Chapter Summaries

Pitt the Younger urged Grenville to copy French reforms to address Britain’s financial and administrative problems, and Grenville began preparing reforms. Meanwhile, Archduke Karl withdrew most of his forces from Liegnitz to strike at Oberle as a larger Prussian army attacked the defense line.

• Pitt the Younger advised Grenville to cut spending by ending the French blockade and to raise revenue through taxes and expanded paper money.
• Pitt the Younger proposed French-inspired industrial, administrative, police, and transportation reforms, and Grenville recorded his suggestions.
• Three days later, Grenville summoned the Cabinet ministers to prepare reforms, while Pitt the Younger became a special adviser at 10 Downing Street.
• A messenger told Archduke Karl that Prussian vanguard troops were attacking the Liegnitz Defense Line and that Prince Hohenlohe’s main force had crossed the Oder River.
• Archduke Karl ordered the Argentau Legion to advance toward Oberle, leaving fewer than thirteen thousand defenders at Liegnitz while he led the veterans in an attack south of Breslau.

Archduke Karl’s Austrian forces surprised and annihilated Tauentzien’s Prussian corps while besieging Breslau Fortress and preparing to defend the Sudetes. After learning of the disaster, Prince Hohenlohe abandoned his plan to advance and decided to hold Liegnitz, leaving the next move to Ludwig.

• Austrian artillery attacked Breslau Fortress from the east, and its commander sent messengers to Prince Hohenlohe for help.
• Prince Hohenlohe told Scharnhorst that Breslau could hold and planned to capture Liegnitz before advancing toward Prague.
• Archduke Karl’s cavalry and infantry ambushed Tauentzien’s marching corps near the Oder River and routed it, leaving no intact unit of its twenty thousand soldiers.
• Archduke Karl ordered a pontoon bridge built and marched toward Hirschberg, then learned at Schweidnitz that Prussian troops were delayed in Liegnitz by looting.
• Prince Hohenlohe panicked at news of Tauentzien’s defeat but concluded that Prussia still held the advantage and should fortify Liegnitz.

Prince Hohenlohe’s attempt to relieve Glogau ended in a disastrous defeat, and he proposed an armistice as Prussia’s position in Silesia collapsed. Prince Heinrich returned to lead the government, but William II collapsed after learning that Prussia had no reinforcements to spare.

• After learning that the Austrians had attacked Glogau, Prince Hohenlohe abandoned his plan to advance into Austria and marched back to relieve the fortress.
• Archduke Karl ambushed the Prussians, divided their forces, and routed the Möllendorf Corps while Prince Hohenlohe returned to Liegnitz.
• Prince Hohenlohe proposed an armistice, prompting Wilhelmine to recall Prince Heinrich to take charge.
• Prince Heinrich sent Baron Friedrich to London for support and ordered Blücher to gather troops to defend Glogau.
• After Prince Heinrich told William II that Prussia had lost nearly forty thousand soldiers and had no reinforcements available, the King collapsed, and the imperial physician later shook his head.

Joseph oversaw the French Army’s successful Hot Air Balloon test and envisioned linking aerial reconnaissance with mobile Shap Semaphore stations to create an informatized army. Talleyrand then reported that William II had died after Prussian defeats in Silesia, leaving Joseph concerned that Austria would emerge stronger if Prussia sought peace.

• The Montgolfier Brothers demonstrated that their improved Hot Air Balloon could report enemy positions 2.2 kilometers away in less than two minutes, and Joseph urged them to shorten its setup and recovery times.
• Joseph recommended a Balloon Deployment Vehicle and alcohol fuel, then proposed a tender to spur the development of Kerosene refining.
• Joseph and Berthier’s staff discussed equipping divisions with Hot Air Balloons, and Joseph conceived mobile Shap Signal platforms linked to balloons and fixed towers.
• Joseph summoned the Staff Officers and outlined his plan to build an informatized French Army before postponing the meeting until the next day.
• Talleyrand told Joseph that William II had died after Karl Ludwig defeated Prussian forces in Silesia, that William III was being crowned, and that Prince Heinrich was steering Prussia toward peace.
• Joseph feared Prussia’s surrender would let Austria gain territory and restore its strength, increasing Austrian dominance in the German Territories.

Joseph and Talleyrand planned how France could keep Austria from defeating Prussia too decisively while preparing pressure through the Ottoman Empire. In Paris, three young men discussed their futures, with Danny Edmond de Chaumont declaring that he would join the army and Henry François de Rochefoucauld urging Pierre to go into business.

