Nowa Polska

[Cherico]

Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca- Your pathetic country only exists because of American pity French incompetence, and spite

Jozef Chłopicki- countries have been built on worse

Thomas Jefferson


Casimir Pulaski was a friend of mine, I suppose that's why I did it, we had met on my estate and I found him to be a pleasant sort. He didn't survive the war but he had fought bravely for our independence, and did so while his country was being consumed. So when I got the French offer for the Lousiana purchase to essentially double the size of our country for 15 million dollars. I wanted to jump on it in an instant. But an Aid say I could most likely talk them down.

So I decided to send a counter offer, for 13 million dollars, and at the moment I remembered my old friend and I knew that when this conflict was over his country would most likely end its existence most likely forever. The thought came to me that the polish people would be safer in the new world. I doubted the french would give up any of their sugar islands but Guyania was a hostile place. So out of guilt I also requested these lands be turned into a home land for the polish people.

It was in many ways a silly demand I thought for certain the French would refuse, but I could use that to negiotate for maybe a smaller amount. I got a response that Napoleon was willing to settle the issue for 14 million I simply assumed that the polish clause had been removed. So I went to congress and while they were angry that I went behind their backs they knew we couldn't refuse a chance to double the size of our nation. So they agreed but that clause remained and had been included in the treaty.

The French to their credit stayed true to the deal, and when the napolonic wars came to an end the Poles lost everything in europe as I had predicted. But out of a mixture or pity the Poles were allowed to keep the former French penal colony, while conditions there were harsh in at least one part of the world the Poles were free.


Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand


Pure incompetence, that whole deal, I had come down with the flu and was not able to oversee the purchase, I assure you that had I been in charge we would have gotten more money, and we would not have lost French Guyanna. But the idiot they put in charge only looked at the money and was simply convinced the yankees were going to take it all on the battlefield. So he sent the offer back with a higher amount and didn't look to see any other changes.

By the time it was all inked, and I returned once again in good health I saw what had happened. The emperor for his part was sanquine about the issue and said we had less then 20,000 people in that green hell, and it would not be worth it to damage our relations with our polish allies over so small a matter, not when there was a world to gain.

The Poles for their part thanked both parties and promptly sent off some trouble makers of little importance so they would not damage the war effort. It didn't work though the war was still lost. I would have thought the Poles would lose their colony as they did their mainland holdings but the British decided that the Poles would keep this singular colony.

Why? Well quite obviously they didn't want us to get it back, but they also didn't want the Russians, Prussians, or Austrians to have any claims in the new world and potentially meddle in their affairs, no fair better to have the impotent and weak Poles take over who were at this point a threat to no one.

It was to my surprise that the three powers that partitioned Poland didn't object. Then I realized that they planned to hold the threat of exile to a green hell over their polish subjects. The first exiles were the leaders of congress poland and their families, but others would follow criminals, disidents, and their like.

The polish people were given a choice either be with out freedom and be well fed dogs or hungry wolves. I considered the matter to be of little importance and considered the issue closed.

 

[Cherico]

Julian Tuwim- Polish refugee



Green hell.

With the fall of the The Duchy of Warsaw, of poland it was decided that its leaders and their families would be exiled to the new world or as the congress of vienna put it repatrated back to their native Poland. Basically every one who fought for the dutchy, and their families and any one the new occupiers didn't want to deal with. The people who remained paid for it they were taxed to transport the exiles.

Like the French we had exiled our criminals to the new world a small number roughly 5000 in number, when we got there most of them had died and we realized that we would have to either work together or die most horribly. We arrived with a limited number of tools, a limited amount of money, and the knowlege that there would be no aid from the outside world.

The idea of the vicious victorious coalition was that this land would be our down fall that this miserable nightmare world would kill us. Quite a few of us cursed the yankee's for giving us this 'gift'. Because this new Poland was a nightmare world. Being near the equator it was hot and oprressively humid all year round, it rained a lot. Practically every day, the idea that it could rain and be oppressively hot was an idea few of us could ponder such things did not happen back home.

The Interior was filled with malaria and mosquettos and vicious tribal peoples, tensions ran high.

