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Description
Napoleon Bonaparte died shortly after Thomas Jefferson did in 1826. With his dying breath, he named his son Napoleon II as his successor--the new Lord-Protector of Europe. It was unknown whether this was even constitutional in the Commonwealth, which quietly avoided the topic of executive succession by design. It was always expected that the issue would be miraculously solved somewhere down the line, and now, with both of its leading figureheads dead, the Commonwealth had a serious problem.

During his life, Thomas Jefferson had no real desire to ever personally rule the Commonwealth. In fact, in the event that Napoleon passed away before him, he actually favoured the Marquis of La Fayette, now simply called Gilbert Lafayette, as the ideal Lord-Protector. Napoleon's son was raised quite sheltered, born after the revolution began. He knew no hardships, was incredibly young, and was considered by Jefferson and his Agrarians as being inappropriate for leadership. So when both Napoleon and Jefferson died, his Agrarians demanded the issue be put to a vote in European Parliament. The Bonapartists, more traditionally conservative and favouring a return to paternal succession, were vehemently opposed to denying the dying wish of the man who had conquered Europe.

When the aging Lafayette made a public statement that he had no desire to be Lord-Protector, the Agrarians begrudgingly accepted Napoleon II as the new Head of State of the Commonwealth. During his reign he delegated much of his authority to Parliament, preferring to act as a ceremonial leader instead of taking the active role of his father. Being 17 years old, he was far more concerned with hosting lavish parties and spending the Commonwealth's money than administrating it. The only time he ever took advantage of his powers was vetoing a bill which would have limited government expenditures--an effort by the Agrarians to curtail his lifestyle.

What he lacked in political leadership, he more than made up for in the battlefield. Like his father, the young Napoleon was a military genius. Invasions staged by German exiles in Livonia to retake Prussia were stopped in their tracks, and turned around completely. In spite of Jefferson's urging to Napoleon I to not bother with Russia, Napoleon II made quick work of the Tsar's armies. Livonia, Lithuania, and Ruthenia were claimed for the Commonwealth, setting up protectorates and adding more and more member states to the Commonwealth.

Turkey, as well, became a target in the eye of the young Napoleon II, now affectionately called "L'Aiglon" (the Eaglet) by his soldiers. Spreading his proverbial wings around Turkey's possessions in Europe, the Eaglet freed Wallachia and Moldavia from Ottoman yoke.

Not all was well, however. Napoleon II was hardly a popular Lord-Protector, and his refusal to grant Lafayette a state funeral in 1836 drew considerable ire from the Agrarians. Equally offensive was his various measures to enrich the Catholic church, including the establishment of an independent papacy in Rome, when the Commonwealth was, in theory, a completely secular institution. The Eaglet became more and more withdrawn from his Parliament, sometimes taking months to sign bills into law, blaming his military adventures for the delays.

Invited by Simon Bolivar to tour the Federal Republic of Colombia, the Eaglet made leave of the Commonwealth in 1836. He left his older cousin, Charles-Louis, in charge of the Commonwealth, intending to be gone for at least a year. While this immediately outraged parliament, who were constitutionally guaranteed supremacy in the absence of the Lord-Protector, Charles-Louis won over both factions by actually participating in parliamentary procedures.

Clearly unhappy with his cousin's style of leadership, Charles-Louis eliminated his own salary and surrendered much of the Bonaparte estate to the Commonwealth. He recommended moving the capital to Strasbourg, a far more central location and seen as less preferential to France's position in the union. The war with Russia was ended, and he even put out feelers for a detente with the United Kingdom.

Charles-Louis signed multiple bills coming through parliament, including the final implementation of the metric system throughout the entire Commonwealth and introducing Civil Law to the final holdouts in Prussia and Poland.

Napoleon II's year in Colombia quickly turned into 18 months, and then 2 years. A Lord-Protector in absentia was no Lord-Protector at all. This attitude had even spread to the least stronghard Bonapartists, who were beginning to wonder if Charles-Louis should do away with the legal fiction of his regency and simply take the position for himself. While the Agrarians were understandably annoyed that their republic was once again flirting with hereditary succession, they much preferred the agreeable Charles-Louis to his absent cousin.

By the slimmest of margins, Charles-Louis was declared Lord-Protector of the Commonwealth of Europe on July 1st, 1838. The news had clearly made its way to South America as Napoleon II's ship arrived in Nantes just three months later. With a retinue of soldiers, he marched to Paris. Any parliamentarians who resided in Paris were arrested. The rest were declared persona non grata unless they returned to recognising him as Lord-Protector.

