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H.Appleby

Part of the Problem
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The American Experience 1917-1964
usa_fpolicy_750.jpg
Chapters​
This is my first AAR ever and I hope that it will prove satisfactory, I'm modeling it off the excellent AAR series The Presidents, by Nathan Madien. I will be trying to keep this a History Book AAR, although narrative passages in the form of letters, diary entries etc. may also be included. The story will focus mostly on foreign policy and military affairs, although I will also cover domestic affairs and most definitely politics. This AAR is running on the Arms, Armistice and Revolutions mod. I will occasionally include fictional agencies and characters, which will be clearly denoted as such. I will attempt to conduct as much research as I can into the intricacies of the people, organizations and policies which will feature, but reader commentary and corrections are highly appreciated as this is mt first AAR. I'm going to post bi-montly world status reports which will show the conditions of all major theaters of the war, but I wil also make special updates to cover more important war and geopolitical developments. Once we reach peacetime, I will conduct yearly summaries of world events as well as special updates when appropriate. All in all, I hope to have an interesting and successful first outing into the world of AAR writing.

UPDATE​
This AAR died sometime mid-2012, but has since been revived as the American Experience 1912-1917. While not award winning, I hope that it will prove a satisfactory substitute for this AAR.
 

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Wilson's Meeting​

On a cold January morning in 1917, a conclave of conspirators met to plot the overthrow of one of the most stable regimes on the planet. But these were not violent disciples of Marx of the kind who would soon plunge Kerensky's Russia into bloody civil war, rather these were men of great power and influence who were planning to subvert one of the oldest institutions on the planet. The President and his advisers were plotting the overthrow of America's regime of neutrality. Woodrow Wilson, the recently reelected former president of Princeton had called his top military and foreign policy aides together for the explicit purpose of deciding how to get the United States into the conflict which had engulfed Europe in 1914. Wilson had not invited Burton Wheeler, his fiery Secretary of State, appointed to replace the pacifist William Jennings Bryant, who had resigned following the Lusitania incident apparently at Wilson's urging. Wheeler had often been described as an "Ideological Crusader" due to his quasi-religious fervor for spreading Democracy, but he was also a staunch isolationist who thought that the United States had no business intervening in a wider European War. In Wheeler’s place was Wilson's special adviser on forigen policy "Colonel" Edward M. House, House was the man most directly responsible for implementing Wilson's policies. Also coming were William Wotherspoon the very defensive-minded Head of the Army, George Dewey the Head of the Navy and the fiery head of the recently created United States Army Airforce, William "Billy" Mitchell. But the most important man at the meeting was a little known army staff officer and head of the Joint Army and Navy Board, the precursor of today's Joint Chiefs of Staff, James L. McCormick*. McCormick had been tasked by the president with developing a series of war-plans which the United States might use to intervene in Europe. McCormick presented four preliminary plans to the assembled officials.

Warplans.png

The plans were limited by the limited availability of American forces, only seven proper infantry divisions could be mustered to intervene in the European conflict, so only one operation could feasibly be undertaken at one time.

Warplan X: Warplan X involved a landing in the Northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein and forming a defensive line slightly south of Kiel, forcing the Germans to pull forces off the Western front. The operation carried both enormous political and military risk, especially since a daring and ingenious British plan which entailed landing in Wilhelmshaven and marching south to join the French in Alsace, pocketing the German armies in Belgium, had failed spectacularly, leading to a bloody final stand by the entrapped British in Cologne. The defeat was widely seen as the greatest military disaster of the war.

Warplan Y: Warplan Y was the transfer of American troops to the Western Front. This was seen as a bad plan for several reasons, most of all that the American forces would likely come under French commanders who would likely send them in futile attacks which would prove unpopular. Secondly, it would remove Wilson's chance to gain political capital by reducing the potency of America's contribution to the war effort. Thirdly, it was unlikely that seven divisions could make a major difference on a front which was widely considered to have become totally static.

Warplan Z: Warplan Z envisioned an American landing either at Gallipoli in an effort to knock the Ottomans out of the war, or somewhere along the Adriatic Coast of Austria-Hungary to relieve the Italians. This was seen as less risky than Warplan X as the divisions would be facing the theoretically inferior forces of Germany's minor allies.