This was a land that had swallowed up previous attempts to settle it a horrid land a bleak terrible place so how did we survive it? I think the secret to our survival because I will not call our conditions here a success was the fact that so many of us were military men. We were used to tight disipline, and you needed to be disiplined to survive here.

Dispite the heat sapping our strength we organized ourselves and built upon the coastline which was the most inhabitable part of this green hell. Our diet would be based quite a bit upon the bounty of the sea, with farming being a supliment to our diet. But the thing that kept us going the thing that made it bearable the reason we did not give in to despair was simple.

Hate.

Unlike the former failures we fully understood that we could never come home again, unlike the others we could put a defined face on who sent us here, unlike them we had some one to blame. The Austrian, the Prussian, the Russian, we had enemies we could blame for our current condition, and in every mans heart there was a song of vengence.

But it would not and could not be a revenge gained quickly. The enemy was across the ocean, and they were rich and powerful and numerous, but they thought us utterly defeated and this land while horrid might house a way to strike back at them a way to gain our revenge a way to restore our country and free our people.

but first the land had to be tamed, its riches exploited.

Be fruitful and muliply was the order of the day, any idea of family planning was thrown away the only plan was to have as many children as possible. One because the disease killed many and two because we needed the manpower, and three because in generations to come we hoped to become large enough a force to retake our homes.

While this sounded like madness to some to us there was a grim logic, europe was an ever shifting place and we were currently an ignored humilated force but we had a place to rebuild and sooner or later the great powers would be at each others throats and if by that time we had become strong enough we could force a peace that restored what we had lost.

But first we had to build, build for a future we would never see, to create the fire that would consume our enemies and send them to hell.

 

[Cherico]

Karol Kot- ex con


It didn't take long for the enemy back home to realize they could kick out more then just the people who fought against them and their families more then the revolutionaries. If you were polish and committed a serious crime then you got kicked out after all hanging a man wouldnt' cause nearly as much suffering as sending us to new poland. Repatration they called it, were not exiling you were just sending you home.

Russians, Prussians Austrians they all did it.

When you arrived, what ever you did? It was in the past the need to labor for all hands was too great to quibble about such matters. If you commited more crimes? They did not kill you, no you just got shitter work and got food instead of money. Not that our money had any value outside of poland of course.

What money we had was made out of what was available, iron coins instead of silver or gold. Counterfitting was punished with hard labor but that was the punishment for everything. Trade? That was mostly with the Dutch the british and the ocasional yank. Brazile was in theory our neighbor but it was rare to actually see one, few wanted to live in the jungle and that was everything here. Other latin countries? Also rare, the spanish squeltched trade as much as possible and few developed the sailing spirit.

I volunteered for Militia duty right off the boat.

Why? Well why not even if it was bad it would give me connections. Disipline was harsh, the food was terrible, the pay was low, but there were benifits. Our biggest enemy was the cossak's our term for the natives the savages. They would come in and they would raid and kill people. A few attempts at diplomacy were made but all failed.

But Parlament noticed that the cossaks had one thing we needed.

Women, my job was to crawl through the jungle and look for cossak villages, when we found one we would return to civilization and gather up overwheiling forces. Then we would surround the village and then strike in the dead of night while they were sleeping.

The men we killed, even small boys the women we would chain up or tie up. In this manner we would do two things. We would eliminate another enemy tribe and solve the imbalance between men and women. The cossak girls would be given to a single man and become his wife, and they wouldn't be allowed to leave the city walls to make sure they stayed said mans wife.

The benifit of being in the miltia was that the miltiia men got first pick. Once a girl was picked she was baptized and married and that was that. Some times their new husbands were kind some times they were not but it was very much decided that any children between a pole and a cossak would be considered legally polish.

Unlike the british or the dutch we couldn't throw people away because of the circumstances of their birth because the land was harsh, more people were always coming and the cossak forces were always out there.

 

[ATP]

All plausible.
And,you just aborted polish uprisings in 1830 and 1863.
Which change History - 1830 uprising prevented tsar from sending his army to destroy Belgium and change regime in France.
Now,those troops would be send - and face french,belg,and english troops without support.
They would lost.
We get weakened Russia which do not like prussia and Austria/they do not help them/,and poles could get some autonomy.

