In 1873, Napoleon II suffered a stroke at the age of 63. While he survived, it did make the aging emperor truly realize his mortality, and that he might not have much longer to live. He planned that for the last war of his reign would be to fulfill his father’s destiny, to go and conquer Egypt in the name of France. He was too old to lead any sort of expedition into Egypt, and so he decided to let the popular Jean-Marie “Le Toulonnais” Lachance and the Armée des Alliés to lead the expedition.
Throughout the rest of 1873 and almost all of 1874, while Le Toulonnais was preparing for the expedition in Otranto (and a sub-commander, Karl von Eger, preparing in Tunis), Napoleon II had gone out to Warsaw to meet with Russian Emperor Alexander II (Nicholas I of Russia had died in 1860). Napoleon wanted to see if Russia would agree to invade Egypt with him (or, at the very least, secure Russian neutrality in the war). In return of Russian intervention on the side of France, the Russian puppet of the Patriarchies would be expanded to have more of the Egyptian Holy Land, including the city of Alexandria. While promises of holy lands would have captivated his uncle, Alexander II was much more shrewd and demanded, rather than Alexandria, the entirety of the Levant. He wanted a full scale invasion of the entire Turko-sphere, with Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Sinai going to Russia and her puppets, as well as greater Russian control of the Marmara and her straights (Alexander’s threat of not doing so equated to going to tell on him to Britain). Napoleon II didn’t want to see Russia getting such easy access to the Indian Ocean as annexing Iraq would do, but since he was going to get Tripoli and Egypt out of the agreement (and with it, their own easy connection to Indian Ocean), it was still worth it.
After the Warsaw Pact [hush you] was finished and agreed upon in January of 1875, Napoleon II gave the order to Le Toulonnais and von Eger to march on to Egypt, and sent the declarations of war to the Turko-sphere. Von Eger invaded Tripolitania from Tunis, and Le Toulonnais set off from Otranto and landed in Alexandria. Russia declared war the following month, invading Turkey from Constantinople and Armenia, and invading Iraq from Kurdistan
Although Tripolitania fell quickly, the other three were different degrees of difficulty, all more so (it doesn’t help that they were probably being helped by someone). Le Toulonnais and von Eger were having trouble getting much further into Egypt. The French march to Cairo took much longer than expected in the Nile Delta campaign, and required many detours. It took all the way to April 1877 for Cairo to finally be captured, by which point the Egyptian court had already moved south to Luxor, with preparations already made to head even further to Khartoum if necessary.
Throughout the Nile Delta campaign, Napoleon II would follow in his father’s footsteps (almost literally) and often visited the areas they occupied, especially Rosetta when that was taken, even threw a public festival in Alexandria when news of the capture of Rosetta. He constantly organized archaeological expeditions into the region to see if any more grand discoveries on par with the Rosetta Stone could be found. Possibly the most important discovery wasn’t historical in nature, but rather geographical. The scientists in Egypt corrected the findings of Napoleon I’s expeditions in Egypt 75 years prior, learning that the Mediterranean and Red Seas were actually rather level with each other, instead of the 10 meter difference originally estimated.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, Russia was having much more success, capturing Kuwait in early 1876, and in the 1877 had just retaken occupied Antioch. When Russia captured Kuwait, Napoleon II and Prime Minister August Garrard of Britain started a line of communication, with Napoleon wanting Britain to go to war with Russia, hinting that Persia might be open for attack. And so, just a couple days after Cairo fell in 1877, Britain launched an invasion into Persia, forcing Russia into a second front.
From here on, there’s two main front, the Persian War and the Arab War (along with the lesser Turkish front, which we’re not going to focus on).
Arab War: French vs. Arabs
With Russia more-or-less abandoning the Arab war to confront Britain in Persia (hell, Baghdad fell back to Iraq in December 1877), the Arabs (and Turks) could focus more on the French armies in Egypt than the Russians. After Jerusalem fell in January 1878, the Arabs made their first counter-attack and took Damietta. The French Army, already on their way to Luxor and had taken Asyut, was forced to turn around and fight back in the Nile Delta.
