Alternative History Pack
For months now, I have been working on a few projects, mostly for personal enjoyment, involving alternative outcomes for World War One. In one, Serbia rises to power in the Balkans, while Britain and Russia decline. In another, Austria destroys Russia and Italy, while France and Britain are forced to the peace table. These are both still WIP, but have evolved from personal projects to full mods, enjoyable (I hope) for others besides myself. This pack, when completed, will include these two scenarios, plus any others I create in the meantime, as well as any scenarios you submit for inclusion. It aims to be a comprehensive collection of the alternative World War 2 scenarios for HoI.
Please, submit any alternative history scenarios you have to me: either PM me for an email address or put it up for download. Note: This includes abandoned projects- I can finish it for you.
Currently included scenarios:
The Serbian Empire
In this scenario, the Allied powers crushed the Central Alliance in World War 1, generally. Serbia swept through Bosnia and Croatia, barely being beaten to Wien by Russia. Germany invaded and devastated much of Britain, but before the Brits folded, France broke through to Berlin, taking a good chunk of Germany in the peace deals.
Russia, having annexed a large swath of territory, collapsed in 1935 into ethnic civil war, as seperatists of many non-Russian nationalities (Kyrgyz, Hungarian, Siberian, Byelorussian, Finnish, etc) fought for freedom. When the dust settled over the next few years, all that was left was a small, isolationist core led by a somewhat paranoid Czar, fearful of involving himself any further in international politics.
Meanwhile, in the 20s, Britain found itself beset by two underestimated enemies in the Irish and Afghans. Caught in two brutal wars, much of the Empire was sold, ceded, or set free, and now, Britain is a debt-ridden shadow of it's past.
Serbia, on the other hand, newly powerful, used the weight of it's Austrian annexations to bring other Balkan nations into an alliance, which soon became a blatant front for annexation efforts. The Serbs and their new rivals, a powerful Greek merchant state, have bought much of the British Empire, spreading their influence around the world.
Greece, the neighbor, also benefited from an Ionian revolt in Turkey, with Greeks flocking to the once-Muslim region to fight for the rebels. These rebels achieved independence, before quickly being annexed into the Greek state.
In Germany, a former general rose to power in 1929, calling for revenge against the French and the Serbs. After his assassination, his second-in-command, a charismatic but brutal man traumatized by his parents' deaths in the French blitz across Germany in the Great War, took over, leading a coup d'etat in Italy almost immediately to create the New Central Alliance.
Two crises will bring the Allies, Serbian Alliance, and New Central Alliance to war. First, the Wien Republic, the Austrian homeland occupied by Russia in the war and now a Serbian puppet, is invaded by the Germans. Second, Spain collapses in Civil War, and strong intervention by many major powers leads to a the declaration of war.
The Austrian Empire
In this scenario, the Austrians quickly armed a huge force after Ferdinand's assassination, leading a massive charge against the Serbs and Russians before crushing Italy. With the Eastern Front broken and two powerful enemies shifting hundreds of thousands of soldiers westward, France and Britain, though not defeated, paid tribute in exchange for peace.
Tensions between the still-defiant Allies and the powerful Central Alliance rose throughout the 20s. Germany strongly opposed a the French annexation of Belium following a shady coup d'etat there; France strongly opposed Austria forcing Greece to cede land to Bulgaria; and so on. It seemed that war would resume before the end of the decade, but in 1929, a pan-European self-rule movement erupted into violence, reminiscent of the 1848 rebellions. The major powers put aside their bickering for a while to fight internal enemies. Many rebellions were crushed, but a good number held out: an Irish revolt which spread to Scotland, pro-Greek revolts in Bulgarian Thessolonica, pro-Italian revolts in Austrian Lombardia, a Baltic rebellion against Russia, and others.
In 1932, after three years of war, a Concord was signed in Copenhagen, allowing for the return of peace. Some of the newly-formed states:
Gaelia- this union of Scotland and Ireland grew from a small revolt in Dublin in '27. Over time, propagandists spread the slogan of "Celtic Union" across Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and even Brittany, and the revolutionary armies performed well on all fronts, leading to independence. They got a favorable deal in the Concord, and Britain only signed under protest once it was clear that the rest of Europe would sign.
Holy Kingdom of Poland and Republic of Semitic Poland- Most of Poland was ceded to Austria and Germany after the Great War; however, many Poles moved east into Russian before the armies arrived, and so a strong Polish area emerged. In 1929, a strong uprising of Poles took control, but soon the two major religious groups- Catholic and Jewish- set about killing one another, leading to two revolutionary states. Their independence was recognized and peace concluded with Russia in 1930, but the northern Holy Kingdom (under descendants of the old Polish royalty) and the southern Semitic Republic continued to fight. After a horrendous amount of religious cleansing, peace was reached in the Concord, though the Jews protested the pro-Kingdom borders drawn.
Livonia- Livonia is comprised of Lithuanians, Latvijags, and Estonians who fought for independence from Russia. Like the two Polands, they were recognized early on, but soon resumed the war over claims in the north and south. In 1932, the borders were finally drawn- while losing some land in the center, they gained in Estonia and Lithuania.
Thrace- The European holdings of Turkey revoltedin 1930. They never had great military success, but the Turks never managed to invade either, and the Christian writers of the Concord probably liked having Thrace as a buffer- though Muslims still held a majority, Christians comprised a strong minority, enough to prevent any anti-Christian actions in Parliament.
With the Concord signed, a period of quiet descended upon Europe. Outside of Poland (where non-government-supported "militias" continued to force Jews southward and Papists northward- or saved them the trouble by killing them), peace was the norm, and the continent rebuilt. Quietly, however, Britain began arming for war against Gaelia. Equally quietly, Germany began funding the Gaelic Army, while Austria worked to strengthen Livonia for future conflict with Russia.
In 1940, Britain discovered the extent of German support for Gaelia, and began calling for war. France restrained them, but there was no doubt that war was inevitable. Later that year, a coup in the Netherlands, much like the earlier Belgian coup, attempted to turn the nation into a French annex. Germany was furious, and invaded the Netherlands, attempting to reinstall the old government. France declared war, followed by an eager Britain. Gaelia and Austria supported Germany. By January 41, Russia had rejoined the Allies, and Bulgaria and Livonia entered the Central Alliance. It was time for war.
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I will also try to include the Fantasia mod, currently in German and somewhat incomplete, in the pack. It still needs translation to English and a tech overhaul, but will make a fine addition to the Pack when finished.
Again, if you have any scenarios, even partly finished, or any ideas for scenarios, please tell me. Comments are also welcome, of course. I'll keep you updated on the status (for the record, it's below 25% at the moment for the Austrian Empire; for the Serbian Empire 40%)
Till then,
Amob Out.