• Joseph told Talleyrand to support Austria while ensuring Prussia did not surrender on Austria's terms.
• Joseph warned that Austria might press into Prussia and advised sending someone secretly to Constantinople to urge the Ottoman Guard Corps to act.
• Joseph and Talleyrand discussed Germany's situation as they traveled through Paris toward Versailles Palace.
• Danny Edmond de Chaumont announced that he would join the army rather than retake the entrance examination.
• Henry François de Rochefoucauld rejected military academy, while Pierre encouraged him to go into business with him.

Chaumont received an interview notice from the Paris Army Officer Academy and was invited to become an Honor Representative. Meanwhile, Rochefoucauld sought the capital to become a local agent for Honeycomb Briquettes and approached James House Walsh about partnering.

• Pierre Janot de Potier declined an offer to do accounts, explaining that his work for Madam Lavesia suited him and supported his family.
• An officer interviewed Chaumont about his values and ambitions, then invited him to become an Honor Representative.
• Rochefoucauld failed to meet the 9,000-franc minimum to become an agent and lamented his lack of capital.
• Rochefoucauld overheard James House Walsh seeking wool supplies and realized they might be able to help each other.
• Rochefoucauld introduced himself to Walsh and pitched the opportunity to represent Honeycomb Briquettes in Saint-Antoine District.

Rochefoucauld persuaded Walsh to consider expanding the Honeycomb Briquette business, while Potier uncovered an Irish independence envoy carrying a letter for the Crown Prince and used Alexandra’s bakery drawing to reach her. In Vienna, Talleyrand asked Marshal Leo to help resist a faction seeking to surrender Silesia to Prussia.

• Rochefoucauld convinced Walsh that owning coal transport routes could make the Honeycomb Briquette business much more profitable, and Walsh invited him to discuss the plan.
• Potier discovered that Sylena was actually McCracken, an Irishman sent by the United Irishmen Association with a letter from Mr. Tone for the Crown Prince.
• After realizing McCracken could not safely approach the Crown Prince, Potier brought him to Alexandra’s bakery and asked Alexandra to hear his urgent diplomatic message.
• Talleyrand told Marshal Leo that Vienna needed him to counter a faction willing to give Silesia to Prussia.

Talleyrand persuaded Leo to reject an armistice until Austria had retaken Silesia, offering French loans, weapons, and diplomatic support in exchange for recognition of Spain’s sovereignty over the Iberian Peninsula. He also asked for the Wind Gun’s manufacturing technology, leaving Leo unsure whether Austria’s Military Committee would agree.

• Leo vowed that Liegnitz would never fall to Prussia, but Talleyrand urged him to seek Breslau, Glogau, and the rest of Silesia.
• Talleyrand argued that Prussia was too weak to resist and promised French loans, at least twenty thousand Flintlock Guns, and public recognition of Austria’s claim to Silesia.
• Leo agreed to advise the king to refuse an armistice until Austria recovered Silesia and accepted France’s request to recognize Spain’s sovereignty over the Iberian Peninsula.
• Talleyrand requested the Wind Gun’s manufacturing technology for the Crown Prince, and Leo said he could only ask the Military Committee, which prized the weapon.

Austria’s leaders debated whether to reform or press the war against Prussia, and Franz II appointed Marshal Leo to negotiate for Silesia. Facing Austria’s ultimatum and dwindling resources, William III sought English aid and considered Scharnhorst’s plan for universal conscription.

• Kobzl and Metternich urged Franz II to agree to a ceasefire and introduce reforms, while Leo argued that Austria should continue the war to recover Silesia.
• Leo warned Kobzl’s faction that people would condemn them for abandoning Silesia, and Franz II appointed Leo plenipotentiary envoy to negotiate with Prussia.
• Prince Heinrich told William III that Austria demanded nearly all of Silesia and threatened to attack Glogau unless Prussia answered within a week.
• William III and Prince Heinrich concluded that Prussia needed English aid and discussed threatening London with Prussia’s alliance obligations and its defense of Hanover.
• Prince Heinrich presented Scharnhorst’s proposal for universal conscription, brief recruit training, and promoting officers from the ranks.

Scharnhorst persuaded William III to begin universal conscription and recruit thirty thousand soldiers within a month. In Constantinople, French envoy d'Arson failed to persuade the Ottoman Guard Corps to attack Austria, but Muhammad Ali offered to help him harass Bucharest.

• Scharnhorst urged William III to reform the officer corps and require underqualified aristocratic officers to study at military academies.
• Scharnhorst and Prince Heinrich argued that literacy would improve the army, and William III agreed to discuss military academies later.
• The young staff officer presented a universal conscription plan, and William III ordered him to recruit at least thirty thousand soldiers within a month.
• D'Arson failed to persuade the Ottoman Guard Corps to send troops against Austria and returned to his lodging worried about Talleyrand's deadline.
• Muhammad Ali met D'Arson and offered to help him harass Bucharest.