Cairo was put under siege in March, but luckily for the French they came not long after. The first major battle in the second phase of the Nile Delta Campaign was the Battle of Helwan, and Cairo was relieved a week after. The French armies attempted to recapture Damietta, but found Cairo was once again under threat thanks to another Arab army coming from Luxor. Le Toulonnais came to the conclusion that as long as the Armee remains together, the Armee will never go any further, and so decided that the Armee should divide into two forces. Le Toulonnais himself will fight on in the Nile Delta Campaign, while Karl von Eger would go on to fight in the Upper Nile.
Le Toulonnais was able to push back the Arab offensive, and under the orders of Napoleon II fought on past the Sinai, establishing a defensive line from the port of Aqaba to Gaza in January 1879. With the defensive line built, Napoleon II started sending thousands of researchers, engineers and workers to Egypt to create a miracle: A canal that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. From this point on, Le Toulonnais would be mostly sitting snugly and calmly, for any Arab attack would easily be repulsed, and before a true, new offensive could be forced upon them, Russia would go to war with the Arabs once more.
Meanwhile, in Upper Egypt, Karl von Eger had finally successfully taken Luxor in December 1878, but the Egyptians had already retreated and reorganized in Khartoum. What’s more, when von Eger attempts to go after Khartoum, an Egyptian army charges out of the deserts around Luxor and recaptures it, and when he returns back to Luxor, the city would be abandoned and all supplies taken, any garrison left massacred. It took until March for von Eger to finally realize they were following a path along the Red Sea, and then crossed the desert to attack Luxor. Von Eger decided to leave Luxor to the Red Sea. Von Eger was able to capture the remaining Egyptians off guard, and easily defeated the Egyptian Army. To further add insult to injury, von Eger used the same tactic to march on Khartoum, marching along the Red Sea until reaching Suakin, and then crossed the desert again to Khartoum. The city was under siege before the Egyptians knew that they were coming.
Von Eger, angered at how hard it was for him to get to Khartoum, wished to make the siege as quick as possible, even if some of the population of Khartoum had to die. To do this, he incorporated a new resource, petroleum, or crude oil. Oil had recently become a fairly profitable resource across the world, mostly used to light lamps, but von Eger, along with most of the French and foreign militaries, believed there was a possible militaristic use behind it as well. The French, or at least von Eger, believed that this oil was the secret behind Greek Fire, therefore called this weaponized petroleum after it, though other popular names include Feu d’Eau or Eau de Feu.
And so von Eger had one of his experimental weapons used on the battlefront for the first time, a hollow artillery shell where the inside was filled Greek Fire. The French called these Comets or Flying Fire, and when they worked, they would fly into the city, and when they hit, they’d spill the Greek Fire everywhere, causing things surrounding it to catch on fire. But these rudimentary Flying Fire shells often didn’t work, often blowing up in mid air or not blowing up at all, and many of the early attempts often blew up the artillery cannon themselves, and when it did work, the effects were fairly minimized given the architecture.
Nonetheless, the Flying Fire still scared the citizens of Khartoum, and many of them and even the soldiers fled from the burning Khartoum. One set of deserting troops in September 1879 broke into the home that the Egyptian Sultan, pulled him out, dragged him through the streets before finally delivering him to von Eger. Von Eger made sure that the trip back to Cairo was slow, and paraded the Egyptian soldier through each town they passed. When they finally reached Cairo, Napoleon II made sure that he would attend the welcoming ceremony of von Eger, with the Egyptian Sultan being given the same treatment as every other city. After the ceremony, he was locked away in a palace in Alexandria. From this point on, the Franco-Arabic war was more or less over, but many important things should still be gone over before the official treaty was signed.
