For the Want of a King TL

Here it is:

- Correct.
-Indeed.
- Yep.
- They are former French colonies that are part of the French-in-exile government, along with French India.

Part 9: The Age of Colonialism 1826-1876: Section 1: The Ottoman Civil War 1826-1831 Part 1:

In 1826, after 20 long years of peace and normality in which the people of Europe lived in peace, war broke out once more. But this was no ordinary war, it was a civil war. In the Ottoman Empire things had been getting steadily worse for many years and in 1826 the Janissaries, angered by the reduction in their power (thanks to the Sultan’s modernisation efforts), launched a coup in early February 1826.
Led by Mustafa Reshiti, they mutinied, advancing on the sultan's palace. Mahmud II then brought out the sacred standard of the Prophet from inside the treasury, intending all true believers to gather beneath it and thus bolster opposition to the Janissaries. In the ensuing fight the Janissary barracks were set ablaze by artillery fire, resulting in 4,000 Janissary deaths; more were killed in the heavy fighting on the streets of Constantinople. The survivors either fled or were imprisoned, their possessions confiscated by the Sultan. By the end of the month the captured Janissaries, constituting the remainder of the force, were put to death by decapitation in the Thessaloniki fort that soon came to be called the "Blood Tower". Roughly 100 other Janissaries fled to the Cistern of Philoxenos where many drowned. The Janissary Revolt had failed, but it kick-started revolts up and down the Ottoman Empire.

In Egypt, the Mamluk family, who had once ruled the area, sent envoys to various European powers. They offered to rebel against the Ottomans and place Egypt in that nation’s control if, and only if, they sent military aid to their revolt and allowed the Mamluks to rule Egypt as governors. Conveniently Joseph III, the new Austro-Hungarian Emperor who had crowned in 1823, and his inner circle were planning the partition of the Ottomans. Their grand plan, made in cooperation with the Polish, Russians and Spanish, aimed to stir up rebellions in the regions of the Ottoman Empire furthest from Istanbul. Under the Constantinople Plan, as it was known, Spain would gain Algeria, Tunisia and Tripolitania as ‘protectorates’, Austria would annex Bosnia and Serbia, gain Wallachia as a ‘protectorate’, Egypt would become a genuine Austrian protectorate and the Holy Land would become an Austrian colony, (Charles I had a grand plan for an Austrian North-East Africa and Arabia, with the possibility of expansion into the East Indies.) Poland would gain Moldavia (either as a ‘protectorate’ or it would be annexed) and Russia would gain the Crimea. Also under the Constantinople Plan, a Bulgarian Empire, Greek Kingdom and the Free City of Constantinople (under joint jurisdiction of the powers) would be created. On top of that they aimed to convince Persia to join them in exchange for Mesopotamia. Thus, Joseph III’s court welcomed the arrival of the Mamluk envoy and promptly replied offering to fulfil the Mamluks’ request. They then sent guns and advisors to Alexandria to support the Mamluks. Once they received the Austrian support, the Mamluks seized control of Alexandria, slaughtering the Ottoman garrison. The Austrians then sent envoys to the Poles, Spanish and Russians requesting that they begin the Constantinople Plan.

In April 1826 the Russians and Poles launched invasions the Ottoman Crimea and Ottoman Moldavia, respectively. The Austrians, meanwhile, continued to send help to the Mamluk Rebellion that now controlled large swathes of Egypt, and began preparing to invade Ottoman Bosnia. In the Crimea, the Russians made swift progress, reaching Perekop within 3 months, this isolated the Ottomans in the Crimean Peninsula. At Perekop, the Russian army met a serious Ottoman force for the first time. The resulting Battle of Perekop was long and bloody. The Russian army, under Prince Alexander Menshikov, outflanked the Ottoman army and encircled the Ottomans. Faced with surrender or death, much of the Ottoman army fought valiantly to the death. However, by nightfall, Perekop was open to Russian conquest. The Poles, meanwhile, had crossed the Danube and were marching on Silistria. They, as yet, hadn’t encountered any major Ottoman resistance and had captured the city of Ismail in late May 1826. Over on the North African coast, the Berbers were beginning to rebel against the Ottomans, backed by the Spanish and the Occitanians (in their first military actions outside of France). They were particularly successful on Fezzan and seized much of the vassal states within 6 months. Spanish and Occitanian naval ships, meanwhile, harassed and blockaded Ottoman ports up and down the North African coast. In September 1826, the Persians invaded Mesopotamia after pressure from the Russians. The Persian army, armed with Russians guns and trained by Russian advisors, made short work of their Ottoman counterparts and marched deep into Ottoman territory, capturing Csetiphon in early November.

The invasion of Mesopotamia by the Persians signalled, what appeared to be, the end of Ottoman rule outside Turkey. It also signalled discussion between the British and French as to whether or not they should support the Ottomans. After all they didn’t want the Austrians and their allies to control the trade routes to and from Asia, plus a Central/Eastern European Concord would be intolerable for them. There was a fatal problem, however, the Republic of France was nowhere near strong enough to fight the Austrians or anyone else really. This left the British with two options, 1. Let the Ottomans fall or 2. Try and help them as much as possible. The Parliament descended to blows as they argued about what to do. King George IV vehemently opposed to intervention as he feared that he would lose his Hanoverian throne and about a third of the Parliament agreed with him. The rest of the Parliament and the Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson, wanted war. What really sealed he decision to enter the war was public opinion. The people hated the Germans and were angry with the King as well, and so, when it became clear he was against the war, they began to campaign for the declaration of war. Thus, in January 1827 Britain declared war on the Partition Alliance and began to send support to the Ottomans.

Despite the arrival of British guns, the Partition Alliance continued to make gains into the Ottoman Empire as several ethnic minorities began to follow the Mamluks example and rebel against Ottoman, and more importantly Turkish, rule. The Armenians, backed by the Russians, in north, the Kurds in the Levant and the Slavs and Greeks in the Ottoman Balkans. As 1827 wore on the rebellions increased and the situation looked increasingly desperate for the Ottomans…

They're a favourite of mine.

Nope, they don't have the capabilities for a long distance war yet.

I hadn't though of that TBH. That's a good idea, thanks!

They don't like each other already, so it won't make much difference.

Yes, particularly after the war.