D'Arson negotiated with Muhammad Ali to fund an Ottoman-led campaign that would destabilize Austria's southern territories, while Joseph oversaw France's first public tender for kerosene-refining equipment. The chapter ended as chemist Philip Lebon presented a promising technical proposal.

• Muhammad Ali offered to use his command in Greece and his Albanian connections to raise an army, asking D'Arson for one million Francs and as many Flintlock Guns as possible.
• D'Arson agreed to prepare guns, and Muhammad Ali arranged to meet him in Lezhë after departing for Greece in three days.
• Count Chaptal opened the kerosene-refining equipment tender in Paris and officials explained the new bidding rules and contract requirements.
• Joseph judged the first two factories' proposals technically inadequate as their representatives presented their bids.
• Philip Lebon described his factory's coal-tar distillation process, and Joseph became interested in the proposal.

Joseph reviewed bids for a kerosene refinery and discussed how company credit ratings had helped Lebon’s firm gain an advantage. Back at the palace, he met an Irish visitor connected to the United Irishmen Association, who brought a letter from its leader, Tone.

• Lebon demonstrated his kerosene-refining process and improved oil lamps, while La Rochelle United Company presented its competing technical plan.
• Joseph suggested that Lebon could also address technical problems at a dye factory, and Chaptal explained that Lebon’s firm was likely to win the bid because its Baa2 rating raised its score.
• Joseph said France should publicize the role of ratings and prepare the Genoa agency ahead of the Milan Stock Exchange’s opening.
• Alexandra brought Joseph Mr. McCracken, an Irishman representing the United Irishmen Association, and Mr. Potier, who had brought him to her.
• Joseph sent Alexandra away before asking the two men why they had come, and Potier presented a letter from Tone.

Joseph rejected McCracken’s plan for an Irish uprising and explained that the rebels could not defeat England through a poorly equipped revolt or French military aid. He urged the United Irishmen to weaken England from within and persuade more Irish people to join by promising economic benefits, leaving McCracken with a new strategy to take to Tone.

• McCracken told Joseph that the United Irishmen were preparing a revolution and expected to drive the English out of Ireland within months.
• Joseph warned that the Irish lacked training, weapons, supplies, and popular support, and that England’s fleet could blockade the island.
• McCracken asked France to support the uprising, but Joseph refused and explained that French forces would also be vulnerable to English naval blockades.
• Joseph advised the United Irishmen to use their access to English cities to disrupt England’s finances, production, and public opinion while strengthening their Resistance Army.
• Joseph told McCracken to persuade Irish villagers with promises of lower taxes, cheaper food, and greater profits from trade after independence.

Joseph helped McCracken plan Ireland’s resistance by building a secret force through local organizations and supplying it with weapons. He also negotiated with Muhammad Ali, who used French guns and cannon to assemble an Albanian army and marched toward southern Serbia.

• Joseph advised McCracken to recruit and train soldiers through rural patrols and other organizations, and promised French instructors and thirty thousand Flintlock Guns for Ireland.
• McCracken asked for Potier as the Irish liaison, and Lavalette appointed Potier to the Security Bureau as a Second Lieutenant.
• After receiving Constantinople’s terms, Joseph offered Muhammad Ali three hundred and fifty thousand Francs, twenty thousand Flintlock Guns, and eight cannon instead of one million Francs.
• In Lezhë, Muhammad Ali distributed the French weapons among Albanian warriors and trained them for a week.
• Muhammad Ali left the Ottoman Guard Corps behind and led his Albanian Army toward southern Serbia, attacking Serbian tribes along the way to gain combat experience and supplies.

Muhammad Ali’s looting forces destabilized Wallachia and drew Austrian troops away from Bucharest, which he then targeted. In London, Pitt the Younger and Grenville debated French refusal of a ceasefire and whether to fund Prussia, settling on a sugar-trade scheme to offset the cost.

• Muhammad Ali’s forces looted Romanian towns across Wallachia while sparing Phanariot nobles, and their ranks swelled with local recruits.
• Muhammad Ali withdrew with his strongest soldiers as Austrian forces split up to suppress unrest, then marched south along the Danube to attack lightly defended Bucharest.
• Fox told Grenville and Pitt the Younger that France had rejected a ceasefire agreement and demanded an unconditional end to the British naval blockade.
• Grenville proposed ending the blockade by citing the requests of countries trading with France.
• Fox reported Prince Heinrich’s request for 700,000 Pounds in aid against Austria in Silesia, and Pitt proposed using the money to secure cheap Prussian sugar and manipulate Paris futures prices.
• Grenville agreed to fund the aid by deducting it from the following year’s sugar subsidies.