After dropping off the Egyptian Sultan, in August 1880, Karl von Eger desired to move back down to Luxor. His official reason was to search for more Greek Fire and to explore the ancient tombs of the region recorded during Napoleon I’s 1799 expedition, but in reality, he was just going on vacation. He believed that the 1799 and earlier reports of the tombs were fake, exaggerated, or were based off local legends and nothing more, but much to his surprise, after only two weeks of giving his soldiers vague orders to go into the desert and report anything interesting they found, they found a valley filled with grand monuments built into the hill sides. He had to check out these reports for himself, and found the Valley of the Kings.
Napoleon II himself was going to go on another visit to Egypt to look at the newfound Valley of the Kings, when in October 1880 he suffered another stroke. Once again, he lived, but his doctors and physicians told him he needed to stay in France from now on, preferably remain in Paris, or even better, stay in his palace at Saint-Cloud. Nonetheless, Napoleon II ordered a whole new army of archaeologists to go to the Valley and to discover its secrets.
With Napoleon II’s October stroke, he sought to end the conflict, and had the Egyptian Sultan shipped over to Paris. There, the sultan signed over all land that was, at that time, currently under the control of the French. He was then shipped off back to what remain of his empire, whose capital currently sat at Jerusalem. The other 3 leaders of the Post-Ottoman sphere then arrived; Tripolitania, Turkey, and Iraq. Tripolitania agreed to become another member of the French Sphere, while Turkey and Iraq signed a white peace with France.
With the peace signed and the Great Canal being constructed, Napoleon II felt that his legacy was complete and secure. His final instruction was, along with the Great Canal, to also build a grand fortification to protect this canal, from both land and sea. Napoleon II thusly peacefully died in his sleep in July of 1881, just a few days after Bastille day.
Succeeding Napoleon II was his 43 year old son, Napoleon III, infamous for his womanizing and his rambunctious partying. Napoleon III was disinterested in running the country (rather he’d prefer to do that pre-mentioned womanizing and partying), and so organized an ‘advisory’ council, who would more or less run the country with Napoleon III rubber-stamping everything. This advisory council was made up of 7 advisors, along with a “Prime Advisor,” who, as long as Napoleon III was rubber-stamping everything, was the de facto head of France. Who else would be better for this position than a general growing ever more popular, Jean-Marie “Le Toulonnais” Lachance.
The Great Canal of Suez was completed in 1888, with the last of the accompanying fortifications finished within a couple months. This grand series of fortifications was collectively known as Fort Revolutionary, and this fort truly was revolutionary. It used updated plans from the greatest defensive general of the time, the former British general who defected to the Americans (and therefor, to the French), Alexander Palmer, who had died in 1878. This “Palmerian” Fortress was potentially the best fortress in the world, and many in France, and even those outside, said that Fort Revolutionary was impenetrable. This sparked the Russians and British to construct similar Palmerian fortresses, most notably with British increasing the defences of Malta (Fort Saint John), and Russia building fortresses on either side of the straits of Dardanelles and Bosphorus (Fort Alexander).
Persian War: Russians vs. British
The 1877 British invasion of Persia wholly locked Persia into the Russian sphere, and as such, Russia had to go and protect them. Britain attacked with two main prongs, the first attacking from India, through the Afghan mountains, and besieged Kabul, and the second launched from Oman, crossed the straits of Hormuz, and landed in Bandar Abbas, specifically so they could cut off any unwanted trade from going through the straits of Hormuz. The Russians and Kurds quickly rushed to the help of Persia, with the first battle between Russian and British soldiers being at Bandar Abbas. Russia was successful, and thus put Bandar Abbas under siege, although the siege was pretty ineffective do to not being able to block the sea.
But, as the siege of Bandar Abbas was beginning in June 1877, the siege of Kabul was also coming to a quick end. Such an important bastion in Afghanistan was invaluable for British needs, for the British defence of India from Russia. And in September, the first Russian Army had come to try to take back Kabul. The British Repeating Rifles tore the Russian army apart, and they had to run quickly.
