Cloud Strife
Capitán General
1. Infante Carlos, Count of Molina
2. Prince Miguel of Braganza, Commander of the Portuguese Expedition to Greece
3. Pablo Morillo, General of the Spanish Reserve
Napoleonic Diadochi
- Thread starter Karen
- Start date
- OOC Alt. History
2. Prince Miguel of Braganza, Commander of the Portuguese Expedition to Greece
3. Pablo Morillo, General of the Spanish Reserve
Karen
Contemplating a blank canvas.
- Location
- Ireland
Karen
Contemplating a blank canvas.
- Location
- Ireland
You can have Pablo Morillo.
You can have David Hendrik Chasse.
I'll be updating stats in a few hours.
Karen
Contemplating a blank canvas.
- Location
- Ireland
ok real talk: update has been up for a bit, i'm gonna put the deadline to monday 6th midnight
for the sake of brevity and given i'm going to be as clear as possible for the endgame: you don't have to stay if you feel your faction/person is not getting that much representation (i personally can't be arsed writing 5 words for stuff that isn't super relevant to the current big events), you're absolutely free to leave
that being said, if you leave, i will be writing the epilogue without any input from you regarding that region; burn brighter, burn harder, and win
also no more applications, everything is closed, we're in for the endgame now
for the sake of brevity and given i'm going to be as clear as possible for the endgame: you don't have to stay if you feel your faction/person is not getting that much representation (i personally can't be arsed writing 5 words for stuff that isn't super relevant to the current big events), you're absolutely free to leave
that being said, if you leave, i will be writing the epilogue without any input from you regarding that region; burn brighter, burn harder, and win
also no more applications, everything is closed, we're in for the endgame now
THE DIADOCHI AWARDS
Karen
Contemplating a blank canvas.
- Location
- Ireland
It's over. After nearly exactly a month - I felt personally it'd be bad luck to end the game on 9/11 - we have reached the end of this crazy, whacky, surprisingly not painful at all journey. I'd like to thank everyone who joined, everyone who played, you've been phenomenal. Truly, I am humbled.
This (mostly OOC) post is something of an epilogue, essentially detailing the actions and/or lasting legacy of the individual marshals, starting with the notables, or the primary generals and successors to Emperor Napoleon I, be it ones who carried the Empire kicking and screaming into the modern age, or those who fell by the wayside, co-opted and beaten down by their foes. This scathing review will point out the failures, or perhaps shortcomings, of those who would go on to carve a lasting memory in the French Empire of today, or well, of this timeline.
Ruled France for 4 months
Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753-1829, aged 76)
Starting from the potentially powerful and also incendiary position of Grand-Regent of the whole Empire, Berthier's rule over Paris was one of the shortest, and arguably least impactful of the Napoleonic Diadochi. Establishing himself as the solid middle line between the civilian government and a disgruntled army, Berthier's coronation of the Emperor and consolidation was cut prematurely short by Oudinot's march and the subsequent coup by Soult, Lannes and Bessieres. Berthier would spend most of the civil war under house arrest, being released by emergent winner Massena and going on to resume his position of Chief of Staff for the Imperial Army, leaving a lasting legacy as one of Napoleon's best administrators but also one of his most indecisive. It was his lack of assertiveness among the bickering leaders of Paris that ultimately cost him ruling the Empire, but his genius forged the modern French Army to eventually become one of the best armies in Europe.
Marshal Berthier would die of natural causes, May 8, nearly ten years to the day of the Emperor's death after having been stripped of his position and made Governor of Les Invalides in 1822, seemingly of an illness he had been afflicted with during the campaign in Russia.
Ruled France for 7 months and 18 days
Nicolas Charles Oudinot (1767-1820, aged 53)
The famous Grenadier general had earned a glorious legacy in the Grand Armee for going effectively undefeated at the start of the civil war, capturing Paris on the root of sheer determination and the grit of a veteran army that bitterly resented the ministers and corrupt politicians of Paris; Berthier and his three cronies most of all. Establishing himself as the iron-fisted but necessary dictator of the Empire to succeed Berthier's milquetoast regency, Oudinot's tenure saw the rise of militarism and a sudden decline in the perceived peace within the concert of Europe. Raising additional forces and bolstering his regime against a rebelling south, Oudinot scored victories against a battered triumvirate rallying against him, briefly aligning with the incoming Massena. Oudinot's warmongering would ultimately cost the man his life, seeing the marshal killed at Epernay, trampled under his own men in the retreat.