Warplan AZ: Warplan AZ was suggested to McCormick by a friend in the oil industry during idle conversation. The plan involved sending forces to land in Basrah and advance north through Mesopotamia and into the Kurdish areas. This had the advantages of being less risky as it was occurring in a fairly minor theater of the war, but it might be seen as both greedy and unhelpful and would likely lose Wilson the support of Congress.



So, suggestion, thoughts or comments? Also, I'd like to see which battle plan is favored (Please consider both immediate and long-term consequences)

Also, how do you link to specific posts?
 
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I'm thinking plan Z, to knock the Ottomans out. That'll free up the British divisions in Palestine and also help Greece, if they're in the war. Then, after Plan Z, you can either march into Bulgaria, or pull out if you don't think you can take them or you're needed elsewhere. How long until you get more divisions off the production tab?
 
@Duke of Awesome: I'd like to free up those divisions, I just need enough troopships to stage a successful amphibious assault and to bring all of my forces to Europe with utmost speed.

@Kaiser Muffin: I'm leaning towards either Z or AZ, assaulting the Ottomans seems like a foolproof strategy as they are weak and distracted by the Palestinian front. And Iraqi and Kurdish puppets would be most useful...

@Aniknk: As I said, I'm favoring either Z or AZ.
 
The OE is weak. Britain can take then on themselves. Better to help them in Belgium.:)
 
I'd suggest that you start with Plan Z, then feed the odd division into a AEF on the Western front. That way, you keep your allies happy as you're contributing forces to them, but also get your political victory by opening your war with a hammer blow against the Ottomans.
 
I would go for plan Y, it would be best to make sure that French/Belgians do not fall to a German offensive. Though I guess Plan Z is also fine
 
If you are sure you can get naval superiority, than option X. Otherwise, option AZ. With Option X, I would try to get military access from the Danish first.

Though actually I support Option G, turning around and declaring war on Great Britain and commencing Sealion:laugh:.
 
@Nikolai: Yeah, but that removes the potential for America to gain its own glory.

@Doombunny: That sounds about right.

@Undead-Hippie: Yeah, I'm goin' after the Ottomans. And I've found a nice little alternative to Gallipoli which you will soon see...

@Soulstrider: Yeah but the strategic importance is not as important as the political value

@Nathan Madien: I appreciate the good will, and yes, this Wilson is going to be a little OOC, maybe he has a mild case of the Rage Virus or something.

@WSoxFan86: I can't get naval superiority for the moment so both X and, sadly G are off the table.


National Strategic Policy Directive 0012

Since Wilson had resolved to involve the United States in Europe, the very real problem of which troops would be used presented itself. After all, the United States possessed relatively paltry armed forces and many of these were already omitted. The regular infantry divisions in the Philippines could not be moved for fear of local unrest and the forces along the Mexican border and the First Field Army in Veracruz need to stay to protect the border from the civil unrest. This commitment was especially galling to Wilson as it required the presence of three full infantry divisions, the only cavalry division in the U.S. Army and the California and Texas National Guards. What's more, to full cover the border would require at least two more divisions. These commitments meant that the United States could only muster six infantry divisions for use in offensive operations in the opening months of the war. The only other significant land forces available to Wilson were the National Guards. It was after McCormick had presented these figures to the president that he made a radical suggestion, to re-arm and retrain the National Guardsmen as regular infantry for possible use in Europe. Further, he suggested that Wilson order the Governors of Nebraska and Iowa to deploy their National Guards to the long stretch of unsecured border which ran from El Paso to Yuma. Wilson recognized that the threat of Mexican incursions would be enough to sell the idea of a retrained National Guard to the American public, especially since forces under the infamous Pancho Villa and the quasi-Socialist Emeliano Zapata and their allies the Constitucionalistas appeared to be on the verge of victory over the legitimate Mexican government.

