Chapter Summaries

After Russia blamed the Ottoman Government for deliberately creating the plague on the Asia Minor Peninsula, Franz ordered emergency containment and launched a European propaganda campaign against the Ottomans. Public accusations then spread to Britain, leaving Gladstone under pressure over the British Government’s past ties to Ottoman leaders.

• Wessenberg informed Franz that Russia had confirmed the Ottoman Government had deliberately manufactured the plague, and Franz ordered rat extermination, poison shipments, troop isolation, and border closures.
• Franz chose to reveal the outbreak publicly and directed officials to link the Ottomans to the Black Death while publicizing Austria’s prevention efforts and criticizing Britain.
• Austrian propaganda and European newspapers blamed the Ottoman Empire for the Black Death, and the public accepted the accusations without anyone defending the Ottomans.
• Gladstone ordered the arrest and handover of Ottoman leaders in Britain after public anger rose over the British Government’s sheltering of them.
• European and British newspapers accused Gladstone’s Government of conspiring with the Ottomans to spread plague, and he feared the accusations would destroy his government if the outbreak worsened.

The United Kingdom tried to distance itself from the Ottoman Empire after evidence linked the Ottomans to manufacturing a plague, while Austria and Russia struggled to contain the rapidly spreading disease. Franz and Alexander III responded to mounting infections by mobilizing European support and seeking scarce medicine, leaving the epidemic’s spread and consequences unresolved.

• Gladstone ordered British medical volunteers and supplies sent to the Near East, offered a naval blockade, and authorized arrests of Ottoman refugees suspected of manufacturing the plague.
• Franz judged that blaming Britain would not hold and focused on securing cooperation against the epidemic.
• Feslav reported that Austrian infections had risen to two thousand and Russian infections to at least thirty-five thousand, with a reported 13.2 percent mortality rate among infected Russian soldiers.
• Franz ordered Austria to publicize the mortality rate, identify rats as the source of transmission, and request four hundred thousand tons of rat poison from Europe.
• Alexander III learned that Russian infections had exceeded fifty thousand and more than three thousand soldiers had died, while Oscar Jimenez said Austria had promised only twenty thousand doses of its scarce antibiotic.

A devastating plague spread through the Russian Army and the Near East, leaving Marshal Ivanov short of medicine and unable to withdraw his infected soldiers. Franz approved burning Ankara to eradicate the rats, and by the epidemic’s end, fires had consumed twenty-three cities.

• Marshal Ivanov learned that only 5,318 doses of medicine had arrived for more than fifty thousand sick Russian soldiers and asked the government to buy more.
• Albrecht proposed burning cities with fuel oil to kill rats, and Marshal Ivanov and Scheller Eberly pledged fuel on behalf of Russia and Britain.
• Prime Minister Felix reported that Austria’s fuel supplies were insufficient, so Franz ordered the government to use its strategic reserves to destroy Ankara first.
• Ankara burned, and the epidemic prevention headquarters went on to burn nearby cities and distribute rat poison throughout 1884.
• By the time the epidemic ended, twenty-three cities had been burned.

In 1885, Franz allowed private Austrian colonial groups to exploit the Mahdi Uprising in French Sudan while avoiding direct government involvement. As the rebels advanced toward Egypt, Napoleon IV ordered French forces to suppress them and vowed to settle the suspected foreign interference later.

• Colonial Minister Stephen informed Franz that rebels in French Sudan had seized Wadi Halfa and were advancing toward Egypt.
• Franz allowed private colonial teams to act against the French so long as Austria's colonial government was not involved, and suggested letting the British test the rebels.
• Napoleon IV received reports that rebel weapons had come from British and Austrian colonial territories, though France lacked evidence of government involvement.
• Napoleon IV ordered the Governor-General of Egypt to send troops and prevent the rebels from reaching the Egyptian heartland.

Governor Friedrich sent Austrian military academy graduates to train by stirring up the Mahdist rebels against the French, with Oscar von Hutier commanding the operation. The officers received limited equipment and freedom to act, while Friedrich used the mission to make his mark without implicating the Austrian Government.

• Governor Friedrich warned the volunteers that they would lose their active-duty status until they returned alive and urged them to prioritize survival.
• Friedrich appointed Oscar von Hutier commander and assigned the officers to use the Mahdist rebels to cause trouble for the French.
• Friedrich explained that the mission was a battlefield training exercise, gave each officer equipment for one infantry regiment, and allowed them to decide how to use it.
• Friedrich called Erich von Falkenhayn, Potiorek, Steinhausenburg, and other officers from Austria and North Germany.
• Friedrich described how he had gathered limited resources from African governors and planned the operation to undermine France without involving active-duty soldiers.

