French Trafalgar, British Waterloo (1831-1858)

Opening Moves of the Prussian Expansion War (1831)
Forces lead by General Hermann von Boyen, one of the reformers of the Prussian Army after the defeat during the Prussian Expansion War, marched across The Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and in the Battle of Poznan on April 27, routed the combined Polish-French Army, which left the way to Warsaw open, and was occupied on May 12. Napoleon II demanded that action be taken to try to divert Prussian attention, but Marshal Ney said the time wasn't right.

Austria-Hungary launched an invasion into Prussia from the south, but was halted at the Battle of Wroclaw, and were not able to push forward, but under orders of Emperor Francis I, did not retreat. Prussian cavalry units attacked the supply routes, which resulted in the starvation of the army throughout May and to July, when a relief force arrived.

The British Navy began a blockade of France, but France's newer fleet of well-built ships were able to puncture the blockade time and time again, and went to raid the British Merchant fleet at sea, which meant that the British eventually had to impose rationing as food supplies from Canada and the Empire were reduced to dangerous levels within the first few months of the war. The French Navy, on the other hand, was able to blockade the Spanish fleet in Cadiz and Barcelona, after Spain became more pro-British, and help land an expeditionary force in Jamaica, and annexed the island in August.

The Prussian Army, flush with success after crushing the "Polish problem," next turned toward the Confederation of the Rhine, and the massive French armies arrayed along the imposing border fortresses built in the 1820's. The French Generals believed that if they could stay on the defensive, and use the superior French artillery, the Prussian armies would be virtually destroyed. The Prussian plan was to try to outflank the French positions by driving through the weaker Austro-Hungarian Army, and when some forces would have to be diverted, the Prussians would use the opportunity to drive in the Confederation of the Rhine, annexing much of its territory. The overall plan was not to destroy the French Empire, just to bloody it into giving up land. The war was only going to last three months in the west, the Prussian General Staff claimed.

Operation "Blucher" was put into effect on July 25, and within the first few days, the Prussian army had drove deep into Moravia and Bohemia, capturing Prague on August 1, and having reached Austria proper on August 17. The Battle of Salzburg was an overwhelming Prussian victory, with the entire Austrian Army routed.

Napoleon II, seeing his ally in trouble, ordered four corps be diverted to Austria-Hungary from the Confederation of the Rhine, but Marshal Ney, Commander of the French Armies, sensed a trap, so only two, one from the North and one stationed on the Spanish border were sent. Italian reinforcements were sent to Vienna, and in the Battle of Tirol, the timely arrival of the Italian army prevented the Prussian army from breaking out. Further reinforcements from France drove the Prussian army out of Austria, and furthermore out of Bohemia and Moravia.

The "September Cease-fire"
A sense of uneasy calm then descended on Europe, as the Prussian army retreated to regroup, and the French and Austrian forces prepared defensive lines in Bohemia and Switzerland, the so called "September Cease-Fire." The only major actions were on the high seas, when the French Imperial Navy engaged the Royal Navy in the Battle of the English Channel. Although the battle was indecisive in the entire war, a major hero on either side emerged. Lieutenant Harold Frenway, commander of the frigate HMS Challenger, who managed to hold off three French ships of the line in the latter part of the battle, allowing the majority of the British Fleet to escape; and Captain Louis Phillipe, who bravely lead his own men in capturing the HMS Liberator, a major warship, when his command, the IFN Marshal was sunk. Both would return to their homelands as the victors of the Battle, while the admirals were publicly sacked for not destroying the other fleet.

The next major stage of the war took place in the south, with Italy and France sending a naval force to knock out Egypt, and the Suez Canal (partially completed by a joint English-Ottoman team), which Marshal Ney had claimed was to be "keystone" in any future empire. If Egypt was cut off, then England's link to India was effectivly severed, as the trip around the Cape of Good hope would have been to expensive for trade, and the shipping of men and material would have been to uneconomical, and France will have a spring board into the Middle East and Eastern Africa. Napoleon II gave his approval, and the Mediterranean Fleet was dispatched in October.

In Berlin, the demands of Kaiser Fredrich William III for the defeat of France in the West was met with a simple "Can't do it yet." The Kaiser immediatly sacked General Hermann von Boyen, placing him on occupation duty in Poland, and installed himself as the new Commander in Chief. However, he wasn't the great warrior he immagined himself, and a French supoported reserection in occupied Poland required him to send troops from the west back to the East, where Russia was planning to ally with France for Prussian and Swedish territory.

French Counter-attack and The End of The War (1832)
Marshel Ney finnaly decided to begin a offensive to push back the Prussian's, now dangerously weakened. It was planned to begin in Early November, and hopefully the war could be concluded by the end of the year.