In 1848 Russia would not help Austria,so we would have free Hungary.And autonomy for poles in Austria,too.

What next? WW1 would still happen,but would Russia ally with England,after they humilitated them in 1830?
So many changes,all thanks to one small island !

P.S New Poland militarized and without racial idiocy - very probable.They could made few pacts with indians,and but black womans - to marry them,too.
Result?
New Poland in 1918 would be racially mixed.If Poland state would emerge here,it would benot racist like in OTL
/Even polish nationalist in OTL were not racist - they were against jews becouse of economy,not race/

 

[Cherico]

David Novac



The first true mass migrations to new poland started in 1815, In 1845 the colony finally reached 1 million inhabitants. The Junta that ruled our country had to deal with hostile tribes but the true biggest killer was Malaria. But the Junta was very practical people were encouraged to have as many children as possible. There was always a influx of new people mostly criminals and a few potential rebels.

The first 30 years were the hard times, the Junta concentrated on settling the coasts. First the ocean and then the rivers. The problem was that we only had 460 kilometers of navigable water ways with a proper ship, you could of course get to over 3000 kilometers if you were willing to go really tiny with your ships.

For those first 30 years all any one thought about was survival, even if you couldn't make it the idea was at least some small part of poland would. That's honestly what kept us all away from each others throats, what kept us from killing each other and letting us be devoured by the land like so many colonies before hand.

We were it, there was no home to go back to, the cossaks wanted to murder us all, the land wanted to murder us all and the opressors back home gleefully laughed at our misfortune. Out of spite we desired to live. So we built wooden walls around our villages. We sent out teams to find the cossak villages and kill all of the men and take the women. To strengthen our own numbers and weaken theirs.

To drive them out to save ourselves.

Internationally we were completely irrelevant. The Dutch would buy our goods and sell goods from the civilized world at a mark up. The British would do like wise, the goods from the yanks were typically cheaper but of some what lower quality. Our relationship with brazil was words of sympathy but little else.

The monarchy there knew what it was like to lose ones homeland and to rely on their colony for survival and because of this they did not go after us when we were at our most vulnerable. Really that was our good fortune to be so irrelevent that we were in truth not even worth conquering.

Internationally? Well the Russians attempted to change the french government and crush some place called belgium and were promptly defeated, this happened in the 30s and there were revolts by the poles when they saw weakness. Revolts that were put down by Prussia and Austria. That resulted in another wave of repatrations of entire families.

These however came with more skills more education but we were focused on survival above all else, and we focused on that. It was when our 1 million people mark was hit that we reached the point where we had defeated the land, or at least were at the point where our survival was finally assured.

In 1845, the Junta sat down and talked with the people.

The fact was, conditions were bad, real bad. Rationing was still in effect only 2% of the land was arable, and most of our population was young, children. A million people sounds well and good but starvation was a threat the lands soil was horrible and it took a lot of trial and error to make it bear fruit.

What we needed was industry, real industry.

The only thing we had was fish, and wood and that was hardly enough to build a force to retake the homeland to defeat our enemies. To this end we looked for friends for countries that could sponsor us, to be our allies. We also looked for education and knowlege and what ever we could copy beg borrow or steal.

We had secured our countries survival now we had to build the industry needed to take it back. I think one thing that helped us in this quest was that no one around us seemingly had any desire to have industry. The brazilian land lords dispised it, the colonies next door were banned from it and central america had little desire for it. We couldn't compete with europe or the united states but we saw that their was a nitch to be had in little south america and thus we started our industrial policy, and continued the pronatalist policies of yesteryear.

We all knew it would be hard work but the dream kept us focused and alive.

 

[ATP]

Now,wait for 1848 and catch more educated people fleeing from Europe.
Maybe take irish after their famine? they are catholics,too.
And Poland as island with factories for South America - it would work,at least till USA won cyvil war.You would be competitors then.
Brasil - if you help emperors there,they could keep power.Maybe with polish guard serving them?
Remember,polish mercaneries are another way to feed people!
Just like swiss till 19th century.

P.S you could mix offerts - deliver both industrial goods and mercaneries.This way Poland would have factories and good army,with many mercaneries which could be added to it.