Mahdi welcomed an Austrian military mission but refused to hand it command of his entire rebel army, instead offering it newly absorbed troops. Huthier and the other officers recognized the rebels’ weaknesses and planned to disrupt French rule, while Potiorek joked about capturing Cairo and becoming a general.

• Mahdi welcomed the Austrian military mission despite his followers’ doubts, reasoning that Austrian aid was worth accepting while he remained wary of Austrian ambitions.
• Mahdi refused to give the Austrians control of the whole rebel army and offered them command of newly absorbed units instead.
• Huthier told the Austrian officers that the rebel leadership was divided and that they would receive only an unreliable force to command.
• Falkenhayn identified the British plan to push the rebels toward the Suez Canal, while the Austrian officers focused on damaging the French-built Nile River Delta.
• Potiorek joked that capturing Cairo could make him a future commander, and Steinhausenburg challenged him to earn a promotion by accomplishing it.

The British and Austrian advisers offered competing plans for the Mahdi rebellion, while Mahdi chose the British proposal to flood the Nile Delta despite its civilian cost. After a tense exchange with Huthier, Mahdi assigned the Austrians to train the poorly equipped Eighth Division, and Huthier agreed to find weapons for it.

• Potiorek and Huthier judged that the rebel army was too disorganized for conventional tactics, and Huthier proposed sabotage against French interests.
• Lieutenant General Jarrett presented a plan to dam and release the Nile to drive the French from the Delta, and Mahdi accepted the civilian sacrifices it would cause.
• Mahdi withheld the plan from Huthier, angering him, then invited him to attend the coming military conference and explained why foreign support mattered to rebel morale.
• Mahdi asked Huthier to train and command the under-equipped Eighth Division, which had more than nine thousand men but only eight hundred rifles.
• Huthier accepted the assignment and said the Austrians could find a way to equip the division.

Napoleon IV faced pressure to reinforce the failing French campaign in Annam while the Egyptian rebellion threatened France’s most important colony. Meanwhile, Gladstone’s government debated how to answer Russian incursions into Central Asia and suspected Austria of manipulating the crises, but George reported that Britain’s support for the Egyptian rebels was already underway.

• Napoleon IV rejected Roy Vernon’s advice to stop sending reinforcements to Annam, but accepted Terence Bulkin’s proposal to pursue peace talks while France focused on Egypt.
• George told Gladstone that Russia had seized Central Asian territory and rejected Britain’s protests, while Hugh Childers warned that sanctions had failed.
• George proposed arming the Central Asian khanates, and Gladstone suspected someone was provoking a British-Russian clash.
• Gladstone ordered an investigation into possible Austrian involvement and asked about Britain’s Egyptian operation.
• George revealed that Lieutenant General Jarrett had given the rebels an operational plan and that British material aid had already arrived.

Franz rushed to Prime Minister Felix’s bedside after Felix collapsed, and realized Austria’s aging government might soon face a political reshuffle. In Egypt, Austrian officers judged the insurgents’ British-backed plan unlikely to work and considered conducting their own sabotage campaign against French interests.

• Franz left Vienna Palace after learning that Felix had fainted, then waited with nobles and officials while doctors treated the unconscious prime minister.
• Franz returned to the palace believing Felix would probably be unable to continue as prime minister and that Austria’s elderly officials made a political reshuffle likely.
• Governor Adolf led a 36,000-strong French and Egyptian force out of Cairo to suppress the rebellion as panic spread among the insurgents.
• Huthier criticized the rebels’ disunity and warned that they had not chosen where to block the Nile, while Falkenhayn noted that the dry season would limit the plan’s effects.
• Potiorek proposed splitting the Austrian Eighth Division from the rebels and raiding French plantations, even if the officers had to abandon their troops to escape.

Franz learned that Britain had secretly secured sweeping concessions from Persia, threatening Austrian and Russian interests. He approved the Foreign Ministry’s plan to expose the pact and join Russia in pressuring Persia to abandon it.

• Franz received news that Prime Minister Felix had awoken, though doctors still could not determine what had caused his coma.
• Wessenberg told Franz that Britain had secretly signed a loan-for-lease agreement giving it control over Persian tariffs, tobacco, railways, and other sectors.
• Franz and Wessenberg discussed how Britain’s agreement threatened Russian trade and influence, and why Britain might be retaliating over Central Asia.
• Wessenberg proposed exposing the secret pact and working with Russia to pressure Persia into abandoning it.
• Franz approved the Foreign Ministry’s plan.

