1856: The Southron Railway Company completes the Atlanta-New Orleans line, with it making stops in Montgomery, Jackson, and Baton Rouge. Lines to connect it to most other major Southron cities are already well under way, with Baltimore, DC, and Richmond connected so far and slowly moving toward the other lines.
The Polish Revolution continues to strengthen as the Poles seize Warsaw, thanks to Prussian weaponry and “volunteers”. The Poles greatest aid soon turns sour when the Russians capture several Prussian soldiers, forcing them to admit the Prussian government was supporting the Poles. With this news, the Russians are hard pressed to let the issue slide, and on March 3rd, the Tsar calls for war against Prussia, expanding the Polish Revolution into a grander scale of the Russo-Prussian War.
With the official declaration of war, the Prussians move there forces in quickly, forcing the Russians out of Poland, and declaring the territories part of the new Polish Imperium. Immediately afterword’s the new Polish state signs treaties of alliance and friendship with Prussia, effectively bringing Poland into the Prussians sphere of influence.
By August the Prussians have advanced deeply into Russian territory along the Baltics, creating a large amount of events to unfold, two of which are extremely important and inseparably linked; the admission of the Ottoman Empire against the Russians, and the Austrians coming in against the Ottomans and Prussians, fearing that a Prusso-Ottoman victory would lead to their boxing in and inevitably defeat in future wars.
With the two nations admission into the war, new fronts opened, namely the German Front, in which the Austrians were able to launch a surprise offensive, only to be beaten back and chased across the border by the 6th and 9th Armies. In the south the Ottomans are beaten back in the Caucasus by the Russians, actually losing ground due to the lack of proper training there. Meanwhile in Europe the Ottomans manage to take massive amounts of the Balkans, much of the Adriatic Sea and holding much territory in the southern lands of Hungary and Dalmatia.
In South America the Mapuche people are granted their own nation in Patagonia, allied with Chile.
1857: The War of Polish Evolution continues, with the Prussians marching on Vienna, defeating the main Austrian Army under Joseph Ferdinand, in which his retreat leads to unleashing of chaos and anarchy in northern Austria and Bohemia. Josephs ragtag forces withdraw to behind the city walls, while they wait for the Second and Third Armies to take the Prussians and pincer movement from the northwest and south.
The maneuver works, smashing and entrapping the Prussian force just outside of the Austrian capitol. The victory would have been more appreciated, had the Prussians not inflicted an enormous amount of casualties upon the enemy forces. Due to these blows, the occupation of Bohemia and Slovakia continue under the Kaisers yoke, so for now, an uneasy period of peace will be upon the region.
In the south, the Ottomans manage to rebuke the Russians, forcing them form Turkish soil, while the Balkans allow for an overpowering conquest of Wallachia and landing of a naval and marine force in Sevastopol, in which they manage to take the city thanks to Prussian naval assistance and some advisers, however after taking the city the supply lines are stretched and the assault is forced to halt.
The Prussian army in Russia links up with the Polish force, and begins to march north toward St Petersburg, halting in October in order to keep the army safe from the Russian winter.
1858: The Serfs, seeing the events as Poland rises into freedom, decide to take there own back, rising en masse in an unorganized effort, though those in the cities are better organized, although only within each city. Though resentment had been boiling for years in Russia, there had been no great diversion of the Crown to make a Revolution viable, and that all changed with the Prussian declaration of war. This “War of Liberation” will tear Romanov concentration from the war and force them to divert units to the cities to put down the rebels.
