Lang lebe der Löwe:
Life in French Mitteleuropa; 1936-1960
Table of ContentsLife in French Mitteleuropa; 1936-1960
Prologue
Vive la Normandie!
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Prologue
Prologue
The StadtschlossBerlin, the German Reich; October 1936
"So, gentlemen? How is the war?"
His Imperial Majesty, Kaiser Wilhelm II looked across the table to his cabinet. Chancellor von Papen sat quietly and glanced over at Minister of Armaments Schacht; who promptly transferred his gaze to Hans von Seeckt, Chief of the General Staff. Von Seeckt glared at them before answering. "Your Majesty, those perished victors of the Weltkrieg would envy our success. We have occupied the whole of northern France while the Italians steamroll through the southern portion of the country. Although the Syndikalisten still hold pockets in Italian-occupied territory in addition to the entire French coast from Nantes to Mont de Marsan; I am confident we will crush the Commune by Christmas."
Wilhelm raised an appreciative eyebrow. "I must confess I am surprised that this war should be so swift..." The powerbrokers of the German Reich looked around at each other nervously. It was plain from the Emperor's tone that he suspected the reports he were receiving differed from the facts on the ground, and heads would roll if he became convinced, rather than merely suspicious. Carl von Schubert was head of the Kaiserliche-Intelligenz Büro and was more importantly the man with the field-maps. Hastily he unrolled a map of the front to display to his sovereign:
The front; October 1st, 1936
"Erm, yes. Your Majesty, it is the opinion of the High Command and of this Government that in order to preserve the stability of Northern France and relieve the Heer of the responsibility of keeping order in the north when their forces are more urgently needed elsewhere; that those areas of France currently under the occupation of the Reich be granted autonomy, so that the peacekeeping burden may be transferred. Arrangements have been made for allied or collaborationist governments to assume power." Von Papen drank from a glass of water and slid the plans for the transfer over to the Kaiser, who duly flipped through them. "Hmm, Northern France, Brittany... Normandy and Aquitaine? Isn't that a bit extreme?"
Foreign Minister von der Schulenburg chimed in "In order to prevent the main French state from becoming a potential issue, it was thought fragmenting was best." The Kaiser nodded again in understanding; and dipped a pen before scrawling his signature across the bottom. Brittany and Normandy (and soon, Aquitaine) lived again as invitations were sent to form puppet governments. Yes indeed, France would never be the same.
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Glad to hear, Herr Doktor. Prologue posted; and I have no idea why the title says 2.03 where it should rather say 1.3/ I'll have that fixed ASAP.
I am curious what you will be able to achieve as Normandy. I'm pretty sure a second Hastings is out of the question, at least...
Good to know.I'm going to watch this, but it's actually called 'der' Löwe.
eeeex
Glad to have you aboard.I'm going to watch that!
Paradise on earth!
Well I'm not really hoping to do anything big. This will mainly be an internally-focused, story-driven AAR.
I hope so
France will be fine; under the reign of glorious King Francois!
Interesting things always happen in a Kaiseriech AAR and I look forward to seeing a Norman perspective on whatever may happen.
I have to say, I think that this is truly a brave new frontier for Kaiserreich and the AAR forum in general. I am very excited to see where this goes.
Definitely following this one! Love to see creative AARs that go off into uncharted territory.
A Forest Vignette
A forest,
Outside St Lo, the Duchy of Normandy; October 1936
Jean Dieppe was a syndicalist's syndicalist. The man was communard to his marrow; an old-school fanatic who didn't care who knew it. That was a rare thing in the Commune of France before the boches invaded and a damn sight rarer now that they had. Jean didn't think about the Italians. Thinking about the Italians made things look grim for the Revolution, and Jean Dieppe was a professional optimist when it came to the Revolution. "We had the bastards licked," he muttered up in the trees "we had the bastards licked and then the dagos wanted their pound of flesh." Jean shifted and settled the rifle against his weight and muttered some more. The war was a disaster, no two ways about it; the Germans kept from reaching the Seine only through sheer numbers. Until the Italians invaded.
With the valiant men of France staving off the invasion of the north, Occitania was wide open as the Italian hordes swept through. Now France was neatly divided between the boches, the dagos, and the Free Zone that still existed along the southern coast by Mont de Marsan. A sneer crossed his face as he remembered the 'country' in which he was crouching. Normandy, Brittany, and the Kingdom of France were dead corpses strung up by their German puppet-master and Jean was was sure that they would meet their timely deaths; but perhaps he could help this one along. His eyes snapped to the road as the roar of the Mercedes drew near. Yes perhaps he could help this one along...
The Mercedes 35 was a fine old beast, gorgeous and elegant and wholly impractical for driving through dark woods of what -however hard the German authorities tried to ignore it- was hostile territory. A brilliant white with headlights that cut like knives through the foggy gloom the car was just the style for Franz Maria von Bayern, Regent of Normandy. His driver looked back nervously as Franz loudly struggled through a Norman phrasebook "De semblable condition E d’une... um, determineison! Yes... sanz difference paregaus?" "Not you have any idea what you just said, sir?" Franz von Bayern grinned broadly at his chauffeur "Not a goddamn word, Hans. But a lot of people here still speak it, and if they do then so do I." Hans shook his head like a mother who couldn't deal with an unruly son. "Quatsch if you ask me, sir. You rule these people; if anything they should be spea-"
A bullet in the neck put paid to the words speaking German as Franz swore a sulfurous oath and leapt from the car, hitting and rolling down into the woods with a soldier's instinct. He quickly pulled a service revolver from god only knew where before blasting into the woods. A lucky shot, as a man squawked and crashed through the limbs onto the ground. Holding the revolver down low the German quietly crawled back onto the road and walked carefully over to the woods on the other side. Sure as hell, a man in a tattered Syndikalist uniform lay moaning on the hard ground. He looked like he'd broke his arm from the way the other clutched at it and the sharp gasps of pain every time he drew breath probably meant a broken rib or three. Franz wouldn't lose much sleep over the details. "Je suis..." Jean Dieppe paused to catch his breath "Je suis un combattant ennemi, vous ne pouvez pas me tuer!" Seconds after, he provided his name, rank, and pay number. Nodding gravely Franz kicked the sniper-rifle away and helped the man over to the car (Hans' body and slumped and caught the brake before it hit a tree) before skillfully knocking him unconscious. He laid the corpse and the unconscious man in the back seat, and drove one.
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Franz sounds like he will be an interesting man. Let's hope that was the last of the Communards eh?
You don't win the Pour le Mérite for sitting around
Prince Franz was interesting OTL, but shall be much more so in this AAR. And not in Normandy, unfortunately...
You don't win the Pour le Mérite for sitting around
Hmmmm, well I for one am already enthralled
Well the new king of Normandy seems to have a combination good luck and quick thinking that really helps with not dying. Always good to know that your head of state is hard to kill