gladstone approved Britain’s food self-sufficiency plan.
• Jewish representatives debated how to protect Austrian prisoners as Ledes feared exposure, and Franz established a special task force to investigate the capitalists and powerful officials tied to them.

Austria and Russia maneuvered against Britain as Austria’s purge gave way to a European arms race and the struggle over Afghanistan. Britain invaded Afghanistan, while Franz prepared Austrian support and rival powers negotiated alliances ahead of a broader conflict.

• Count Wites and the Austrian investigators prosecuted officials, capitalists, and their associates, while Friedrich and Franz agreed to use the purge against proven criminals without letting Wites’s group reach senior power.
• Austria executed or exiled thousands and confiscated assets, prompting European debate and an arms race as Britain, France, and Austria expanded their naval plans.
• Franz proposed provoking an Anglo-Afghan conflict, and Redmond helped secure a Russo-Afghan treaty and supply Afghanistan with Austrian rifles.
• After Walters was assassinated, Britain debated responsibility and war, while Gladstone decided to continue the arms race and consider declaring war on Afghanistan before its forces were ready.
• Britain and France negotiated an alliance as Austria courted Belgium and other states, and Franz accepted Belgium’s secret support and transit terms in the event of a French invasion.
• On March 26, 1888, British Indian divisions invaded Afghanistan, and Franz canceled airdrops but ordered Austrian Africa to build up supplies and Austria to increase arms production.
• Napoleon IV reopened coal-price talks with Britain, while British coal interests proposed lower French tariffs in exchange for reduced prices.
• General Okinets demanded supplies for the front, and Minister Argente ordered them dispatched after Passel revealed that military trains were already serving powerful capitalists.

Austria and France maneuvered to weaken Britain and Russia as tensions escalated into war, while Russia invaded Afghanistan and British forces struggled against both Russian troops and guerrillas. The arc left the fighting centered on Herat, with Russia’s allies pursuing their own aims and Afghan resistance wary of becoming dependent on Russia.

• Brittany accepted Iksil’s offer of wagons, laborers, and trucks for the Moscow-bound shipment after learning that military trains were reserved for the front.
• Franz approved loans for Russia and ordered Austria to encourage a British-Russian conflict, while France pressured Belgium and Germany over coal and Austria rallied support for them.
• European boycotts and accusations deepened the dispute between France and Austria, while Britain’s losses against Afghan resistance pushed Gladstone to prepare for war with Russia.
• Alexander III rejected Britain’s account of White’s death and prepared for war, while Franz steered Austria away from the crisis and helped redirect public attention toward Britain’s opium trade.
• Russia declared war on Britain on September 21, 1889, and launched its offensive three days later as Gladstone ordered a major expansion of British forces.
• Russian troops captured Andkhoy after the British Ninth Division’s defenses collapsed, while Napoleon IV secretly offered Russia financing to pursue Herat or the Wakhan Corridor.
• Alexander III sought to exploit French and Austrian support while preserving Russia’s alliance with them until the Afghan campaign neared its end.
• A British supply convoy was ambushed by Afghan guerrillas, who wounded Jack, killed guards and laborers, and destroyed carts before the survivors reached Takar Town.

France and Austria maneuvered Europe into a war that began with France’s invasion of Belgium and Luxembourg. As the fighting spread, Vittorio Emanuele III escaped British custody and secured Austrian backing for Sardinian independence, while the French army faced growing difficulties.

• Rosario urged Britain to undermine Russian support and provoke a continental war, while George warned that France or Austria might become Europe’s new hegemon.
• Franz prepared Austria for war as France’s financial crisis deepened, and Napoleon IV’s government backed the Central European Strategy despite warnings about Austria and the risk of other powers intervening.
• Austria built an anti-French alliance, restricted France’s access to grain and supplies, and mobilized its forces as France demanded that Belgium answer for the deaths and abduction of French soldiers.
• France declared war on Belgium and invaded Belgium and Luxembourg on September 29, 1890, beginning the Continental War, while Austria and Britain mobilized and Belgium awaited reinforcements.
• Vittorio Emanuele III escaped British custody aboard the Fulda and reached the Netherlands, then went to Vienna and signed the Austro-Sardinian Accord with Wessenberg.
• Vittorio Emanuele III urged General Morkes to advance toward Turin, but Austria kept its plans secret while the Sardinians struggled to maintain their intelligence network and the French considered how to counterattack.