Recaps

Poland adopted a new Constitution as Russia and conservative nobles prepared to undermine it, while French economic reforms and secret diplomacy reshaped conflicts in Britain, the Caribbean, and the United States. Joseph secured church land for sugar beet cultivation, and Walter Berlant headed toward an unexplained operation in Munich.

• The Great Sejm passed Poland’s Constitution, while Potocki began organizing conservative opposition and Kościuszko’s Winged Hussars defeated Serbian forces in Slavonia.
• Stanisław II persuaded Catherine II that Poland’s Constitution and military buildup posed no threat, as Potemkin urged Catherine to prepare for war.
• Demu Weier joined the Leisure and helped expand the Puls Gang’s smuggling network, which enriched French trade but contributed to London’s gas-lighting collapse and financial crisis.
• Pitt the Younger secured George III’s approval to stabilize London’s banks and shield Herbert from prosecution, while Joseph’s ministers reported France’s growing industrial and agricultural production.
• Auge and Brisot arranged Saint-Domingue’s abolition, while Booker’s rebels sailed to Georgia and launched attacks on plantations and Savannah.
• Joseph used the crisis over Booker’s rebellion to draw the United States toward an alliance with France, as Auriol prepared an uprising in Jamaica and Potemkin plotted against Poland.
• Potocki’s allies formed the Targowica Confederation, but Polish authorities arrested and purged their supporters as British Ambassador Jason helped Potocki escape.
• After Camellia and Perna spoke openly about their feelings for Joseph, he negotiated a contract for 40,000 hectares of church land and hurried to finalize the plan, while Berlant set out for an operation in Munich.

Joseph used loans, military displays, and secret agreements to block British influence and resist Austria’s tariff demands, while France intervened in Caribbean rebellions and advanced new steamship technology. The arc left Poland facing a likely invasion and Joseph summoning Prince Poniatowski to Paris as he prepared for the country’s possible partition.

• Grenville used Bavarian protests against French imports to build support for renegotiating the Rhine-Seine River Treaty, but Joseph secured enough opposition to Britain’s entry through loans and a show of French military strength.
• Brand’s British forces drove Auriol’s rebels from Jamaica, while Louverture and Liddington captured Nassau after routing Strauss’s troops.
• Booker’s rebellion collapsed after Wayne’s forces and Altamaha warriors defeated his army, and Joseph planned to publicize the massacre while Caribbean territories declared independence.
• Joseph demonstrated the Mediterranean Light’s superiority over a galley and battleship, then funded Jouffroy’s plans for a paddle-wheel steamship and shipyard.
• After Leopold II’s death, Franz II rejected tariff compromises, imposed a tougher policy toward France, and struggled with Austria’s growing debt as British-backed efforts to foment unrest in Wallonia failed.
• Joseph answered Austria’s tariff demands with a secret agreement in Modena and a French military exercise that provoked panic among Kaim’s returning Austrian troops, weakening support among Italian states for higher tariffs.
• William II urged Franz II to acquire Lesser Poland as part of a secret territorial division agreed with Catherine II, while Sieyès warned Prince Poniatowski that Poland could face invasion by Russia and Prussia within six months.
• Joseph recalled France’s military advisers from Poland and summoned Prince Poniatowski and Polish officers to Paris, where Poniatowski arrived on May 15, 1792.

Joseph strengthened Poland, expanded French influence across the Caribbean and Ottoman Empire, and tested the Poroskafi in a river race. The arc ended as Russia invaded Poland and its defenders faced their first bombardment and assault.

• Joseph offered Prince Poniatowski French investment and military assistance, then presented a plan to defend Poland’s eastern provinces as Kościuszko volunteered to command the Central Route Army.
• French intervention in the Bahamas ended in defeat for Brand’s forces, while the new Caribbean republics formed an alliance and Auge became president of Saint-Domingue.
• Talleyrand negotiated French trade and military agreements with Selim III, who agreed to consider sending supplies to Poland through the Black Sea and Dnieper River.
• Joseph launched the Poroskafi, which won the Seine River Cargo Ship Race, and ordered Herio arrested after she pushed Camellia overboard.
• Joseph arranged for Mesmer to impersonate a Holy See envoy and spread a false call for a Holy War, while he prepared to defend Poland without openly sending French troops.
• Depue secured expanded local defenses and military training in Poland after brigands kidnapped him and Denise, while Mesmer’s false message helped mobilize Polish civilians into Crusader Legions.
• Russia declared war as Kościuszko and Dombrowski deployed Polish forces along the Mozyr line, and Russian bombardment struck the defenders and villages.
• Drasowicz and Krzysztof tried to help children caught in the bombardment, and Polish troops opened fire as Russian soldiers advanced on their breastwork.

Polish forces held key positions while Russia, Prussia, and Austria advanced, and Joseph used the sugar crisis to strengthen France’s influence and prepare for war. The stretch ended with volunteers and miners fighting to block Austrian cavalry as the defense of Kraków’s silver region remained in danger.

• Janik and the Polish defenders repelled repeated Russian attacks at Zagazke Village, then withdrew to Marecze after holding the Mozyr line longer than planned.
• Kościuszko led a Polish campaign into Russia while Prince Poniatowski remained to defend Marecze, and Morkov pursued the Polish army toward Kiev.
• Joseph opened the Paris Agricultural Products Futures Exchange, where Caribbean sugar shortages drove prices up and brought foreign merchants to trade in francs.
• Joseph ordered Claude Shap to develop faster Morse-code relay towers as France strengthened its army and assessed the threat of a British-led war.
• Toussaint Louverture helped the Saint-Domingue Resistance Army defeat weakened British forces, while Prussia invaded Poland and Danzig’s defenders prepared a bastion fort.
• Stanisław II rejected a proposed ceasefire after learning that Romilyov and the French Friend were defending Danzig, while volunteers marched to help defend Kraków.
• After five days of fighting, Makavsky led the miners from Chebinya toward Tarnowskie Góry, where they broke through Austrian lines and joined Major Ficot’s volunteers.
• Makavsky withdrew most miners as Ficot’s volunteers faced Austrian Hussar charges, and Herbert Schmitz was shot before Mort and Victor moved to counter the attack.