With the Russians in chaos, the Prussian force continues its drive toward St Petersburg, arriving in June, surrounding the city. Upon reaching the city, the soldiers are ordered to try and keep the city intact due to the cities great architecture, namely the Tsars palace and gardens. The Army waits outside the city until late August, when the commanding officer sends a man under a white flag into the city to offer terms. They were as follows:
“The Royal Family and all citizens and forces within the city will not be harmed so long as they act peacefully and do not resist the Prussian force The Russian government will agree to an armistice with Prussia, and negotiations will begin in St Petersburg though the ensuing treaty will be signed in Danzig. Poland will be recognized as its own independent nation. In return for accepting these terms Russian forces will be allowed to continue fighting the Serf Rebels, so long as they do not harm Prussian forces or citizens”
Upon hearing the terms, the reluctant but beaten Tsar Alexander II agrees and messages are sent to the Russian military calling for a ceasefire between Russia and Prussia, the Prusso-Russian War has ended.
With the Russians in frenzy, the Ottomans are saddened at the loss of Prussian support in the Crimea, though with the Russian military tied down suppressing rebels, the march is still a bit easier than before, and the peninsula is taken by July, with the main army completely taking out Wallachia and moving along the Black Sea coast to link up with the Army in the peninsula.
Austria is ejected from Ottoman soil, and forced into a retreat toward the mountains and hills, where a defensive line is established in order to entrap and bog down an invading Ottoman force, it does this handily as the 3rd and 7th Armies link up in Croatia, only to be smashed by the Austrian forces waiting there, causing them to withdraw and collect their wits.
The Prussians and Austrians continue a stable line in northern Bohemia and Hungary, as both are occupied elsewhere.
The Southron Railway Company completes several other major lines, becoming the largest amount of railway miles in North America owned by one company, surpassing those in the United States and Texas. Riding on his waves of profit, the company decides to expand, purchasing lines and land up in Texas and California, and plans are drawn up for the first transcontinental railway.
In South America, Ecuador becomes the Autonomous Republic of Ecuador, a part of Peru.
1859: The talks in St Petersburg commence, and as they drag out through April, a conclusion is finally arranged, with the Tsar being brought to Danzig, where he signs the Treaty, which states the following terms
“Russia will recognize the Polish Imperium as its own free state The Tsar will cede some land along the Baltic Sea, namely Estonia and Lithuania, though some land in Latvia as well, to the Prussian Empire. The Russian military, assuming they defeat the Serf Rebellion and end there war with Ottomans, is to demilitarize after the Revolutions defeat and a treaty is signed, to no more than 50,000 men.”
With the treaties signing, great celebration is heard throughout the newly recognized Polish Imperium, which, owing its freedom to their Prussian allies, and this begins to foster a friendly relation with the Germanic people of Prussia and those of Poland, a major event in European history.
The Prussians, now free of a second front, redirect there entire military force south against Austria, where the massive influx of battle hardened troops allows the Kaisers forces to defeat the Austrians outside Vienna and march triumphantly into the city, where the visit to Emperor Francis Joseph the First leads to him surrendering the nation to Prussia. The ensuing treaty signed in Munich calls for the cessation of Bohemia and vast tracts of land in northern Austria to Prussia, with some to be carved into puppets, as well as the Austrian withdraw from the rest of Germany. In return, the Prussian military will be represented with peace talks with the Ottomans, in order to mediate between the two parties.
An envoy from Prussia arrives in Constantinople offering to mediate between the Ottomans and Austria. The Emperor agrees on the terms that the talks are held within Ottoman territory, eventually Belgrade is agreed upon, and talks begin there, eventually culminating in the Treaty of Belgrade, forcing the Austrians from parts of the Adriatic, but not much else as the Prussians, not wanting an even larger Muslim behemoth in Europe, threaten intervention in order to get the Ottomans to agree to the terms, causing some bitterness between the two nations. With the treaties signing, the Prussian envoy speaks openly with the Turkish ambassador, stating “don’t forget, we left Russia open to your great armies, do with them as you wish and we will have no quarrels”.
Riding on there wave of victories, the Kaiser and diplomats manage to convince the North German states to unify with Prussia, forming the North German Confederation, with the capitol in Berlin, and the Kaiser taking the Confederations reigns.
Colombian and Peruvian settlers clash in the regions between the two nations that is currently unclaimed, leading to some tensions.