Grenville secured parliamentary approval for several British reforms while failing to establish a National Anti-Corruption Agency. In Vienna, Talleyrand arrived to persuade Austria to stop fighting Prussia, then learned that Britain had already sent a mediator.

• Fox reported that Austrian forces had been diverted to restore order in Wallachia, and Grenville sent him to Vienna to seek a ceasefire.
• Grenville presented his reform proposals to Parliament, including a development fund, civil service examinations, and police reforms.
• Parliament passed the Government Investment Fund, Civil Service Examination System, and Police Reform bills, but rejected the National Anti-Corruption Agency bill.
• Talleyrand met Marshal Leo in Vienna and learned that Austrian setbacks, Prussian reinforcements, and shortages of French loans made continued fighting harder to sustain.
• Leo told Talleyrand that a British foreign minister had arrived to mediate, prompting Talleyrand to reconsider his plan.

Talleyrand used his network in Vienna to steer Austria’s debate over England’s proposed mediation of the Silesian war. As Fox offered Emperor Franz II a loan to win support, Schulmeister gathered Vienna’s pro-English, anti-French faction to back the mediation.

• Talleyrand abandoned plans to meet Franz II and sent reports to Paris before summoning Schulmeister after receiving new orders.
• Kobzl Jr., Stadion, Hoendorf, and Leo argued over whether Austria should accept English mediation, while Leo accused England of encouraging the Ottoman attack and aiding Prussia.
• Franz II ended the meeting without resolving the dispute, and Kobzl Jr. privately urged Fox to prove England’s sincerity with financial support.
• Fox agreed to seek a £300,000 loan for the Emperor in exchange for support for the mediation.
• Schulmeister brought Vienna’s pro-English, anti-French officials to Baron Walter’s estate, where Walter’s maternal cousin welcomed Fox’s mediation as a chance to weaken Kobzl’s faction.

Fox secured British loans and mediation to push Austria and Prussia toward border talks, but their negotiations stalled and led to more fighting before a spring 1795 compromise. Meanwhile, Muhammad Ali returned to Constantinople after suppressing the Greek rebellion and was rewarded for his actions in Wallachia.

• Walter and other pro-British officials promoted British mediation, while Stadion’s faction persuaded Franz II to exclude Britain from direct negotiations with Prussia.
• Fox agreed to keep Britain out of the talks while still lending Austria money after learning the Ottoman forces had withdrawn from Wallachia and the Argentau Legion would soon return to Silesia.
• William III agreed to return Liegnitz and cede land west of the Oder River, and Britain promised Prussia twelve Steam Automatic Looms and textile technology.
• Prussian and Austrian negotiators met at Erfurt, but their conflicting territorial demands led to two more battles at Glogau before they compromised in spring 1795.
• Muhammad Ali suppressed the Greek rebellion, returned to Constantinople, and received rewards after the Guard Corps clique defended his unauthorized campaign in Wallachia.

In Berlin, William III approved Scharnhorst’s plans to reorganize Prussia’s military and began considering Stein’s proposals for economic and social reform. In Vienna, Archduke Karl returned to cheers while Kobzl feared Austria’s limited gains had made Franz II dismiss the need for reform.

• Scharnhorst persuaded William III to establish military academies and a General Staff Headquarters, and William promoted him to Brigadier General and named him Chief of Staff.
• Scharnhorst proposed equipping the army with Percussion Cap Guns, adopting France’s army organization, and building Shap Signal Towers, unaware that France had already moved beyond those reforms.
• William III discussed abolishing trade guilds, easing factory restrictions, reforming taxation, and redeeming serfdom with Stein and Hardenberg.
• Stein proposed that serfs pay twenty-five years of rent and Corvée fees to redeem their land, then suggested ceding one-third of that land to their masters.
• Crowds in Vienna cheered Archduke Karl’s return, while Kobzl worried that Austria’s apparent victory had led Franz II to reject reform proposals twice.

Joseph learned that Britain had moved to occupy the Cape of Good Hope and weighed whether France could help resist the invasion. He concluded that direct support for the Boers would arrive too late, but began considering ways to arm local peoples and retaliate against Britain in the Netherlands.

• Gaudin reported that eight Rhineland companies had raised only 8.8 million francs, and Joseph criticized their publicity and ordered Mr. Scheller to visit Amsterdam.
• Lavalette told Joseph that Britain had decided to occupy the Cape of Good Hope and that East India Company warships were approaching.
• Joseph asked what support France could provide the Boers and learned that French agents had only a dozen spies and fewer than thirty Guns in the region.
• Joseph decided France could not save the Boers in time and considered arming the Xhosa and other local peoples to hinder Britain.
• Joseph spotted Gaudin and began considering how to retaliate against Britain in the Netherlands.