Fun Facts 534-536

 Fun Fact #534

The year Without a Summer

In November of 1815, The Napoleonic Wars finally came to an end bringing peace once more to a Europe tired from the sporadic wars of the previous 100 year, yet unbeknownst to all but the Dutch Colonies, a new threat was on the Horizon, and would alter the atmosphere of politics forever. 

This event was the eruption of Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies which was only one of a series of Eruption events from that year in Indonesia , but Tambora was the largest and best documented with it’s three forks of Erupting fire, flaming winds and rock storms which affected many of the surrounding islands. Yet the worst part was that the Smoke made its way to the Stratosphere where it began blocking sunlight as the winds carried it away until by mid spring 1816 the ash covered the entire northern hemisphere.

This barrier overall lowered the temperature of the Globe for the next 4 years by 2-7%. To put it simply, in a normal year Winter weather lasts around 66 days, but that year it was around 170 leading to mass crop failure and people having to shelter indoors. In India this led to mass outbreaks of Cholera, The Americas (Canada and central included) saw mass Starvation and slaughter of animals as the heavy snow continued until late August. In Europe it took until the last week of June for the snow to finally begin melting, in addition to an increase in Crime, Poverty, and Famine resulting in the ideals of the French revolution flaring once more. 

Fun Fact #535

Metternich’s Folly

Today The Austrian Empire is hardly ever mentioned, and when it is, it's usually as a joke; but for a brief time it was seen as THE power in Europe under the control of Klemens Von Metternich. They had led the coalition to Victory against Napoleonic France, while their policies kept Russia's Influence in Europe minimized. Thus Austria held prominence at The Congress of Vienna (where the post war settlements were made) and as the Head of the Coalition as it sought to maintain the Peace for the foreseeable Future. 

As part of the Settlement Austria gained much of the French Colonies in East-Northern Italy as well as the release of French influence over Sardinia (North-West Italy) for use as a buffer state. This would prove disastrous since the 1816 famines resulted in Austrian held Italy to start experiencing revolts to which Metternich responded with the creation of his own Spy network using them to locate revolutionaries before sending the Military to arrest them. Yet his heavy handedness resulted in the Sardinian peoples to emphasize with their Italian speaking neighbors and the birth of an Italian Nationalism Movement which would go on to eventually reunify Italy in 1871.  All leading to the fall of the Austrian Empire which joined a Military Alliance with The rising Hungarians during the Compromise of 1867 lasting until the Hungarians terminated the Alliance on Halloween 1918 due to the Austrians not listening to them on foreign relations (starting WW1 was the straw that broke the camel’s back) . 

Fun Fact #536

The German Confederacy

In 1806, Napoleon’s forces broke the last vestiges of Rome as the Holy Roman Empire dissolved. Yet 9 years later the German states sought to bring its protection back with the creation of The German Confederation. Primarily a Security alliance the Federal Diet’s (Federal Assembly) was presided over by Klemens Von Metternich. Together with the Prussains their rules dominated the confederation, much to the distaste of the smaller states leading to their appeal to the various partitioned states of Poland to Join and gain their Autonomy resulting in an Russian invasion and mass executions in 1830 before the treaties for Mutual defense could be signed (Austria dragged its heels as they were holders of some of Partitioned Poland).

Suffice it to say after this the Confederation soon began experiencing difficulties. Austria even threatened military action to crush dissent, similar to how Metternich had done back in the Confederacy’s early days.  Yes, Austria declared the confederacy was Eternal.So naturally it dissolved the following year, as the Prussians formed The German Empire excluding the Austrians.