Armageddon - Part II
Blood up to the Horse's bridle
Confederate troops, called "Johnnies" by friend and foe, prepare to 'go over the top' during the month-long battle of Lexington, Kentucky in the early autumn of 1911
Kaiser William II of Germany refused to back down over German interest in Morocco and so it was that the 2nd Moroccan Crisis of 1911 became the spark of world war. Italy saw this as a chance to take French North Africa for themselves while Austria prepared her southern armies to "intervene in Balkan matter" while Germany took on the French eagle and the Russian bear. With the Kaiser's approval of the Alfred von Schlieffen plan for such a war was put into action and chief of staff von Motlke called von Schlieffen out of retirement to help him with its implementation. With that, the stage was set for one of the swiftest military victories in the history of war to that date. The armies of the Second Reich swept through Belgium in May and then northern France in June, culminating in the decisive battle of the Marne in which General Karl von Bulow and General Alexander von Kluck combined to destroy General Charles Lanrezac's 5th Army and the British Expeditionary force of Sir John French. Thereafter, despite heavy casulities, the two general occupied Paris while French and the remnants of the BEF were driven to the coast and would have been caputred at Dunkirk if it had not been for a quick rescue on the night of June 20th by a combined CSN/RN fleet. With such luck, the French government were already considering surrender at their temporary capital at Bordeaux until General Joseph Joffre convinced them not to at gunpoint. The war would go on, for the time being.
Helmuth von Moltke and Alfred von Schlieffen - Masterminds of one of the most decisive campaigns in the history of Warfare
General Joseph Joffre - The life preserver of the French Republic
In the meantime, the alliances also triggered the most major war ever since on the North American continent. When Germany declared war on the Entente on May 5th, all the other Central Powers* did the same, including the United States. US President and virtual dictator Theodore Roosevelt was in his third term and, although he and the Kaiser had never gotten along*, he saw the German general war as a chance to finally reconquer the South without having to face the Royal Navy and the French Army. This would be TR's best chance also at being the greatest man in American history since Washington. Perhaps, the Senate would proclaim him President for Life and have a triumph for him through the streets of the recaptured District of Columbia. Or so he dreamed.
Commander-in-Chief Roosevelt dressed for battle: "I Am Entitled to the Medal of Honor and I Want It"
In Richmond, war veteran Woodrow Wilson was humored and saddened by Roosevelt's folly. "Our Confederacy is now a fortress and no Trojan horses shall enter her," he told reporters on May 6. "100,000 men are in northern Virginia, 150,000 in Kentucky, and another 10 divisions in the Trans-mississippi and I have seen their entrenchments and they would have made Marshal Robert proud." After keeping to a policy of offensive warfare since 1861, the Wilson administration changed this to an almost completely defensive strategy in 1908. The Secretary of War said that with the Army's manpower problems, there was no way the nation could take the chance of lauching the classic and usual invasion of the North. Instead, the government invested in fixed fortications in northern Virginia and Kentucky (leaving the Trans-mississippi open for more mobile warfare), raised 5 new engineer units, and enlarged the Navy with 3 new dreadnoughts every year from 1908 to 1911. The US War Department countered with their superior industry and manpower. The Roosevelt administration refused to do any investing in forts anywhere in the country; "There is not a fortication built yet that cannot in some way be bypassed!" declared TR. The US Navy had 5 new dreadnoughts produced every year between 1908 and 1911. The US Army by 1911 had 300 standing divisions and was rumored to have at least 200 more in reserve. President Roosevelt and the Secretary of War also drafted a plan of attack, hoping to match the genius of von Schlieffen, in which the main US thrust would come not in the East (as traditionally) but in the Trans-mississippi while strong forces backed by heavy artillery and two brand new German railway guns for each army would attack the "fortresses of the Rebel frontier."
The Navy also came up with its own plan, wanting to lure the smaller CSN into a decisive battle, which they expected to happen either near New York or off Hampton Roads and Norfolk. The new US "Office of Public Information on Martial matters" opened up as soon as the declaration of war was made public and sent to Richmond via telegraph. The "Office" served as the source of official reports as to what was happening in the war, since no reporters were allow anywhere near the front, they cesored any newspaper that did not follow their set guidelines as to "proper" reporting not only of US actions but also those of her Central power allies*, and they also produce propoganda ad infinitum.
The Office of Public Information on Martial matters was made famous for, among other things, its forceful propoganda to propel the nation once again to fight her Southern kin...
and it worked!
*The Central Powers included (in order of declartion of war) Germany, Austria, Italy, the United States, Bulgaria, and China (joined Jan. 1st, 1912).
*Roosevelt claimed the Kaiser was simply jealous of all Roosevelt's accomplishments and his "manly" virtue.
*Such as the German deprivations of Belgium, the Turkish slaughter of Armenians, Austrian acts of brutality in the Balkans, etc.