Alexander III’s government discussed the Anglo-Persian treaty and feared Russia’s growing dependence on Austria, while mistaking Britain’s warning over Central Asia for a broader plot. In Egypt, Mahdi’s rebel army suffered heavy losses in an ambush against the French, and its allies urged further training.

• Alexander III and his ministers debated Britain’s secret treaty with Persia, and Oscar Jimenez proposed coordinating with Austria to undermine the British plan through negotiations with Persia.
• Alexander III worried that Russia’s reliance on Austrian loans and industrial standards made it increasingly dependent on Austria.
• On April 13, 1885, the Mahdi Rebel Army ambushed a French vanguard near Edfu but managed only a costly draw despite its numerical advantage.
• Mahdi rebuked Huthier and the rebel commanders after learning that their forces had failed to destroy the French vanguard.
• Lieutenant General Jarrett accepted the defeat and urged the British and Austrian representatives to retrain the rebel army before future battles.

Austrian officers doubted the British general’s ability to command the rebels as they planned to advance into Egypt, while Britain struggled to counter Russian and Austrian pressure on Persia. Russia, Austria, and Persia signed a free trade agreement before Britain could intervene.

• Huthier, Potiorek, and Falkenhayn criticized Jarrett and arranged to have compressed biscuits airdropped before their advance into Egypt.
• Jarrett told Mahdi that the rebels would stage a feigned attack on Ugsul rather than attempt to capture it.
• Gladstone ordered Britain to confront Russia over its moves in Central Asia and to disrupt the negotiations with Persia.
• On April 28, 1885, the Persian negotiator signed the Three-Nation Free Trade Agreement with Russia and Austria.

Austria continued relocating immigrants to the Near East while preserving grain policies that protected its agricultural interests and the Tsarist Government. After Prime Minister Felix suffered a serious illness, Franz visited him as Felix resigned, and the two discussed his lasting work toward German unification.

• The Vienna Government relocated 128,000 immigrants to the Near East in the first quarter as Austria maintained its grain policy and imported Russian grain for processing.
• A maid told Franz that Prime Minister Felix had suffered insufficient blood supply to the brain and presented his resignation letter.
• Franz visited Felix, recognized that the ailing prime minister had decided to leave office, and refrained from asking him to stay.
• Felix explained that he would not cling to his post when he could no longer perform its duties, despite his wish to witness German unification.
• Franz urged Felix to advise the German Unification Organization, and promised that the German regions would be unified before Felix's hundredth birthday.

After Austria’s smooth transfer of power disappointed France, Napoleon IV received news of a favorable treaty ending the Annam War, then learned that a flood had devastated the French pacification army in Egypt. He ordered the War Ministry to prepare a new campaign and send capable commanders, leaving the Egyptian rebellion unchecked for now.

• Franz appointed Finance Minister Karl as prime minister after Felix resigned, and Austria’s political transition proceeded smoothly.
• Foreign Minister Terence Bulkin told Napoleon IV that France had secured its goals in the Annam War treaty.
• Army Minister Ruskinia Hafiz reported that rebels had destroyed the Aswan Dam during the battle, leaving fewer than six thousand of the nearly forty thousand French-led troops back with their units.
• Napoleon IV condemned Governor Adolf’s defeat and ordered the War Ministry to devise a new suppression plan and send capable officers to Egypt.

The Austrian Eighth Division reached Ugsur and considered exploiting the Nile flood and the French garrison’s apparent absence to seize the city and disrupt French logistics. In Ugsur, Mayor Guxi Aolai received alarming news from Isna, leaving the city’s leaders bracing for a worsening crisis.

• Lieutenant Colonel Huthier ordered the exhausted Eighth Division to camp by the Nile and send scouts to learn what had happened upstream.
• Falkenhayn and Steinhausenburg speculated that Jarrett had used the dam attack and the division’s position to trap retreating French forces, while Huthier urged them to focus on their mission.
• Major Potiorek pointed out that Ugsur’s garrison had not attacked, and Falkenhayn proposed testing whether the city was undefended before seizing it.
• The Eighth Division’s officers concluded that their weak force would need to swell its ranks by recruiting people as it moved through Egypt.
• Mayor Guxi Aolai and Police Chief Anthony arranged Ugsur’s defenses and requested reinforcements from nearby cities.
• A telegraph operator brought an urgent message from Isna, and Guxi Aolai collapsed in alarm before telling Anthony that bad news had arrived from the front.

After the rebels defeated the French by destroying the Aswan Dam, their commanders fought over casualties and British weapons while Lieutenant General Jarrett pushed them to pursue the routed enemy. Meanwhile, Huthier learned that the French army had been devastated by the flood and halted the attack on Ugsul to plan a new campaign against it.