Ruled France for 1 year, 8 months and 9 days
Andre Massena (1758-1822, aged 64)
Seen as an opportunist by some, and a hero of the Empire by others, Marshal Massena's role in the foundation of the current empire proved unequivocally vital to the continued survival of the Empire. Latching onto Paris after Oudinot marched off to battle Lannes, Massena would brutally purge most of his opposition, reorganising the government among more liberal lines, and establishing a civil service that answered solely to the executive branch that he would come to dominate for his tenure as Grand Chancellor of the Empire. However, Massena's rule would come to a sudden halt as he buried the Empire in scandal and political strife, seducing the Empress-Dowager, and later, after his removal, being put on trial for the murder of Bessieres. The trial would go nowhere, as Massena would die under mysterious circumstances in Versailles, rumoured to be assisted suicide thanks to one of the household servants he had been assigned after his removal.
Ruled France for 29 years, 10 months, and 25 days
Jean-de-Die Soult (1769-1851, aged 82)
War hero, saviour of the Empire, usurper, avowed republican. Many names and titles were associated with Soult, but Marshal Soult betrayed all convention, broke all rules, and achieved the one thing that none of his peers would go on to do; he would rule France until his death. Starting a new regency after Massena's removal, he would be named Prince-Regent in 1824 by the Council of State, citing Napoleon II's complete inability and failed recovery from his regressive state. With the Emperor out of the picture, Soult's rule would go on to last for an uncontested thirty years, where the marshal would implement vital reforms that maintained France's modernity and also built close relations with the nascent United States of America, eventually going on to support the United States in the Anglo-American War of 1832, with French troops landing in Dublin and Cork signalling the death knell for British rule in North America. Under Soult, Quebec would fall back to French rule, along with one of the many lifelong dreams of Napoleon; the acquisition of Egypt under the French sphere. In 1848, Soult faced his greatest foe yet; radical republicans overthrowing the Emperor, however the ever-capable, pragmatic regent would instead throw in his lot with the republicans, assuming a more humble, civilian title from the revolution until his death three years later; President of the Second French Republic.
The France of today inherited many so-called "Soultisms", combining the statist attitude of Oudinot with the laissez-faire leadership of Massena in order to both strengthen the Presidency while also granting major overtures to a growing legislature to accompany a still-standing Empire. Soult's successors would go on to dominate European politics until 1899. Rumours that Soult had intended to crown himself Emperor were fiercely disputed, though historians often point to the creation of a new title- Prince-Regent- as a form of consolidation of power within a single figure underneath the Emperor as opposed to seizing power from the Bonaparte Dynasty.
Joseph Bonaparte, later de Segovia (1768-1844, aged 76)
King of Spain, Naples & Sicily
An early breaker from the Empire, Joseph's reign, an experiment in all but name, was an ultimate success. As king of three realms for over thirty years, Joseph would bring about vital reforms to the Napoleonic Code, mending relations with Portugal, Britain and enforcing a strict border between Spain and France, further solidifying the independence of the kingdom his younger brother had left him saddled with when he died. Instead, Joseph did the unthinkable; with Prime Minister Suchet he brought down the mighty Murat and conquered Naples back from Napoleon's hussar, and from there it seemed only glory was ahead for Spain. Restoring Spanish rule in Catalonia proved only the stepping stone as Spanish expansion into North Africa and Corsica brought about an unprecedented period of dominance for the royal House of Segovia. However, his reign was not peerless, as an attempted coup by hardline, Catholic Spanish nobles in 1840 nearly saw Joseph's daughter and regent in Madrid, Zenaide, overthrown by Infante Carlos Isidro of Spain. An attempted restoration of a radically traditionalist branch of the Bourbon dynasty would name this time period of upheaval as the first Carlist War- conflicts that would go on to haunt Spain for the next century.
Joseph de Segovia would die, allowing his daughter to ascend as Queen of Spain alongside Francisco de Bourbon, king consort. Zenaide's ten year reign saw Spain transition from divine absolutism and into a model, constitutional monarchy, revoking many of the exclusive rights of the nobility and entering Spain into a new period of stability until 1866 during the Cardinal Crisis, when Crown-Prince Lucien de Segovia renounced his claim to the throne of Spain after his brother died childless. Spain would eventually crown Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as Carlos V of Spain.