Charles-Louis, with his Strasbourg parliament, passed a bill declaring a pretender and ineligible for the position ever again. Unfortunately, all they had were words. When news arrived that the Eaglet had raised an even larger army and was marching toward Strasbourg, they fled to Prussia where Charles-Louis was the most popular.

With parliament and Charles-Louis gone from France, it seemed as though Napoleon II had restored his own brand of order to the Commonwealth. He had the Pope declare him the rightful Lord-Protector, an action with infuriated the regional parliaments of nearly half of the protectorates. In the early months of 1839, Prussia, Denmark, Livonia, Batavia, Hungary, and the Rheinbund all declared their support for Charles-Louis, with Austria and Poland soon to follow. With France under his control, and with Spain, Italy, Venice, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Helvetica and the still military-occupied Wallachia and Moldavia either too meek to rebel or in full agreement with the Pope on his side, the Eaglet went to war.

The Commonwealth Civil War was a less of a civil war and more of a large police action. Charles-Louis was not his cousin or his uncle--he was quite inept as a general. Poland quickly switched sides, and his pledged protectorates were completely surrounded by loyalists to Napoleon II. After a particularly decisive battle near Frankfurt in 1843, the disgraced regent attempted to flee to Britain, but was apprehended and brought into custody.

The Eaglet had asserted himself. No man or parliament could take away his birthright--and that was something he wanted to guarantee for the rest of his life. Abandoning all pretenses of republicanism, Napoleon II was crowned Emperor by the Pope in Rome in 1845. While this was a tremendous shock to everyone around Europe, they could do nothing but watch as the principles of the Commonwealth were undone in an instant. Napoleon II would take his rightful place--in his eyes anyway--as the sovereign of the entire continent of Europe.

Or so he thought.

There were still those who supported Charles-Louis. In fact, as the years went by it became clear that his life was a liability on the Empire. Napoleon II had him publicly executed: a warning to all those who would dare question the new order. This did not have the intended effect. The crowd became absolutely distraught at the sight of their beloved ex-ruler's decapitation by guillotine. Paris erupted, and with it, Europe.

The Revolution of 1848 was the most significant act of civil disobedience in human history. Expecting a triumphant show of force, Napoleon II stood in full military regalia, looming over his dead cousin's body. Completely unprepared for the response, the commoners flooded the site of execution. The Emperor's soldiers put up token resistance but ultimately relented, letting the crowd swarm the Eaglet. Within minutes he was being hanged by his own entrails over the streets of Paris.

The rest of the continent exploded in violent revolt. Known Bonapartists were killed by the mob all over Europe. It was absolute anarchy. Smelling blood, the German princes launched another invasion alongside Sweden-Norway, attempting to put an end to the republican experiment once and for all, but were shocked to see the serfs in Russia join alongside the revolutionaries. Irrespective of national borders, after thousands of years of oppression, Europe was set ablaze by the peasants. By the end of it all, Turkey found itself ejected from the Balkans. Scandinavia and Finland fell to revolt. The Russian Tsar had to flee from St Petersburg to Moscow, and flee once again to Kazan, and finally, Alaska.

Out of the ashes emerged a new Europe. Jefferson's agrarian communes would finally, after over half a century, be put into practice. Britain looked across the channel with increasing nervousness as the Communes of Europe were born, a confederation of autonomous collectives, with no kings or emperors, princes or dukes in sight.

Not content with letting the former Commonwealth have all the fun, an impromptu republic was declared in Russia, as well. However, unlike Europe, the old ways were still in full force. In the Tsar's absence, the German nobles could finally do away with kowtowing to his rules. No, they would rule Russia their way, as a base of operations to finally retake Europe. Unfortunately, nobility has a habit of conflicting ambitions. Who should lead this new Russia? A Habsburg? A Hohenzollern? Some other, significantly less important family? "To the strongest," they declared, each carving themselves their own personal fiefdom in this new Russian republic. A stooge of a president finds himself in Arkhangelsk, content building snowmen while his nation is torn at the seems.

To the south, the Cossacks have made it their mission to take back Ruthenia, kill the invaders, dispose the president, and bring Russia back to its former glory. They've signed a pact with the Kalmyks to help repel the Persians and Turks to their southern border.

