the Brazilian Empire
"Where is the goal of the Grand Armée?"
"Brazil. The Brazilian Empire. The Grand Armée wants to revolutionize the Brazilian Empire and turn it into a Brazilian Republic."
Bismarck sounds surprised.
But her words left me emotionless.
What do you expect from the French, who have cut the heads of kings and nobles so many times?
Besides, with the royalists and Bonaparte recently swept away, and the republicans in power-
"Wait, isn't the Grand Armée a royalist?"
"..."
"Why would the monarchists want to revolutionize the Brazilian empire and turn it into a republic, it doesn't make sense!"
Bismarck said, a little shaken by my words.
"Sometimes you have to compromise your ideals in order to survive."
"..."
"It's a world where countless republicans, socialists, and communists are compromising and accepting of reality, and in such a world, why would a royalist not compromise?"
"...What is the goal of the Grand Armée?"
"It seems to be to make Brazil, the hegemon of South America, a pro-French government and a temporary home for the Grand Armée."
***
The United States loses the Civil War.
This small war changed the course of world history in countless ways.
For starters, the Confederate States of America (CSA) broke apart, causing the United States to lose its hegemony over the North American continent.
With the loss of North American hegemony, how could the U.S. expect to dominate Central and South America?
This allowed Central and South America to rise in power without the interference and manipulation of the United States.
They now have 1.5 times the population and nearly twice the size of their original economies.
"Make Brazil great!"
"Long live Argentina!"
"Long live Mexico!"
Still, they were mere specks compared to the European powers, but at least they were useful pawns.
Not surprisingly, the Latin American powers of Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico chose sides.
Argentina sided with the British Empire.
Mexico sided with the French Republic and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Brazil is between Portugal and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Originally, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico were all under the influence of the French Empire during the Napoleonic era, but after the Battle of Waterloo, France lost influence in Brazil and Argentina, and almost lost Mexico in the Franco-Prussian War.
If Mexico hadn't been France's largest debtor, France would have been kicked out of Central America.
No?
Doesn't matter because we have the Caribbean islands and French Guyana?
Anyway, the French colonial empire couldn't be satisfied with just Mexico.
This time they went after Brazil, the largest territorial power in South America, the largest population, and the largest economy.
***
August 18, 1889.
Capital of the Brazilian Empire.
Rio de Janeiro.
A back alley in Rio de Janeiro, the center of the Brazilian empire of 14 million people.
It was filled with the smoke of cigarettes smoked by soldiers who looked like typical Frenchmen.
"Hmmm. What do you think?"
"What?"
"What do you mean, what do you think of these mongrels who mix the blood of the inferior natives with the superior whites?"
The Grand Armée soldier scratched his chin at his superior's words.
He thought for a moment, then answered.
"I don't know, I haven't really thought about it."
"I know. Maybe I'm weird for taking an interest in hybrids."
"Oh! I didn't mean that, I meant-"
"Huh. Don't worry, I understand everything you're saying, and I'm glad you don't go off on a human rights tirade like so many young people these days."
"..."
As the Grand Armée soldier's jaw dropped at his superior's words, a group of men and women dressed in the uniforms of the Brazilian Imperial Army walked in from the distance.
One of them, a young woman with a Caucasian complexion and the appearance of a general, waved to the Grand Armée soldiers.
"Oh, are you our reinforcements?"
It's the romantic 19th century, where pure whites still have a vested interest over mulattoes.
But she could have been a mulatto, with some native blood in her ancestry, just not in her skin color.
So he didn't bother to shake her hand.
The young Brazilian general knew this, but she didn't react.
It wasn't the first time Europeans had fucked with the Americas, calling them degenerate mongrels.
"Let's get right to the weapons, then, shall we?"
"Huh. I like how you cut right to the chase. Hey. Bring it."
"Yes!"
The Grand Armée soldiers pulled out a mountain of crates from behind them.
They set it down on the ground.
Sure enough, it contained French-made firearms.
"Oh! I thought you were going to give us some old, worn-out firearms, but these are surprisingly state-of-the-art, aren't they?"
"That's because we, the Grande Armée, have high hopes for the Brazilian Empire."
"Indeed. You have every reason to be intimidated by the German Empire's explosive rise in power and imperialistic behavior of late."
"..."
The young Brazilian general's words made her superior's jaw drop.
She had hit the nail on the head.
The anger, fear, and inferiority complex that the French Republic feels toward the German Empire.
"By the way, do you have any artillery besides guns?"
"...Do we really need artillery to capture a capital?"
"Maybe it's necessary? Apparently, Pedro II's mother was of Germanic descent. The daughter of Franz II, Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to be exact."
"..."
"I don't know about the German Empire, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire could be involved. Will your France, which has abandoned the United States of America, help us Brazilian Republicans when the time comes?"
Absolutely not.
The Grand Armée, recently exterminated by the French Republic, cannot afford to engage in all-out war with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which is often mocked as a pseudo-power.
Even if it could, it would be a bad idea to take on the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which is allied with the German Empire.
They'd rather use their resources and manpower to assassinate the Republicans in Paris.
"Tsk. Self-proclaimed Brazilian Republicans."
"What's wrong?"
"Do you think that if we provided them with artillery, they would be able to defeat the Brazilian Empire with certainty?"
"Of course! Hapo is the god of war!"
"..."
The latest cannons from the armory of the Grand Armée began to be smuggled into the Brazilian Empire.
And unlike ordinary firearms, the movements of the cannons, which are considered strategic weapons, were spotted by the German Reich's intelligence network.
It's just a cannon.
And because of it, history was changed forever.
***
October 8th.
Capital of the Brazilian Empire.
The Imperial Palace in Rio de Janeiro.
As expected of the imperial palace of a semi-powerful nation, the Real was lavishly decorated with jewels, precious metals, and marble.
The Empress of the Brazilian Empire.
Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga.
"...Is that true?"
She rattled the teacup she was holding at the German ambassador's words.
The German ambassador to Brazil understood her behavior.
He himself had fainted a year earlier when he heard the news of the Saxon-Prussian War.
-tremble
-tremble
-tremble
-tremble
"Is that information truly true?"
"Yes. It's accurate. In the first place, isn't it obvious enough that not only guns but artillery are coming from Paris, France, and that large quantities of gunpowder are being smuggled in from Chile?"
At the German Ambassador to Brazil's words, Pedro shook his head.
"I'm afraid we in the Brazilian Empire don't have an intelligence service like the great powers."
"Still, an inspection of the nobility-"
"-would give you an excuse to remove me from this very seat. The idea that the Emperor, a man of Portuguese descent, doesn't trust them, that they're preparing to sell all of South America to the Europeans, they're going to give a shit."
"..."
The German ambassador to Brazil could only nod in agreement.
As an ambassador, he had seen firsthand that the Brazilian empire, which had emerged from a former colony, was a nation of aristocrats.