• Rebel leaders accused Mahdi of destroying the Aswan Dam without warning them, and Mahdi defended the decision as necessary to defeat the French.
• Lieutenant General Jarrett offered 30,000 rifles and ammunition, but Mahdi and Rethins argued over how many rifles the Second Division should receive.
• Jarrett ended the dispute by ordering the rebels to pursue the French and allocate resources according to battlefield gains.
• Huthier watched the rebels assault Ugsul and argued that they should avoid wasting troops on the city.
• Steinhausenburg reported that the flood had nearly destroyed Adolf's French suppression army, and Huthier ordered the siege stopped and an emergency military conference called.

After France’s defeat in Egypt, European newspapers mocked the country and Napoleon IV faced public protests and pressure to send reinforcements. He approved a cautious troop deployment and demanded retaliation against the United Kingdom and Austria, but his ministers warned that France lacked a viable opportunity to strike back.

• The Vienna Daily published an exaggerated account of France’s defeat, and European countries joined in mocking and isolating the French.
• French newspapers publicized Lieutenant General Jarrett’s role in the Battle of Aswan, while Victor Hugo condemned the United Kingdom and Austria in an article.
• Angry crowds protested in Paris and blamed Napoleon IV’s government for appointing Adolf, whom the public branded incompetent.
• War Minister Ruskinia Hafiz told Napoleon IV that troops would need at least a month to launch an offensive in Egypt, and Napoleon approved the plan while urging haste.
• Napoleon IV called for retaliation against the United Kingdom and Austria, but Foreign Minister Terence Bulkin urged caution because France lacked a promising way to strike back.

Napoleon IV’s government considered how to retaliate against England and Austria, and Economic Minister Elsa proposed state-backed African farms to make France self-sufficient in grain and pressure Austria’s economy. The plan gained support when it was reframed as a way to protect French farmers and secure food supplies, though its international effects remained a concern.

• Napoleon IV rejected proposals to expand French influence in Burma and support the Republic of Colombia, saying France needed a more substantial display of strength.
• Economic Minister Elsa proposed the Africa Farm Plan, which would use state funds to grow grain in Africa and potentially drive down international prices, hurting Austria and Russia.
• Finance Minister Roy Vernon warned that African grain production would cost more than European production and could drain French finances while harming French farmers.
• Napoleon IV initially dismissed grain dumping as self-destructive, but Elsa argued that the plan could secure France’s food supply while tariffs protected domestic farmers.
• Napoleon IV warmed to the proposal, seeing that grain self-sufficiency could protect French farmers and put economic pressure on Austria and Russia.

The Eighth Division prepared to block Adolf’s French force, but the French withdrew some troops through the Sahara while Adolf stayed behind to cover them. The rebel counterattack drove the remaining French away, though the Eighth Division’s undisciplined pursuit left its Austrian commanders shaken.

• Huthier canceled the ambush after scouts reported that the French had detected the Eighth Division and were camped thirty li away.
• Huthier ordered the Eighth Division to intercept the French and prepare to strip nearby settlements if the French entered the Sahara.
• Adolf left the French-descended soldiers to cross the desert while he remained with the Egyptian troops to hold back the rebels.
• After the rebels counterattacked, Adolf ordered his troops to retreat east toward Guseil when he realized the enemy had seen through their ruse.
• Steinhausenburg’s probing counterattack became an uncontrolled assault, and rebel soldiers chased the fleeing French without orders.
• The rebel soldiers returned with captured heads, leaving Huthier and the other Austrian officers disturbed and Falkenhayn lamenting that the main French force had escaped.

The Egyptian rebellion weakened France’s cotton supply and triggered a market crisis, while Lieutenant General Jarrett tried to steer the divided rebels toward Cairo. In Paris, Napoleon IV’s ministers debated how to ease the economic crisis and reverse France’s trade deficit, leaving food self-sufficiency in North Africa as their proposed solution.

• Huthier and the Eighth Division halted their pursuit of the Egyptians, recruited heavily, and advanced along the Nile while destroying plantations and enlisting enslaved people.
• Rethins led his troops toward the River Valley Plain, and Mahdi joined the scramble for territory as the rebel alliance fractured.
• Lieutenant General Jarrett urged the rebel leaders to capture Cairo and hoped they would later threaten the Suez Canal.
• The Egyptian battlefield setback sent Paris textile stocks and the broader market plunging, while international cotton prices surged.
• Napoleon IV questioned Minister of Economy Elsa about the crisis, and Elsa proposed easing cotton imports and providing low-interest loans.
• Roy Vernon warned that France’s foreign-exchange reserves were dangerously low, and Elsa advocated government-led food production in North Africa to reduce imports and address the trade deficit.