Auguste de Marmont (1774-1852, aged 77)
King of Italy & Illyria
Few had expected such an outrageous or even feasible realm to exist within the boundaries of the 19th Century, but, through thick and thin, King Auguste I de Marmonte would successfully manage to navigate the waters of Italian unification and emerge victorious, if only just. Joseph's death nearly dragged an aging Auguste into war over Naples, but tactful diplomacy saw the perfidious rebel Giuseppe Garibaldi sent into exile to Mexico. Marmont's early years as King of Italy were perilous, constantly risking French intervention, but a strong military and a close friendship with Spain meant that a modern, constitutional Italy would rise from the ashes of Napoleon's conquests. Peaceful secession of Piedmont only added fuel to Marmont's final years as the king would eventually restore the rule of the Vatican as an independent city-state within his kingdom, his final days seen on the Illyrian coast, securing great privileges for the Slavic citizens of his kingdom and ensuring a relatively stable peace between the landed Croatian aristocracy and Italian nobility for the next decade.
Marmont would die of natural causes in 1852, being succeeded by his son of his second wife, Queen Maria Francisca Marmont nee Ruspoli, King Rodolfo I Marmont.
Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr (1764-1830, aged 65)
Dictator of the Hellenic Republic, Consul of the Septinsular Provinces, Father of the Republic
Saint-Cyr had next to no aspirations for Paris, instead, he looked towards the young nations of Europe; Greece and her Slavic neighbors to the north which yearned for independence, trying and trying again in desperation to rise up and overthrow their Turkish shackles. But, in the rising of January '21, things changed, and suddenly, the Ottoman Empire was beset from all sides by a war that it had not anticipated. Allied with the ever-diligent Yspilantis and Miguel de Braganza, Saint-Cyr set about liberating the Hellenic people from the clutches of Ottoman tyranny, all while styling himself as Consul for Life- a dictator of the old Roman Republic. Evoking images of Hellenic tradition and placing himself at the center stage for the triumph at Selanik in 1827, an aging Saint-Cyr would go on to rule Greece for a short but eventful three years, backing Slavic revolts to the north that gave rise to the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, along with leaving Laurent- nicknamed Laurent of Macedon in Russia- as a hero both to the Greeks and to Christians across Europe who saw his Republic as the start of Christian revival in a land held by a Caliph.
Saint-Cyr would die a hero of two nations and one faith, though reviled by his French peers for his supposed betrayal, being buried on the historical site of Aigai- the tomb of Macedonian kings. The plaque on his tomb reads (in Greek); "From Conqueror to Liberator"
This (mostly OOC) post is something of an epilogue, essentially detailing the actions and/or lasting legacy of the individual marshals, starting with the notables, or the primary generals and successors to Emperor Napoleon I, be it ones who carried the Empire kicking and screaming into the modern age, or those who fell by the wayside, co-opted and beaten down by their foes. This scathing review will point out the failures, or perhaps shortcomings, of those who would go on to carve a lasting memory in the French Empire of today, or well, of this timeline.
The ANTIPATER Award goes to:
Ruled France for 4 months
Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753-1829, aged 76)
Starting from the potentially powerful and also incendiary position of Grand-Regent of the whole Empire, Berthier's rule over Paris was one of the shortest, and arguably least impactful of the Napoleonic Diadochi. Establishing himself as the solid middle line between the civilian government and a disgruntled army, Berthier's coronation of the Emperor and consolidation was cut prematurely short by Oudinot's march and the subsequent coup by Soult, Lannes and Bessieres. Berthier would spend most of the civil war under house arrest, being released by emergent winner Massena and going on to resume his position of Chief of Staff for the Imperial Army, leaving a lasting legacy as one of Napoleon's best administrators but also one of his most indecisive. It was his lack of assertiveness among the bickering leaders of Paris that ultimately cost him ruling the Empire, but his genius forged the modern French Army to eventually become one of the best armies in Europe.
Marshal Berthier would die of natural causes, May 8, nearly ten years to the day of the Emperor's death after having been stripped of his position and made Governor of Les Invalides in 1822, seemingly of an illness he had been afflicted with during the campaign in Russia.
The CASSANDER award goes to:
Ruled France for 7 months and 18 days
Nicolas Charles Oudinot (1767-1820, aged 53)
The famous Grenadier general had earned a glorious legacy in the Grand Armee for going effectively undefeated at the start of the civil war, capturing Paris on the root of sheer determination and the grit of a veteran army that bitterly resented the ministers and corrupt politicians of Paris; Berthier and his three cronies most of all. Establishing himself as the iron-fisted but necessary dictator of the Empire to succeed Berthier's milquetoast regency, Oudinot's tenure saw the rise of militarism and a sudden decline in the perceived peace within the concert of Europe. Raising additional forces and bolstering his regime against a rebelling south, Oudinot scored victories against a battered triumvirate rallying against him, briefly aligning with the incoming Massena. Oudinot's warmongering would ultimately cost the man his life, seeing the marshal killed at Epernay, trampled under his own men in the retreat.