On November 7, a massive artillery bombardment around Hanover completely disorganized the Prussian forces there, and forced them to retreat. A second front was opened on November 17 with Austria-Hungary and Italian troops launching an attack on the Prussian Army in Bohemia and Moravia. Although the fighting was fierce, the Prussian forces were forced to withdraw.

Kaiser Fredrich William was stunned at the sudden onslaught, but prepared to defend Prussia, recalling Hermann von Boyen to the West, who was able to stall the French Armies in the Battle of Dresden, but it was too much.

On December 15, Russia launched an attack on Prussia and Sweden, overwhelming the defenders with the veterans of the Black Sea War. Czar Nicholas I lead his forces into Koenigsberg, annexing the city and the surrounding area, while Field Marshall Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken, hero of the Black Sea War, marched into Northern Sweden. Charles XIV John, the Swedish King, immediately sued for peace.

Britain, facing starvation at home, also sued for peace. France was fairly generous with her opponent across the English Channel, taking Cyprus and Jamaica in exchange for two million francs.

It wasn't until January 7, with French, Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops approaching Potsdam, the Hohenzollern seat of power, that Prussia finally surrendered to the approaching forces.

In the Treaty of Vienna, Prussia was forced to surrender the small North Sea Coast that she owned, around the city of Kiel, to the Confederation of the Rhine. Also, the area north of Krakow of the Confed. of the Rhine was ceded to Austria-Hungary. Poland was re-established, with additional land from Prussia. Russia gained Koenigsberg, as well a fraction of Northern Sweden.

Return to Peace, and the Great Panic of 1839
With the French and the allies and "associates" of the Empire victorious, and Prussia humbled, a new Golden Age of French Imperialism dawned. Within the next few years, new colonies were settled in Africa, such as the Congo River Entrance (1833), further Expansion from Mauritania (1834-35), and the beginning of the Colony of Angola/Namibia (1837-38). Railroads, first tested in Britain, were embraced by Napoleon II as a cheap and efficient way to link the Empire. A massive Railroad building program, under George Stephenson (who left the UK after his plans for a railroad linked England were balked at), was begun in 1835, and by 1845, Paris was linked with Lyons, Marseilles, Strasbourg, Brussels, Essen, Turin, Rome and, in one of the greatest engineering projects of this era, Zurich. The "Boom Times" ceased in France in 1839, however, when the supply of capital was severely curtailed when many businesses went bankrupt, including one of the major shipping companies in the Empire. Although the economy didn't completely collapse, after Napoleon II ordered the banks to begin lending again, the faith in the Franc and the French Economy were severely shaken, and would take several years to restore. The death of Michel Ney in 1840, the hero of the First and Second Great European Wars, threw the already struggling nation into mourning, surther compounding problems.

In Britain, the general mood of the islands could be something close to shock and humiliation. Prime Minister Arthur Wellesley (he was not made the Duke of Wellington in ATL, instead elected as a MP), PM since 1827, was kicked out of office, and King William IV placed Sir Robert Peel, leader of the Tory party in charge. Peel quickly moved, and pushed the First Navy Modernization Act through Parliament in 1832, followed by the Army Expansion Act and the Second Navy Modernization Act in 1833. By 1835, the Royal Navy, having launched the first steam warship, the HMS Atlantic, a small "steam frigate," which immediately outdated sailing ships, though neither England or France realized it at the time, as the Atlantic's engine exploded in 1837, sinking the ship. The Great Panic of 1839 did not severely affect the UK, as London was still the largest trading city in the world.

The defeat of the Prussian armies forced Kaiser Fredrich William to abdicate the throne, and travel to exile in the Ottoman Empire. He was replaced by his son, Fredrich William IV, the Prussian state underwent a massive reforming period. As he was not a military man, the army was not the focus of the state. Instead, work on infrastructure and the economy took the majority of his time. However, with the Great Panic of 1839, the Prussian Economy soon expanded to fill in the gap lefty by the contraction of the French Imperial economy.

The victory of the Italian armies in the Second Great European War impressed Napoleon II greatly, and when the people of Italy petitioned the French Emperor for full independence, it was immediately granted on July 17, 1833. Italy was granted rule under the returned House of Savoy, who, although exiled since 1798 when their territories were annexed by France, were allowed to return. Carlo Alberto Amedeo di Savoia, at the age of 35, was crowned King Charles I of Italy.

Austria Hungary was slower rebounding from the conflict, because the vast majority of the fighting took place here. However, the industries established in Bohemia and Moravia soon began to produce again, and the