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Old 06-11-2018, 08:34 AM   #3341
Kymage
 
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Not sure how they could pull off invading Britain as none of them are naval powers and the Royal Navy is someone that keeps a very close eye on developments with other powers' navies. The Royal Navy would not be above paying a visit to a power that viewed as a threat, look at what they did to Denmark twenty years before.

A Transatlantic invasion? Even more unlikely. Most likely is attempts at internal subversion of the Anglo powers. Possibly an early Cold War set in the 1820s and 1830s.

Such a cold war could lead to centralization of powers in the Anglo powers which I suspect would suit Centrum just fine.

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Try this idea, in our world, the Holy Alliance was nasty but largely ineffectual. But in this Q6 world they have their act together, and that's not good. The local year is 1833, Britain has just passed the bill which will very slowly abolish slavery in the Carribean. Europe is still celebrating the Reform Bill of 1832 and radicals are demanding democracy now.

The Holy Alliance has decided that things are heading for a second French Revolution. They're planning to invade Britain, place someone reliable on the throne, and then the Holy Alliance means to invade the New World and force them into submission.

Centrum doesn't like Britain being invaded but having the USA snuffed out suits them. Homeline is trying to derail the whole project. Meanwhile, the Cabal is looking to see who they could take over from within during the crisis.

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Old 06-11-2018, 10:21 AM   #3342
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Clearly this calls for an Aerial Fleet of dirigibles. The earliest powered one flew in 1852, but an alternate timeline where a large European power is trying to find a way to build a fleet inland and fly troops over the Channel might adjust things.

Such a fleet would surely be only the initial wave, and soldiers would know that they must either produce a beachhead or perish upon British Bayonets. Even so, this invading force would be but the most visible innovation. Infiltrators in British ports the world over would sabotage them all in the days leading up to the invasion, providing no port of call safe for the British Fleet. Flying Fireships may also be used to attack British naval vessels, but that is probably a losing wager in the larger war.

A naval fleet would be needed, long-term, to secure logistics across the channel.

Alternatively, logistical submarines might be developed here.
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Old 06-11-2018, 10:37 AM   #3343
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Clearly this calls for an Aerial Fleet of dirigibles. The earliest powered one flew in 1852, but an alternate timeline where a large European power is trying to find a way to build a fleet inland and fly troops over the Channel might adjust things.
Sounds like an excellent plan to repeat the success of the Spanish Armada.

Seriously weather has thwarted so many invasion attempts it's not funny - it even made a good try at the last big one across the Channel in 1944 - trying this with experimental airships....

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Such a fleet would surely be only the initial wave, and soldiers would know that they must either produce a beachhead or perish upon British Bayonets.
Since a beachhead doesn't remove the British navy, I'm not sure how it helps.
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Old 06-11-2018, 10:41 AM   #3344
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What's France doing in all this? If France is a puppet of the three nations, England will have trouble stopping them. If France is an ally, Britain may be forced into a land war. So they stuck trying to keep France neutral as a sort of buffer state while desperately trying to maintain naval superiority. And if the three can open the ottoman ports, that's a good place to build up a navy as well.
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Old 06-11-2018, 11:44 AM   #3345
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Another point I thought of at lunch- If the Holy Alliance got to the point where it was aiming at completely controlling Europe, British Foreign Policy would go tilt. British Foreign Policy for years had been built on the premise that no Power or combination of Powers be allowed to gain Domination of Europe. Once it became clear what the Holy Alliance was up to, the British would start looking for counter weights. I suspect France and Spain would get British Support. Britain would also look at causing internal trouble for the HA, lots of nationalities in Central and Eastern Europe to choose from.

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Old 06-11-2018, 01:56 PM   #3346
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Another point I thought of at lunch- If the Holy Alliance got to the point where it was aiming at completely controlling Europe, British Foreign Policy would go tilt. British Foreign Policy for years had been built on the premise that no Power or combination of Powers be allowed to gain Domination of Europe. Once it became clear what the Holy Alliance was up to, the British would start looking for counter weights. I suspect France and Spain would get British Support. Britain would also look at causing internal trouble for the HA, lots of nationalities in Central and Eastern Europe to choose from.
If the Holy Alliance is going to seriously throw down with Britain they're going to need to get France on-side and probably make a technological breakthrough in naval warfare that renders Britain's navy obsolete so that that Britain's edge in numbers of hulls and experienced crew can be counterbalanced.
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Old 06-11-2018, 02:11 PM   #3347
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If the Holy Alliance is going to seriously throw down with Britain they're going to need to get France on-side and probably make a technological breakthrough in naval warfare that renders Britain's navy obsolete so that that Britain's edge in numbers of hulls and experienced crew can be counterbalanced.
Three great powers can probably build more ships than 1, even with the massive lead the UK has. The biggest problem is going to be concentrating the ships. The Russians have a notoriously hard time with their myriad disconnected sub-par ports, and the Austrians and Prussians are on opposite sides of Europe from each other as far as navies go.

I agree that you need to get France on board it you're going to invade Europe. Though the low countries are likely to be very useful at well. But Britain will start a war before things get that bad...

I like this war.
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Old 06-11-2018, 03:13 PM   #3348
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Not sure how they could pull off invading Britain as none of them are naval powers and the Royal Navy is someone that keeps a very close eye on developments with other powers' navies. The Royal Navy would not be above paying a visit to a power that viewed as a threat, look at what they did to Denmark twenty years before.

A Transatlantic invasion? Even more unlikely. Most likely is attempts at internal subversion of the Anglo powers. Possibly an early Cold War set in the 1820s and 1830s.

Such a cold war could lead to centralization of powers in the Anglo powers which I suspect would suit Centrum just fine.
An alliance of Russia, Austria, Prussia, Spain, and France, would have had the naval resources to challenge the Royal Navy. Britain's whole thing was keeping the continental split up and against each other. Remember, during the War of the American Revolution Britain had no allies and the continent was unified against them. It was the simple fact they were losing the naval war and an invasion was likely that made Britain seek peace. If an 1830s Britain faced a unified Europe that meant to conquer them, they'd either have to make peace or submit.

Britain loved to hype the Royal Navy, it discouraged their foes, but the Brits knew they had serious limits. Their Balance of Power politics were central to making sure the Royal Navy was supreme. In this scenario, Britain faces its worst nightmare, a Europe united to conquer them.
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Old 06-11-2018, 03:16 PM   #3349
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What's France doing in all this? If France is a puppet of the three nations, England will have trouble stopping them. If France is an ally, Britain may be forced into a land war. So they stuck trying to keep France neutral as a sort of buffer state while desperately trying to maintain naval superiority. And if the three can open the ottoman ports, that's a good place to build up a navy as well.
The French monarch in the early 1830s thought the Reform Bill of 1832 was a threat to his throne. He was, in fact, right about that. The French would join an anti-British alliance.
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Old 06-11-2018, 03:19 PM   #3350
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Another point I thought of at lunch- If the Holy Alliance got to the point where it was aiming at completely controlling Europe, British Foreign Policy would go tilt. British Foreign Policy for years had been built on the premise that no Power or combination of Powers be allowed to gain Domination of Europe. Once it became clear what the Holy Alliance was up to, the British would start looking for counter weights. I suspect France and Spain would get British Support. Britain would also look at causing internal trouble for the HA, lots of nationalities in Central and Eastern Europe to choose from.
The whole of this scenario is about the Holy Alliance getting its act together. You are completely right about why the Holy Alliance never got its act together in our world. This world handwaves that fact in order to create a dramatic crisis.
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