The ANTIGONID award goes to:
Ruled France for 1 year, 8 months and 9 days
Andre Massena (1758-1822, aged 64)
Seen as an opportunist by some, and a hero of the Empire by others, Marshal Massena's role in the foundation of the current empire proved unequivocally vital to the continued survival of the Empire. Latching onto Paris after Oudinot marched off to battle Lannes, Massena would brutally purge most of his opposition, reorganising the government among more liberal lines, and establishing a civil service that answered solely to the executive branch that he would come to dominate for his tenure as Grand Chancellor of the Empire. However, Massena's rule would come to a sudden halt as he buried the Empire in scandal and political strife, seducing the Empress-Dowager, and later, after his removal, being put on trial for the murder of Bessieres. The trial would go nowhere, as Massena would die under mysterious circumstances in Versailles, rumoured to be assisted suicide thanks to one of the household servants he had been assigned after his removal.
The LYSIMACHUS award goes to:
Ruled France for 29 years, 10 months, and 25 days
Jean-de-Die Soult (1769-1851, aged 82)
War hero, saviour of the Empire, usurper, avowed republican. Many names and titles were associated with Soult, but Marshal Soult betrayed all convention, broke all rules, and achieved the one thing that none of his peers would go on to do; he would rule France until his death. Starting a new regency after Massena's removal, he would be named Prince-Regent in 1824 by the Council of State, citing Napoleon II's complete inability and failed recovery from his regressive state. With the Emperor out of the picture, Soult's rule would go on to last for an uncontested thirty years, where the marshal would implement vital reforms that maintained France's modernity and also built close relations with the nascent United States of America, eventually going on to support the United States in the Anglo-American War of 1832, with French troops landing in Dublin and Cork signalling the death knell for British rule in North America. Under Soult, Quebec would fall back to French rule, along with one of the many lifelong dreams of Napoleon; the acquisition of Egypt under the French sphere. In 1848, Soult faced his greatest foe yet; radical republicans overthrowing the Emperor, however the ever-capable, pragmatic regent would instead throw in his lot with the republicans, assuming a more humble, civilian title from the revolution until his death three years later; President of the Second French Republic.
The France of today inherited many so-called "Soultisms", combining the statist attitude of Oudinot with the laissez-faire leadership of Massena in order to both strengthen the Presidency while also granting major overtures to a growing legislature to accompany a still-standing Empire. Soult's successors would go on to dominate European politics until 1899. Rumours that Soult had intended to crown himself Emperor were fiercely disputed, though historians often point to the creation of a new title- Prince-Regent- as a form of consolidation of power within a single figure underneath the Emperor as opposed to seizing power from the Bonaparte Dynasty.
The SELEUCUS award goes to:
Joseph Bonaparte, later de Segovia (1768-1844, aged 76)
King of Spain, Naples & Sicily
An early breaker from the Empire, Joseph's reign, an experiment in all but name, was an ultimate success. As king of three realms for over thirty years, Joseph would bring about vital reforms to the Napoleonic Code, mending relations with Portugal, Britain and enforcing a strict border between Spain and France, further solidifying the independence of the kingdom his younger brother had left him saddled with when he died. Instead, Joseph did the unthinkable; with Prime Minister Suchet he brought down the mighty Murat and conquered Naples back from Napoleon's hussar, and from there it seemed only glory was ahead for Spain. Restoring Spanish rule in Catalonia proved only the stepping stone as Spanish expansion into North Africa and Corsica brought about an unprecedented period of dominance for the royal House of Segovia. However, his reign was not peerless, as an attempted coup by hardline, Catholic Spanish nobles in 1840 nearly saw Joseph's daughter and regent in Madrid, Zenaide, overthrown by Infante Carlos Isidro of Spain. An attempted restoration of a radically traditionalist branch of the Bourbon dynasty would name this time period of upheaval as the first Carlist War- conflicts that would go on to haunt Spain for the next century.
