The Ottoman Empire had watched the events of the Napoleonic Wars with great concern. Selim III had been a great admirer of French ideals and western militaries, but the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon had proven that French men paled in comparison to French ideas.
Selim III had reformed the Ottoman army, and the newly reformed soldiers had been the only ones to give the French significant trouble. By making these reforms, he had also made many enemies. The Janissaries, once mere elite soldiers, had transformed into a political faction. With populist support behind them, the Janissaries led a coup deposing Selim early in 1807. However, the reign of the new Sultan Mustafa IV would not last long. Just over a decade before, the Ottomans had fought both Austria and Russia. Harsh times made for odd bedfellows. The Sultan's cousin, Mahmud, had been dispatched to open up diplomatic talks with Austria. These talks became ever more urgent as Coronan troops overran Austria, bringing ambitious Corona to the Ottoman Empire's borders. Mahmud's friend and ally, Alemdar Mustafa Pasha immediately summoned his Albanian and Bosnian retinues to invade the capital, but Mahmud did him one better. Austrian troops attacked, ending the reign of Mustafa before it had even really begun. Mustafa executed Selim and then committed suicide rather than be captured by the Austrians. With Selim and Mustafa dead, Mahmud was the obvious and rightful heir. Thus the reign of Mahmud II began.
From the outset, his situation was precarious. His armies had been weakened by wars against Russia, Austria, and France. The forces of populism and reactionism that had deposed Selim were still lurking, indeed, they had even been strengthened by his use of foreign aid. A government relies on its monopoly on force, but challenging the military meant putting that at risk. A hundred peoples lived under the Ottoman banner: Azeris, Armenians, Turks, Greeks, Arabs, Egyptians, Georgians, and the power of nationalism was rising. To the west, Morocco, a US ally, looked hungry for land. The Ottoman Empire was in disarray, and this would be the perfect chance for Moroccan troops to invade the Ottoman vassal states that dwelled on the North African shore.
If the Coronans were successful in reuniting Poland and waging war using nationalism as a justification, then a thousand tiny nations would spring up and the Ottoman Empire would disintegrate. If the Empire was to survive, Corona would have to fail. Decisive action had to be taken. In order to prevent future insurrections, Mahmud had all Janissaries killed in their sleep, in an action that came to be called the Auspicious Incident. The army was replenished to a strength of 200,000 through mass conscription. With Austrian guns backing him, the officer corps was purged of disloyal elements. Next, Mahmud signed the Austro-Ottoman Secret Treaty. Austrian troops would train the new Ottoman Army. In exchange, Mahmud would strike as soon as the French and Coronan armies were overextended. Ottoman soldiers would flood into occupied Austria, then surge north and take Corona itself. Furthermore, both the Ottomans and the Austrians agreed to protect each other from the growing power of nationalism, and to actively suppress all nationalist revolts. After all, the Austrian Empire was multi-ethnic as well, and the collapse of the Ottomans would send a sign to nationalist rebels lurking with Hapsburg lands.
Portugal had always been a traditional ally of England. With British naval dominance now secured, Portugal openly sided with the United Kingdom, brazenly defying Napoleon's edicts. Without naval power, Napoleon would be forced to march through Spain. Spain was already a fair-weather ally at best. It seemed unlikely that the forage-as-you-go Grand Armee would make a good impression on the peninsula.
Across the sea, America grew weary. It was unable to project a serious force to the European conflict, and the American front was really not much of a front at all. Despite their independence, the United States was still an integral trade partner of Britain, and the two economies remained intertwined. A brisk smuggling business had blossomed. The people were growing tired of paying higher prices for their goods, and a white peace seemed to be coming soon. Napoleon had bought loyalty with land, but land does not fill bellies and warm bodies unless it is tended, and the nation was still working on peopling the land it already had. The government prepared an invasion of Canada, to try and recoup some of what the war had cost. If that failed then peace was just over the horizon.
A world away, Robert Maldon agitated. He had already found allies. Near Fort Vellore, some sepoys had been angered by the change in dress uniform. It had violated the honor of the increasingly caste and honor obsessed Indian soldiers. He had convinced them that it was not in their best interests to rebel at the moment. Instead, they, and others, would wait. When the time was right, the entire country would rise up in revolution. The uniform change, which offended both Hindus and Muslims, was clearly just a prelude to more sweeping changes that would destroy the caste system entirely. Indeed, British cash reserves and manpower were being drained by the Napoleonic Wars. Was it entirely unreasonable to assume that soon Indian soldiers would be sent abroad, an act that would make them unclean? Was it so hard to believe that customs were intentionally being defiled as to lower resistance for this next act of shame? As Maldon toured the country, tensions began to rise.