Throughout the 1870s, Britain's Petroleum League, led by the ruthless oil barons, embarked on a desperate and ambitious plan to maintain their global empire and oil dominance. Recognizing that their grip on power was slipping, they devised a strategy to create an oil-dependent Europe, viewing it as their last chance to stay relevant in a world rapidly embracing hydro-ionic technology.
The plan, dubbed "Operation Black Gold" by Lord Haughton, was audacious in its scope. The barons would flood the European market with dirt-cheap oil-powered vehicles and equipment, undercutting any hydro-ionic alternatives. This loss-leader strategy aimed to create an insatiable demand for oil across the continent.
In 1872, British factories began mass-producing affordable oil-powered automobiles, tractors, and industrial machinery. These were sold at prices so low that even skeptical nations found them hard to resist. The barons used their vast network of influence to ensure favorable trade agreements and subsidies, making British oil-powered goods the most attractive option on the market. Easy-to-read, long-term contracts were included with every purchase, and legally locked buyers into a ten-year, non-competing position. Every person or company that bought this new wave of cheap petroleum products could not legally use hydro-ionic power for a decade. The Oil Barons had their army of Barristers, British and throughout Europe, at the ready to descend on any person who strayed from the petroleum reservation and legally compelled them to return under threat of lawsuit.
Simultaneously, the Petroleum League launched a multi-pronged campaign of sabotage and manipulation. Their agents infiltrated key European industries, subtly undermining any attempts to adopt hydro-ionic technology. Mysterious accidents plagued hydro-ionic facilities across the continent. In France, a promising hydro-ionic power plant inexplicably exploded just days before its grand opening. In Germany, a train powered by American technology derailed under suspicious circumstances, causing public confidence in the new energy source to plummet.
Bribery played a crucial role in their strategy. The oil barons' deep pockets ensured that key decision-makers across Europe were handsomely rewarded for favoring oil-based solutions. Politicians, industrialists, and even prominent scientists found themselves on the Petroleum League's payroll. In 1875, a leaked document revealed that over half of the Belgian parliament had received "consulting fees" from British oil companies.
When bribery failed, the barons resorted to more sinister methods. A string of assassinations rocked Europe throughout the decade. Prominent advocates of hydro-ionic technology met untimely ends in a series of "accidents" and "suicides." The most notorious case was that of Dr. Heinrich Wagner, a German engineer on the verge of a hydro-ionic breakthrough. He was found dead in his Munich laboratory, officially ruled as a heart attack, but whispers of multiple stab wounds in his back persisted.
The barons' propaganda machine worked overtime, flooding European media with stories extolling the virtues of oil and spreading fear about the supposed dangers of hydro-ionic power. They funded "independent" studies that consistently showed oil to be safer, more reliable, and more economical than its American counterpart. Petroleum League-controlled newspapers covered these events with an increasingly grim air and bemoaned the fact that the reckless Americans had ignored the sound warnings from the British Scientific Community.
By 1878, the plan was bearing fruit. Much of Europe had become heavily reliant on British oil and oil-powered technology. France was the largest resistor to British advances and several smaller nations found the courage to follow the French example. Besides France, Russia, and a few others, the British had accomplished a fait accompli from the Atlantic to Turkey. The continent's nascent hydro-ionic industry had been effectively strangled in its cradle. This success came at a tremendous cost, both financial and moral, but it achieved the barons' primary goal: it bought them time and filled their coffers for the next phase of their plan.
With Europe firmly under their thumb, the Petroleum League turned its gaze to Africa and South America. The wealth generated from their European venture would fund an even more ambitious expansion into these resource-rich continents. The barons saw these regions as the key to securing their oil empire for generations to come.
In Africa, they began by intensifying their already exploitative practices in existing British colonies. Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast became testing grounds for new extraction technologies and more oppressive labor practices. The barons also started clandestine operations to destabilize independent African nations, paving the way for future resource grabs.
In South America, the Petroleum League employed a more subtle approach. They established seemingly benevolent "development corporations" that offered loans and infrastructure projects to cash-strapped nations. These deals, often negotiated in smoke-filled rooms with corrupt officials, invariably gave British oil companies exclusive rights to vast tracts of resource-rich land.
As the decade drew to a close, the oil barons could look upon their work with grim satisfaction. They had successfully staved off the hydro-ionic threat in Europe and laid the groundwork for further expansion. The British Empire, though built on an increasingly shaky foundation of lies and exploitation, still stood as a global power.
Yet, even as they celebrated their victories, storm clouds gathered on the horizon. The human and economic costs of their actions were mounting. Resistance movements were growing both at home and in the colonies. And across the Atlantic, America's hydro-ionic industry continued to advance, casting a long shadow over the oil barons' fragile empire.
The stage was set for a tumultuous final two decades of the 19th century, as the forces of progress and tradition hurtled towards an inevitable collision.