The complete embarrassment of losing all of Rumelia to revolting peasants deligitimised the House of Osman to the entire Ottoman Empire. Muhammad Ali's final act as governor of Egypt was to supplant the ruling dynasty with his own, signing a pact with Persia and Oman to partition the empire's territories among themselves. They stand at the eastern side of Constantinople, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Description
Napoleon Bonaparte died shortly after Thomas Jefferson did in 1826. With his dying breath, he named his son Napoleon II as his successor--the new Lord-Protector of Europe. It was unknown whether this was even constitutional in the Commonwealth, which quietly avoided the topic of executive succession by design. It was always expected that the issue would be miraculously solved somewhere down the line, and now, with both of its leading figureheads dead, the Commonwealth had a serious problem.

During his life, Thomas Jefferson had no real desire to ever personally rule the Commonwealth. In fact, in the event that Napoleon passed away before him, he actually favoured the Marquis of La Fayette, now simply called Gilbert Lafayette, as the ideal Lord-Protector. Napoleon's son was raised quite sheltered, born after the revolution began. He knew no hardships, was incredibly young, and was considered by Jefferson and his Agrarians as being inappropriate for leadership. So when both Napoleon and Jefferson died, his Agrarians demanded the issue be put to a vote in European Parliament. The Bonapartists, more traditionally conservative and favouring a return to paternal succession, were vehemently opposed to denying the dying wish of the man who had conquered Europe.

When the aging Lafayette made a public statement that he had no desire to be Lord-Protector, the Agrarians begrudgingly accepted Napoleon II as the new Head of State of the Commonwealth. During his reign he delegated much of his authority to Parliament, preferring to act as a ceremonial leader instead of taking the active role of his father. Being 17 years old, he was far more concerned with hosting lavish parties and spending the Commonwealth's money than administrating it. The only time he ever took advantage of his powers was vetoing a bill which would have limited government expenditures--an effort by the Agrarians to curtail his lifestyle.

What he lacked in political leadership, he more than made up for in the battlefield. Like his father, the young Napoleon was a military genius. Invasions staged by German exiles in Livonia to retake Prussia were stopped in their tracks, and turned around completely. In spite of Jefferson's urging to Napoleon I to not bother with Russia, Napoleon II made quick work of the Tsar's armies. Livonia, Lithuania, and Ruthenia were claimed for the Commonwealth, setting up protectorates and adding more and more member states to the Commonwealth.

Turkey, as well, became a target in the eye of the young Napoleon II, now affectionately called "L'Aiglon" (the Eaglet) by his soldiers. Spreading his proverbial wings around Turkey's possessions in Europe, the Eaglet freed Wallachia and Moldavia from Ottoman yoke.

Not all was well, however. Napoleon II was hardly a popular Lord-Protector, and his refusal to grant Lafayette a state funeral in 1836 drew considerable ire from the Agrarians. Equally offensive was his various measures to enrich the Catholic church, including the establishment of an independent papacy in Rome, when the Commonwealth was, in theory, a completely secular institution. The Eaglet became more and more withdrawn from his Parliament, sometimes taking months to sign bills into law, blaming his military adventures for the delays.

Invited by Simon Bolivar to tour the Federal Republic of Colombia, the Eaglet made leave of the Commonwealth in 1836. He left his older cousin, Charles-Louis, in charge of the Commonwealth, intending to be gone for at least a year. While this immediately outraged parliament, who were constitutionally guaranteed supremacy in the absence of the Lord-Protector, Charles-Louis won over both factions by actually participating in parliamentary procedures.

Clearly unhappy with his cousin's style of leadership, Charles-Louis eliminated his own salary and surrendered much of the Bonaparte estate to the Commonwealth. He recommended moving the capital to Strasbourg, a far more central location and seen as less preferential to France's position in the union. The war with Russia was ended, and he even put out feelers for a detente with the United Kingdom.

Charles-Louis signed multiple bills coming through parliament, including the final implementation of the metric system throughout the entire Commonwealth and introducing Civil Law to the final holdouts in Prussia and Poland.

Napoleon II's year in Colombia quickly turned into 18 months, and then 2 years. A Lord-Protector in absentia was no Lord-Protector at all. This attitude had even spread to the least stronghard Bonapartists, who were beginning to wonder if Charles-Louis should do away with the legal fiction of his regency and simply take the position for himself. While the Agrarians were understandably annoyed that their republic was once again flirting with hereditary succession, they much preferred the agreeable Charles-Louis to his absent cousin.

By the slimmest of margins, Charles-Louis was declared Lord-Protector of the Commonwealth of Europe on July 1st, 1838. The news had clearly made its way to South America as Napoleon II's ship arrived in Nantes just three months later. With a retinue of soldiers, he marched to Paris. Any parliamentarians who resided in Paris were arrested. The rest were declared persona non grata unless they returned to recognising him as Lord-Protector.