 

[Cherico]

David Novac


3 years makes quite the difference.

There was a series of revolutions throughout europe during the year of 1848 and one of the many affected areas was prussian poland. Some agreements were made to appease the mob, after the ring leaders and their families were repatriated, some local autonomy, letting us teach polish in our schools nothing much though.

The results in austrian and Russian occupied poland were much the same, most of the refugees from the failed revolutions went to the united states, less went into the british empire. Very few people wanted to move to a land that long had the well deserved reputation as a death trap as a fresh green hell.

Only the most ardent of polish nationalists who got caught and their families moved here, thank god they were well educated well most of them, and they brought with them their books. The Junta organized their incorperation but their aid in developing industry was not free.

They wanted a say, and we wanted their skills, their money and their help. The decades of living on the edge of survival had made the leadership of the Junta pragmatic, most of them knew they were near the end of their lives. So an agreement was made for a consitutional convention.

The new commers were distraut to find that most of the people of Poland wanted the Junta to retain some power. They had democracy and republics and freedom in their eyes. But for those of us who had settled and grown up in the Green hell of New Poland and who had survived well the Junta had proven their worth.

Yes every decision they made was based around survival but for all of that they had been fair and we trusted them not to get us killed. The new commers had education, and they came with books and some amount of money but they hadn't been forged through the hard times or tamed the land, fought against the natives for life itself.

They had not been forced to make the moral compromises needed to survive in this land and they looked soft to us. But we understood that the weapons we possessed were drastically out of date, that our land was poor and with out industry sooner or later we would be at the mercy of the great powers around us.

I was an aid to the Junta at the time and when things were settled the new commers demanded that we build a navy and take the fight to europe to liberate the old home land. It was then we explained why that couldn't happen. The enemy was far away and had more money, more numbers, more industry. As we were, we were too weak to retake the homeland.

We had all made our peace with our revenge being a thing of generations, the new comers hadn't though and I remember them feeling crushed, but as the months passed and we had our first elections they made their peace with what we called the long plan.

Taxes from the logging and fishing industries were piled into new light industry. A few miners and people who had studied geology walked with us. Ours was a poor country and we searched for a tool that would let us find some way to build ourselves up some way to gain relevance.

In Omai we found it, we found the thing that would allow us to have a shot at building up our strengh in that place the polish people found gold.

 

[ATP]

Now,add irish females from famine.
And - i love fremeen vibe which you gave to Nowa Polska.People who would wait for generations to win.
When WW1 happen,they would help Poland - and made sure,that it not fall easily.
I think,that you just butterflied soviets.

But - 1863 first.There would be no polish uprising,which mean Russia would help Austria in 1866 - and get crushed for its troubles.
What next?

i see few possibilities:

1.Russia nad Austria attack prussians in 1870 with catholics german help.Prussia destroyed,no WW1,no independent Poland.
Or,WW1 against powerfull Russia.

2.Austria and Russia lick their woulnds,but during WW1 A-H fight against germans,germans crushed,no independent Poland

3.Russia,France,A-H against Germany,England,Italy and Turkey.Dunno,who would win.
Those supported by USA ?

All in all - interesting settling.I start found more polish inventors for you,except Ignacy Łukasiewicz.

 

[Cherico]

David Novac



The Polish gold rush was not like the gold rushes you saw up north. The yankee's were more freewilling about who was allowed to pan for gold in america, the land there was less harsh, and wasn't nearly as leathal. The government saw those mines not as the resource that would pay for everything else we needed.

Machine equipment, books, improved infostructure, an actual navy, so they were nationalized and what ever gold came out was split between the miners and the government, the only people allowed to mine gold were ethnic poles, citizens basically and the militia protected those fields with guns.

Its likely that wouldn't have been enough if a great power got serious about it. The British looked in our direction but they had rushes in the Klondike and in Australia, and their south African gains and invading us seemed to be a waste when they most likely knew they would get that gold in trade anyways.

The French having learned of our reserves worried us more but both the Yankees and the English had no desire to allow the french to have a foot hold in south america, and I think at the end of the day the French like wise realized that we were going to go on a buying spree with those resources.

