British Imperialism of the 19th Century

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

British Imperialism of the 19th Century is an Alternate History written by member DAv. It can be read here.

The timeline starts off with Napoleon Bonaparte deciding, rather more practically, to attack St. Petersburg instead of Moscow, thus setting off a different Russian campaign. This action leads to a very different end to the Napoleonic Wars that by the twilight of the 19th century sees a very different world...


Tropes used in British Imperialism of the 19th Century include:
  • Balkanize Me: Happens to Japan, divided into a Russia-controlled northeast and an Imperial southwest, and the Austrian Empire. See also Divided States of America below.
  • Crazy Awesome: King Alfred of the United Kingdom. You can't help but be amazed at his world tour, or his lovable eccentricity. Same goes for Emperor Norton, who becomes literal Emperor of California.
  • Divided States of America: There are no less than five countries occupying the area of the United States, due to an overall lack of luck this timeline's United States has.
  • Dying Moment of Awesome: Tecumseh's death.
  • The Empire: Napoleonic France is this played straight. The British Commonwealth and the Empire of California, less so.
    • The resurgent China.
  • French Jerk: Napoleon I himself is a very nice guy compared to his grandson Napoleon III, who has a deep seated hatred for Germans due to the assassination of his father Napoleon II, and prefers the Latin (including French) and Slavic (including Polish) races, due to his descent from them.
  • Richard Nixon the Used Car Salesman: Sort of. While the personalities from our timeline have different names, the timeline has Sampson Clemens (equivalent to Mark Twain) becoming a racist demagogue, and later President of the United States, Josiah Norton becoming a real Emperor of California, and so on.
  • Rightful King Returns: Subverted. When Philippe, the Bourbon claimant to the French throne, attempts to establish his rule in France, he ends up getting killed by the Napoleonic troops.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Napoleon against Spain, for the death of his brother (and the king he installed there) Joseph. It doesn't go well for Napoleon, though.
  • Shout-Out: The first words Alexander, Prince of Wales says to his future Sioux wife in her language is something along the lines of "I will not buy this buffalo, it is scratched."
  • Took a Level In Badass: The Kingdom of Poland, full stop. Going from a small Napoleonic client state to a buffer state designed against Russian ambitions to a powerful state that manages to defeat both Prussia and Austria in the Four Years War should say something.