Charles-Louis, with his Strasbourg parliament, passed a bill declaring a pretender and ineligible for the position ever again. Unfortunately, all they had were words. When news arrived that the Eaglet had raised an even larger army and was marching toward Strasbourg, they fled to Prussia where Charles-Louis was the most popular.

With parliament and Charles-Louis gone from France, it seemed as though Napoleon II had restored his own brand of order to the Commonwealth. He had the Pope declare him the rightful Lord-Protector, an action with infuriated the regional parliaments of nearly half of the protectorates. In the early months of 1839, Prussia, Denmark, Livonia, Batavia, Hungary, and the Rheinbund all declared their support for Charles-Louis, with Austria and Poland soon to follow. With France under his control, and with Spain, Italy, Venice, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Helvetica and the still military-occupied Wallachia and Moldavia either too meek to rebel or in full agreement with the Pope on his side, the Eaglet went to war.

The Commonwealth Civil War was a less of a civil war and more of a large police action. Charles-Louis was not his cousin or his uncle--he was quite inept as a general. Poland quickly switched sides, and his pledged protectorates were completely surrounded by loyalists to Napoleon II. After a particularly decisive battle near Frankfurt in 1843, the disgraced regent attempted to flee to Britain, but was apprehended and brought into custody.

The Eaglet had asserted himself. No man or parliament could take away his birthright--and that was something he wanted to guarantee for the rest of his life. Abandoning all pretenses of republicanism, Napoleon II was crowned Emperor by the Pope in Rome in 1845. While this was a tremendous shock to everyone around Europe, they could do nothing but watch as the principles of the Commonwealth were undone in an instant. Napoleon II would take his rightful place--in his eyes anyway--as the sovereign of the entire continent of Europe.

Or so he thought.

There were still those who supported Charles-Louis. In fact, as the years went by it became clear that his life was a liability on the Empire. Napoleon II had him publicly executed: a warning to all those who would dare question the new order. This did not have the intended effect. The crowd became absolutely distraught at the sight of their beloved ex-ruler's decapitation by guillotine. Paris erupted, and with it, Europe.

The Revolution of 1848 was the most significant act of civil disobedience in human history. Expecting a triumphant show of force, Napoleon II stood in full military regalia, looming over his dead cousin's body. Completely unprepared for the response, the commoners flooded the site of execution. The Emperor's soldiers put up token resistance but ultimately relented, letting the crowd swarm the Eaglet. Within minutes he was being hanged by his own entrails over the streets of Paris.

The rest of the continent exploded in violent revolt. Known Bonapartists were killed by the mob all over Europe. It was absolute anarchy. Smelling blood, the German princes launched another invasion alongside Sweden-Norway, attempting to put an end to the republican experiment once and for all, but were shocked to see the serfs in Russia join alongside the revolutionaries. Irrespective of national borders, after thousands of years of oppression, Europe was set ablaze by the peasants. By the end of it all, Turkey found itself ejected from the Balkans. Scandinavia and Finland fell to revolt. The Russian Tsar had to flee from St Petersburg to Moscow, and flee once again to Kazan, and finally, Alaska.

Out of the ashes emerged a new Europe. Jefferson's agrarian communes would finally, after over half a century, be put into practice. Britain looked across the channel with increasing nervousness as the Communes of Europe were born, a confederation of autonomous collectives, with no kings or emperors, princes or dukes in sight.

Not content with letting the former Commonwealth have all the fun, an impromptu republic was declared in Russia, as well. However, unlike Europe, the old ways were still in full force. In the Tsar's absence, the German nobles could finally do away with kowtowing to his rules. No, they would rule Russia their way, as a base of operations to finally retake Europe. Unfortunately, nobility has a habit of conflicting ambitions. Who should lead this new Russia? A Habsburg? A Hohenzollern? Some other, significantly less important family? "To the strongest," they declared, each carving themselves their own personal fiefdom in this new Russian republic. A stooge of a president finds himself in Arkhangelsk, content building snowmen while his nation is torn at the seems.

To the south, the Cossacks have made it their mission to take back Ruthenia, kill the invaders, dispose the president, and bring Russia back to its former glory. They've signed a pact with the Kalmyks to help repel the Persians and Turks to their southern border.

The complete embarrassment of losing all of Rumelia to revolting peasants deligitimised the House of Osman to the entire Ottoman Empire. Muhammad Ali's final act as governor of Egypt was to supplant the ruling dynasty with his own, signing a pact with Persia and Oman to partition the empire's territories among themselves. They stand at the eastern side of Constantinople, waiting for the right moment to strike.