After the battle of Kabul, Britain started a march on Kerman, to see if they can get the war over with quickly. In December 1877, Kerman had fallen as well, and Brits across the world rejoiced, believing the war was short and successful. They were mistaken, for the month before the Russian Army had moved the Qajar family to Tabriz, just for a short while. No matter, though, if they could simply occupy the rest of the country (or only a good amount of it), they would be fine.
The first thing the Brits did after the fall of Kerman was to head south and attempt to relieve the Siege of Bandar Abbas (you know, if only to get a pest off their shoulder). But a trap had been laid for the British, as the Russian army surrounded them and caused fear and alarm. The Brits quickly turned around back to Kerman, which was found to already be under siege from another Russian relief force. After successfully getting the Kerman garrison out of the siege, the British army came to the conclusion that the initial invasion, in hopes of conquering all of Persia in one push, was a failure. But, they could still consolidate their holdings in Afghanistan, a land built for prepared defence.
In May 1878, the British Army returned to Kabul, with the Russian cavalry harassing their rear. At Kabul, the simple sound of the Repeating Rifles was able to turn back the cavalry, but the Brits knew the Russians would return. As such, they set up a hastily built collection of fortifications that are, in some regards, the first set Palmerian fortress, or rather Proto-Palmerian. Nonetheless, this was enough for the Brits.
The first Russian army returned to the mountains around Kabul in July 1878, but, again, was torn apart. The Russian army ended up setting shifty (more so than the British) and provisional fortifications just outside of the read of the British Repeating Rifles and even Flying Artillery.
And so, the two sides bunkered down in the hill and mountains of Afghanistan. British and Russian troops would often try to sneak close to the other’s fortresses to try to destroy them with newly discovered Dynamite, or climb to the peak of the nearest mountain and rain shells upon them. The British found more luck in the strategy than the Russians, and a year after the retreat to Kabul, the Brits made another, smaller offensive into Baluchistan, although it grew larger until it eventually evolved into a march to finally relieve the several years long siege of Bandar Abbas.
It was here that a treaty was finally signed between the Russians and British in December 1879. Britain would get the Afghan and Baloch regions from Persia, along with Bandar Abbas, Russia would annex other, smaller regions in the furthest north east corner of Persia, and Persia itself would be locked into the Russian sphere of influence.
With Russia being freed from the war with Britain, Russia from free to return to the war with the Arabs. The month following the peace of Bandar Abbas, Russia went to war with the Arabs once again, starting a massive offensive that would see Iraq fall in only two months. The Iraqi emir was forced to flee to the court of the last remaining member of the Post-Ottoman Sphere, that of Turkey itself, also the only republic among them. The Russian armies then marched on to reoccupied Antioch and free her once more.
The Russians were about to march on Damascus when they heard the most excellent news: Napoleon II had yet another stroke and was left unable to leave the Palace of Saint-Cloud! The French were to sure to back out of the war now! And indeed, they did, through the fall of 1880 and winter of 1881, France made peace with the Post-Ottoman sphere, and throughout this, Russia mopped up what was left. In July of 1881, just a day after the passing of Napoleon II, Alexander II would meet with the member of the Post-Ottoman sphere (including the one that had recently been introduced into the French Sphere, Tripoli), and made peace with them on the following conditions:
1: The Two Patriarchies would annex the remainder of Egypt.
2: The Iraqi State would be put under the sphere of influence of Russia.
3: The Turkish State would release the Syrian State as a member of the Russian Sphere.
4: Russia would annex the Turkish coastlines of the Dardanelles and the sea of Marmara, as well as Cyprus.
5: What remained of Turkey would be part of the Russian Sphere.
Following the Treaty of Constantinople, Alexander II and his spies noticed the French construction of Fort Revolutionary, and began the construction of Fort Alexander. Alexander II himself would pass away in 1885, leaving Russia to his still childless son Alexander III.
