As time went on, I learned more about my future enemies and their movements around the globe. The British were managing their colonies peacefully, having only issues with the native populations, which their marines were more than capable of handling, after all, the natives lacked weapons and military training for the common tactics of the time, such as artillery lines and rifles popularized by Napoleon.
The Germans, on the other hand, were still fragmented and posed little risk individually. However, when united, they became a significant problem, they were only able to unify with the approval of the British, who failed to see the larger game the Prussians were playing, the British preferred to leave a major problem for the continental powers like us Russians, the French, and the Austrians to deal with. After all, having another major player would further divide Europe. But let's not undermine the achievements of my newfound relatives—they managed to industrialize rapidly and became a respectable military power through their own merits.
The Austrians sat pompously in their former glory, oblivious to their impending decline. Important events that would lead to their downfall had not yet taken place, the formation of the Customs Union of the northern German states, which caused the loss of their prominence among the Germans, had not occurred, nor had the London Convention, which resulted in the loss of their international political influence since the Congress of Vienna, where the future of France was decided.
The French were still under the Bourbon dynasty, which meant they were still under the leash of the British, It was only with King Louis Philippe of Orleans that this began to change slightly, and they truly broke free from the cage with the proclamation of empire once again by a descendant of Napoleon, however, Paris remained the cultural center of Europe, and everyone followed Parisian fashion, French was commonly used as the lingua franca for communication between foreigners, and gala parties held to welcome foreign guests were all conducted in French.
The only one not faring well and on life support was the sick man of Europe, the Ottoman Empire, It used to be the object of fear for many rulers, but now it is in steep decline. The glue holding it together is the external powers that do not want the Bear's paws to have an easy way out to the Mediterranean Sea or even the Indian Ocean, the Ottomans are facing numerous uprisings from various ethnic groups, which gain strength from the weakened state of their troops, the Greeks have been in open and armed revolt since 1821.