The Military forced disipline upon the spending, the generals and navy declared that the gold was a limited resource and our quest to regain our sacred homeland was a marathon not a sprint. Thus the old, coinage which was considered worthless by the outside world was still used. Debt was avoided, we had seen how both the French and the British had used debt to entrap the other country's of south america and had only avoided that trap because we had been considered well worthless and doomed.

Still the new elected government was allowed to have some victories. Roads were considered useful and allowed, and improved educational system was approved but with the caviet that practical skills would be prioritized over the humanities. The military wanted tradesmen not poets, and though they grated under the militaries veto compromise was held.

While this went on the Irish potato famine brought us some relief, we were able to lure away some of the women to be mail order brides, not many but some. This helped us cope with the countries continuing gender imbalance which was still bad but not as bad as it used to be.

While this happened there was a limited modernization of the outdated polish milatary, we understood that we simply did not have the industry to build anything strong and buying overseas would plunge our nation into ruin. Thus restraint was practiced, enough navy to keep the shores safe and to train future sailors. Enough weapons to keep the militia well armed but not enough to cause our neighbors alarm.

The hard truth of the mater and one that we had long accepted was numbers, industry and money. Fact is Austria, Prussia, Russia. We couldn't beat them in a strait fight but we had sympathizers, we had a group of people who would make for useful spies in all three empires and all of them had rivals.

If we couldn't win by force then it was decided we would win by guile, spys were cheaper then ships and that would be the method for which we would fight our enemies.

 

[Batrix2070]

If we couldn't win by force then it was decided we would win by guile, spys were cheaper then ships and that would be the method for which we would fight our enemies.

So what? In this version of the world there will be a conspiracy theory about how the Poles unleashed World War I?

 

[WolfBear]

So what? In this version of the world there will be a conspiracy theory about how the Poles unleashed World War I?

 

[bintananth]

I'm liking this.

I do wonder if you have thoughts on how the relationship between the US and Nowa Polska develops post-1865.

I imagine it would be a fairly friendly - American paternalism aside - due to the location making it a good stopover point for shipping stuff from the East and West coasts of the US which has to go around Cape Horn pre-Panama Canal because the railroads of the day can't handle it.

Fast forward to the 1960s and it's in pretty much in one of the two ideal spots for launching a satellite intended to be geostationary.

 

[ATP]

So what? In this version of the world there will be a conspiracy theory about how the Poles unleashed World War I?

If prussians get smashed in 1870 by combined might of France,Austria and Russia,there would be no WW1.
But,if they win like in OTL,then germans would certainly blame us for their stupidity.
And,thanks to smarter poles from Nowa Polska,we could not have WW2 at all,becouse they made us smash either soviet or germans when they still be weak.

Who created that,and when? Considered,that we are showed as apemans,author is either german or jew.

 

[Cherico]

Marian Kałuski-The american question



The relationship between Poland and America started out mixed.

Yes it is true through great personal expense the american's created a land for the disposed polish people, but the land was terrible, and it took generations of work with a lot of suffering and death to make it a place were people could live. Hence the urband slang of yankee gift. Meaning a horrible present given by some one who means well.

Like a hidious sweater gifted to you by a grandmother for those who live in colder places. The polish people's feelings expecially during the early days were decidedly mixed, yes we had and independent country and a place the polish people were free, but it was a place where we were free to suffer.

The difference between a hungry wolf and a fed dog, though not greatly fed in some of occupied poland. To this end relations in those early days were quite frosty. The yankees were more occupied with settling their lands and dealing with their own internal issues and Nowa Polska was more concerned with survival in general.

Other then trade the two countries really had little to do with one another, its not that the polish people were entirely ungrateful having some land even terrible land gave the poles the ability to resist and a chance to fight back but it was a green hell. It was only with the discovery of gold in Polish lands that relations improved.

The Polish people quickly came to the conclusion that the united states was the great power of the america's and that realistically there was no way for them to ever challange them for that position. They also understood that they had to placate the French, British, and Brazilian interests who were also stronger then them.

Thankfully relations with its closest neighbor Brazil was actually good during the early years as the royal family sympathized with the new country, with the discovery of gold the same royal family gave congratulations and privately squelched the voices that called for conquest of the country.