Joseph de Segovia would die, allowing his daughter to ascend as Queen of Spain alongside Francisco de Bourbon, king consort. Zenaide's ten year reign saw Spain transition from divine absolutism and into a model, constitutional monarchy, revoking many of the exclusive rights of the nobility and entering Spain into a new period of stability until 1866 during the Cardinal Crisis, when Crown-Prince Lucien de Segovia renounced his claim to the throne of Spain after his brother died childless. Spain would eventually crown Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as Carlos V of Spain.
The PTOLEMY award goes to:
Auguste de Marmont (1774-1852, aged 77)
King of Italy & Illyria
Few had expected such an outrageous or even feasible realm to exist within the boundaries of the 19th Century, but, through thick and thin, King Auguste I de Marmonte would successfully manage to navigate the waters of Italian unification and emerge victorious, if only just. Joseph's death nearly dragged an aging Auguste into war over Naples, but tactful diplomacy saw the perfidious rebel Giuseppe Garibaldi sent into exile to Mexico. Marmont's early years as King of Italy were perilous, constantly risking French intervention, but a strong military and a close friendship with Spain meant that a modern, constitutional Italy would rise from the ashes of Napoleon's conquests. Peaceful secession of Piedmont only added fuel to Marmont's final years as the king would eventually restore the rule of the Vatican as an independent city-state within his kingdom, his final days seen on the Illyrian coast, securing great privileges for the Slavic citizens of his kingdom and ensuring a relatively stable peace between the landed Croatian aristocracy and Italian nobility for the next decade.
Marmont would die of natural causes in 1852, being succeeded by his son of his second wife, Queen Maria Francisca Marmont nee Ruspoli, King Rodolfo I Marmont.
The CURSOR award goes to:
Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr (1764-1830, aged 65)
Dictator of the Hellenic Republic, Consul of the Septinsular Provinces, Father of the Republic
Saint-Cyr had next to no aspirations for Paris, instead, he looked towards the young nations of Europe; Greece and her Slavic neighbors to the north which yearned for independence, trying and trying again in desperation to rise up and overthrow their Turkish shackles. But, in the rising of January '21, things changed, and suddenly, the Ottoman Empire was beset from all sides by a war that it had not anticipated. Allied with the ever-diligent Yspilantis and Miguel de Braganza, Saint-Cyr set about liberating the Hellenic people from the clutches of Ottoman tyranny, all while styling himself as Consul for Life- a dictator of the old Roman Republic. Evoking images of Hellenic tradition and placing himself at the center stage for the triumph at Selanik in 1827, an aging Saint-Cyr would go on to rule Greece for a short but eventful three years, backing Slavic revolts to the north that gave rise to the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, along with leaving Laurent- nicknamed Laurent of Macedon in Russia- as a hero both to the Greeks and to Christians across Europe who saw his Republic as the start of Christian revival in a land held by a Caliph.
Saint-Cyr would die a hero of two nations and one faith, though reviled by his French peers for his supposed betrayal, being buried on the historical site of Aigai- the tomb of Macedonian kings. The plaque on his tomb reads (in Greek); "From Conqueror to Liberator"
Other Peoples of Note
- (MVP) Most stable ruler - Jerome Bonaparte, for restoring order over Westphalia and ensuring a lasting peace as his kingdom in Germany would outlast nearly every regime in the region. His legacy would go on to define European history for centuries.
- Least stable ruler - Pierre Augereau, establishing a brief, but explosive Saxon dynasty that would go on to be the center of a multitude of European wars.
- Unfortunate until the End - Michel Ney, being given the vital province of Rome in the years prior, the strong position that, unexploited, left him weak to larger and more united opponents to Ney's regime in Rome, only to be sidelined again in Hanover.
- Early Burnout - Joachim Murat, having managed to fumble his attempted conquest of a rebellious Sicily, fell out of favour (and power) faster than any other Diadochus.
- Winner of Many Battles - Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, defeating the Saxons during Augereau's reign and beating the Prussians handily during the War of the Seventh Coalition, Jourdan's initial stumble left him practically unbeaten for the rest of the game.
- Saviour of his Homeland - Jozef Poniatowski, charged with the immense task of guarding Poland alongside General Vandamme, would do so until his death as King of Poland, that, despite the seeming inevitability of partition, would go on to be a major figure in Central Europe in the years to come.
- Yes, Majesty - Louis-Gabriel Suchet, having committed to the nationhood of Spain, did not renounce his loyalties or subordination to King Joseph, instead becoming the faithful Prime Minister to serve alongside King Joseph until his death in 1826.
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- Location
- NY