For the Want of a King TL

Part 9: The Age of Colonialism 1826-1876: Section 1: The Ottoman Civil War 1826-1831 Part 2:

Things were not going well for the Ottomans. A combined offensive by the Austrians, the Balkan rebels and Poland had smashed through Ottoman defensive lines in the Balkans in August 1827. Serbia was now an ‘independent’ country, Moldavia was now a Polish vassal and Wallachia was in severe danger of falling. The situation was made even worse for the Ottomans two months later when North Italy (Venice) entered the war on the side of Austria et al.
In early November, a Venetian army landed on Crete and marched on Heraklion. At the Cretan capital, they fought and routed a Ottoman garrison force. Within the month all of the island was under North Italian control. Meanwhile, in the Balkans, the Bulgars were rebelling against Ottoman rule, supported by the newly independent Kingdom of Serbia. They were firmly in control of Sofia and much of the surrounding area. The Bulgar Rebellion was followed in late December by the Greeks rebelling. This time the rebellion began thanks to the landing of North Italian forces in southern Morea. The rebels, naming themselves the Neo-Byzantines and backed by the North Italian soldiers, made swift progress in seizing control of Greece and reached Macedonia by early February. European Turkey was a total shambles. At this point, realising that the Balkans were lost, Sultan Mahmud II entered peace talks with the European Powers. Said talks broke down, however, in April 1828 after the Sultan refused to cede Ottoman North African territories.
And so the war continued. By September 1828 4 new states had been set up from the former-Ottoman Balkans:

1. The Principality of Moldova, a Polish protectorate and ruled by Prince Alexander Hangerli.
2. The Principality of Wallachia, a Austrian protectorate and ruled by Prince Alexandru Ghica.
3. The Byzantine Kingdom, a joint Austro-Russo-Polish protectorate and ruled by King Constantine I and Queen Catherine I. (Constantine was nephew of Joseph III of Austria and Catherine was niece of Peter IV of Russia)
4. The Grand Duchy of Serbia, a Austrian puppet state and ruled by Grand Duke Miloš Obrenović.

The fighting in North Africa raged on. The Mamluks, and Austrians, were now firmly in control of Egypt and in November 1828 Austrian forces landed in the Nile Delta and set about seizing control of everywhere between there and southern Syria, with the intention of finally fulfilling the Habsburgs’ claim to the crown of Jerusalem. Unsurprisingly the Mamluks objected to this plan and began to move against the Austrian forces.

“It is highly likely that the dream of a Habsburg Jerusalem would have died in 1828 if it were not for the North Italians.”
Extract from Albert Von Habsburg’s book A History of the Habsburg Holy Lands.

In early December 1828 a Mamluk army, ironically armed with Austrian weapons, marched on Alexandria, where the Austrians had set up their headquarters. The main body of the Austrian Expeditionary Force were marching eastwards along the coast towards, what is now, the Suez Canal and thus the Mamluk army were able to, not only besiege Alexandria, but also blockade it by sea. Fortunately for the Austrians, however, a large North Italian naval force, having heard of the Siege of Alexandria arrived within a couple of weeks. (The Austrian army having been rebuffed by the Mamluks superior numbers.) During the resulting Battle of the Nile, the Mamluk fleet was routed, with many ships running aground as they tried to flee up the Nile. Following the comprehensive defeat of the Mamluk fleet, a North Italian army landed and, backed by the remnants of the Austrian army, turned to lift the siege. The Battle of Alexandria was long and brutal with a casualty list in the thousands. The Mamluks, undoubtedly, suffered the most and their hopes of creating a truly independent Egypt were dashed by the death of Mohammed Bey, their inspirational leader. Without the figurehead that he had presented the Mamluk family fractured, even as more Austrian soldiers landed in Alexandria. After the crushing of the unified Mamluk force the Austrians proceeded to march down the Nile, towards the Great Pyramids of Giza, to fight the last significant Mamluk army. The two forces met at Giza, in the shadow of the pyramids. Beneath the towering testaments to an ancient civilisation the armies of Austria and the Mamluks fought for one last time. The Mamluks were outnumberd and outgunned, but fought valiantly nevertheless. Despite their bravery they were defeated and Egypt fell into the hands of the Austrians. With Egypt secured, but vulnerable to further rebellion, Austria placed Ibrahim Bey on the throne of Egypt as a puppet ruler, whilst turning part of north-eastern Egypt into a ‘colony’. Tripolitania, Algiers and Tunisia were now cut off from any possible help from the Ottomans and thus fell quickly. Algiers fell to Spanish forces in February 1829, Tunisia 3 months later. Tripolitania was the last to be conquered, this time by an allied effort from the Austrians, Spanish and North Italians, in September 1829. In November 1829 the Treaty of Malta carved up Ottoman North Africa between the belligerents thusly:

1. Algiers and Tunisia to become part of the Empire of All Spanish.
2. Tripolitania to become a North Italian protectorate.
3. Egypt to become an Austrian protectorate.

Meanwhile, the Persians and Russian-backed Armenians continued to make headway against the demoralised and fractured Ottoman armies and in February 1830, after a crushing defeat at the Battle of Lake Van by a joint Armenian and Persian army, Sultan Mahmud II surrendered to the Alliance. The actual Treaty of Constantinople wasn’t signed until the 2nd January 1831, due to squabbling amongst the allies over the terms of the Treaty. The, finally agreed upon, Treaty of Constantinople was as follows:

1. Austria adds the Holy Land to her Alexandria colony and Hejaz to her Egyptian protectorate.
2. North Italy gains Cyrus and the Ionian Islands from the Ottomans, in addition to existing gains.
3. Russia gains the Kingdom of Armenia as a protectorate.
4. Persia gains all land east of the Tigris River, not part of Armenia.
5. All gains by the allies from previous agreements and treaties are confirmed.

The Treaty of Constantinople permanently ended Ottoman dominance in the Middle East and opened the gates to the Era of Colonialism (but it would only truly begin 12 years later once the Suez Canal was completely).