During america's civil war Poland made what many consider to be the wise decision to stay out of it. Not meddling in american affairs, they also stayed out of Frances attempt to turn mexico into a puppet state. The country instead focused on building up its industry and enough of a military to defend themselves.

With the end of the civil war came a reprochment with the united states. Some of the bitterness of the long exile was gone and Poland decided to make more of an effort to remain in the countries good graces. The american's for their part looked at the country as a useful stop off point for yankee traders heading to the west coast.

The relationship between the two would remain shaky and some what cold for the duration of the 1800s.

 

[ATP]

Brasilia - they should help emperors keep theirs throne.Maybe some polish palace guard?
Since many magnates in Poland still had their palaces,they could deliver real winged hussarl armours for parades!

USA - Łukasiewicz could start developing oil industry in Texas.Still having connection with New Poland.

More important now - how prussian conqest of Germany could go in this TL - becouse,if they get unlucky,combined might of France,Russia and Austria could smash them here.Which mean no WW1.When mean no independent Poland.

 

[Cherico]

If prussians get smashed in 1870 by combined might of France,Austria and Russia,there would be no WW1.
But,if they win like in OTL,then germans would certainly blame us for their stupidity.
And,thanks to smarter poles from Nowa Polska,we could not have WW2 at all,becouse they made us smash either soviet or germans when they still be weak.


Who created that,and when? Considered,that we are showed as apemans,author is either german or jew.

Or Russian also it isn't always us jews

 

[ATP]

Or Russian also it isn't always us jews

No,postsoviets would show us wearing sarmatians garments.They really have big inferiority complex about us.
Germans and jews - not so,those who hate us show us looking like demihumans.

 

[WolfBear]

Who created that,and when? Considered,that we are showed as apemans,author is either german or jew.

Or a Russian lol!

 

[Cherico]

You who were so proud, who ousted my father who proclaimed your greatness who kicked me out of the home of my birth, where did your vainglory bring you? Right back to me. -Empress Isabel of Brazil



Luís Filipe de Saldanha da Gama- Former Brazlian Abmiral


It was intended to be a quick victorious war. Brazil at the time of the war of 1880 had around 12 million people. Poland at the time had a around 2 million people, rounding down. We outnumbered them 6 to 1, our country was much larger much richer and though their industry was better that was mostly due to the fact that most of us took little interest in industry and its not like the Poles at the time were industrial giants.

They were not like the yankees or a euroean country their industry was the best in south america yes but that was mostly due to the fact that their was little desire for industry there period. We had just kicked the former emperor and his daughter out of the country, and after kicking any royalists out of their posts we decided that the single best way to secure the new regimes legitimacy and right to rule was a quick victorious war.

The problem was that when we purged the government of royalists we also ended up purging some of our best generals and quite a few of the people who understood logistics, and we had also deeply underestimated the smaller country. We started the war by sending the Poles a message. If they agreed to surrender they would be allowed to vote in brazilan elections and have political rights and we would slowly phase out polish as a language, if they agreed to surrender.

If they didn't we would obliterate them as a country seize all of their wealth and ban all forms of the polish language and all symbols of that dead nation.

We recieved a message from then president Kazimierz Bartel.

"Never again."

Just two words and the war started.

We sent our troops to march north confident in victory. We didn't include nearly enough food, supplies, or medical personal or even the right clothing for jungle fighting. The vast majority of troops sent in that first wave ended up being killed by disease, thirst, or hunger. The remainder were but pale reflections when they arrived in polish territory.

There were no survivors.

We then sent another larger group of men, they got lost and ended up attacking a brazilian town and burning it down to the ground by mistake.

In the third attempt our men went along the coast we had decided that attacking through polands soft under belly was not the wisest decision. But it was a long journey and our men arrived to the Polish boarders tired and exausted, the Poles attacked during the night and destroyed the armies food supply. The Poles fought like men possessed our exausted troops were routed and fled, with out the food many did not survive the journey back home.

It was not as the papers said the will of the polish people that defeated us. The environment of new poland was a green hell and the poles knew the lay of the land better then us. They used repeaters while we still used flintlock weapontry of the 1860s. Our lack of attention to logistics meant that we never sent enough supplies.