MexicoJanuary1st1917.png


The minutes then record that Wotherspoon spoke up and suggested that a series of forts be built along the Mexican border, both to house the border guards and to prevent incursions. The idea was received with skepticism by Mitchell, who had been petitioning Wilson to cancel the already in progress fortification of Veracruz in favor of a larger airforce. In fact, he had recently returned from his regular command in Austin where he commanded the only actual air squadrons in the USAAF at the time, the USAAF First Joint Strike Squadron. His vision was a series of combined fighter-tactical bomber air units to catch the Mexican raiders in the desert and bomb and strafe their formations out of existence. He accused Wotherspoon of being "so behind the times that he still finds muskets suspiciously modern". Although Wilson protected Mitchell from the consequences of his temper, a clique of high-ranking officers including Wotherspoon were plotting to remove him as soon as they could. But the army brass' growing distaste for Mitchell was yet to reveal itself, the assembled still sided with Wotherspoon. The final results were recorded in a document called National Strategic Policy Directive 0012 or NSPD12, the National Strategic Policy directive was a creation of Wilson, the first eleven had mainly dealt with the occupation of Veracruz, but from this moment on, the National Strategic Policy Directives were to play a critical role in defining America's defense spending, research, troop deployments and eventually, the operation of her military. NSPD12 called for a complete overhaul of all National Guard units, the construction of fortifications on the Mexican Border and the creation of twenty heavy artillery brigades to complement the newly upgraded National Guards.

NSPD0012Mexico.png
 
Special treat for y'all, double update.




Detail Work

MesoptoaminaCampaignPlan.png

A second meeting of what was provisionally called the Flexible Strategic Response Planning Group took place two days later on January Fifth. Missing from the room was Mitchell, who had returned to Austin from the newly constructed airbase at Fort Belvoir the day before. Also gone was Burton Wheeler, who Wilson considered too idealistic to be useful in planning a war. The committee quickly rejected Warplan X as being dangerous, both because American naval superiority would be impossible to guarantee and it would face the tiny American forces against the larger and possibly better-armed Germans. Even the normally daring Mitchell, who had suggested that his airplanes could even the odds in the earlier meeting, had acknowledged before departing that he would need at least 5 more Joint Strike Wings to be effective. Warplan Y was written off as well, Wilson did not want to sacrifice the possibilities for the American armies to gain individual glory, the committee agreed that they would simply send a token expeditionary force to prove their commitment. The FSRPG decided instead to launch a two pronged blow, the first would see American forces land in Kuwait and capture Basrah, and cross the Tigris and advance up the Euphrates towards Baghdad and Kurdistan. Wilson's idealism got the better of him and he resolved to support independent Kurdish and Assyrian states which would help the United States with its oil production. This would be the first prong of the two pronged offensive.


GallipoliCampaignPlan.png


The second prong was to be the death blow, a lightning assault on the Ottoman capital of Istanbul. The first landing would occur on the Bulgarian city of Alexandroupoli and would be spearheaded by one of Mitchell and Wilson's pet projects, the Marine Corps, American forces would then rapidly attack Gallipoli and pursue the retreating forces into Istanbul. The American forces would then hold a line between Adrianople and Gallipoli until reinforcements could arrive. The second phase of the plan had not yet been fleshed out, but it would likely involve an offensive into Bulgaria which would knock the country out of the war. It was hoped that this swift double blow would knock Turkey out of the war and open a second front in the Balkans.



Thanks for all the feedback, but I just have one question, how do you link to specific posts?
 
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Just found this AAR. Best of luck to ya.

*starts getting ready for the 1920 Presidential debate and who to vote for.* :D
 
Both attacks? Do you think you have the forces to land two separate invasion forces? Alexandroupoli might be easily taken but Istanbul will probably be much more guarded, as well as Gallipoli.
 
While that's a little risky, that's good political capital for Wilson, as he can get oil for the US while knocking the OE out of the war. I also believe that this will result in Greece gaining what they were promised in the peace treaty. I would believe that the next US move would be to drive North into Austria Hungary, which would severly weaken them as well. Good Luck.
 
@ SovietAmerika: Thanks! I'll try to make my political coverage as interesting as Nathan's!

@ Warhell: Thanks

@ Duke of Awesome: I think that with some National Guard units it might work. Plus the Gallipoli operation will be launched second, to allow time for Marines to be recruited and for more divisions to be built.

@ WSoxfan86: Believe me, there's gonna be a lot of political brouhaha in the Balkans