On the sea well, we had not modernized and still used wooden ships, the polish ships were often smaller but were ironclads and our weapons were not as effective against them. It is to my shame that a part of our defeat was my fault I did not spend enough time training my men how to use their guns. The polish drilled their sailors in the art quite hard and they were aggressive.

Many times on sea we would outnumber the Poles ten to one and would lose badly. By the 3rd year of the war the people of brazil had started to turn on us. Calling this a stupid senseless waste of life, in desperation we turned to the Poles traditional enemy and started to beg them to aid us in this war on poland.

The yankee's sent representatives to tell the Germans that they would consider an attack on poland to be a violation of the Monroe doctrine and that if we went forward they would declare war on both Brazil and Germany. I laughed it off but Bizmark apparently did not and cautioned against Germany entering the war.

The 4th year of the war came and the losses increased and we offered germany half of the land if they simply joined us. Their navy could easily destroy the small Polish fleet. To our joy the emperor aggreed to send a fleet of 30 ships to destroy the Polish one. Their fleet was modern and could easily destroy the less advanced polish one with the brazilian fleet backing them. We arrived ready for violence.

Our allied navy coming close to Polish waters I felt victory as I saw the polish fleet ready to meet ours. And then I heard the sound of cannons. I looked around and froze seeing a fleet of over a hundred ships.

The americans had arrived.

 

[Cherico]

Admiral Max von der Goltz



This whole effort was a fools errand, the minute I saw the yankee ships I understood that the war was lost. Its not because I thought them a force stronger then Germany of course. It was simply this, if the American's were willing to go to war over this issue even if we won the battle which was unlikely. We would face the fact that they could easily wreak our logistics the german navy quite simply put wasn't capable of projecting power all the way to the america's if a hostle country with a sizable navy was fighting us.

I would have made the same decision if the British had shown up.

From the moment they arrived I fully understood that this could escalate beyond all control. So I hoisted the white flag and sent a representative to talk to the american's. After all at this point in time we had lost no men and spent no great treasure so if we simply surrendered here the loss of prestige would not be that hard.

That said another factor in my decision was that the brazilian navy was mostly impressed merchant ships at this point not true warships. The enemy on both sides had actual warships. Once the Brazilian navy was demolished which wouldn't take that long my ships would be outnumbered and have no realistic way to get resupply even if we did win which was unlikely because the American's flanked us and the polish held the other side.

So yes I put up the white flag and sent a man to request terms. Once the only group with actual ships surrendered the Brazilians put up their white flag as well. Brazil's leader one Prudente de Morais and many other members of his cabnet had been so confident in the victory of this mission that he had joined in the attack to see his victory in person.

Upon finding out they had captured the President of Brazil well the war was pretty much over.

The American's were decidedly reasonable, we were forced to agree to sign a treaty where we aggreed to reconize the monroe doctrone and stay out of the western hemisphere but we were not forced to pay any reperations, or give over any land and were allowed to leave in peace.

We gained nothing, but we also lost nothing.

The Brazilians got off light, they were given a choice of either giving the Poles the Amapa region of Brazil or pay reperations to the brazlian government. Since the government had more or less bankupted themselves in their ill founded war. They chose the land. It was honestly pretty much nothing to the Brazlians very few people lived there, and the land was of ill quality and brazil was a large country.

But Poland a country of roughly 83,000 square kilometers to a nation of 226,000 square kilometers more then tripling its size, so for the Poles this was treated as a massive victory. When I went home I expected to be kicked out of the service but instead when I arrived Bizmark had used the war as a way to purge his political enemies.

I was treated as the wise Admiral who had kept us out of a much worse conflict. The German public basically just treated it all as a simple mistake. Things for the Brazillians however were much worse. The young republic had been entirely disgraced by its defeat, and were deposed by a military that blamed them for said defeat.

The new government begged the Royal family to return, it would be a consitutional republic and Queen Isabel would have much less power then her father but one thing she got was the right for the Queen to Veto any declation of war by Parlament. I retired after that and decided to focus on writing, the polish adventure was a small part of my life and when people look back on it they will see it for the insignificant event it was.